RECIPE

Recipe

By Mary Hoisington

Do you remember Grandma’s delicious, melt in your mouth fried chicken?

She lovingly dredged each piece in a combination of fl our, salt and pepper and then pan-fried in her cast iron skillet. There was nothing better at a Sunday family gathering, and no one could do it better.

Her secret? Lard.

Lard is the semi-solid white fat rendered from pig fat. It was a cooking and baking staple until chemically produced vegetable oils and hydrogenated shortenings became more common and affordable. In addition, animal fats were villainized as unhealthy because of the high concentration of saturated fat. Fortunately, today many experts are ready to put that myth to rest. Numerous recent studies and fresh reviews of prior studies, have found no link between saturated fat consumption and heart disease.

Lard is 60 percent monounsaturated fat most of which is the heart-healthy essential oleic acid which is also found in olive

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oil. And, because it is composed of mostly monounsaturated and saturated fats, it has a high smoke point and is less likely to oxidize and become carcinogenic like polyunsaturated fats.

Locally non-hydrogenated lard has been nowhere to be found, but you can easily make this neutral tasting versatile fat famous for creating lighter, fl akey pie crusts and yes, that crispy fried chicken that Grandma used to make.

Lard

• 2 pounds of pork fat (leaf fat or visceral fat have the least fl avor when rendered)

Locally pork fat is available at Ellinwood Packing Plant, but it must be pre-ordered. • Cube fat into 1” or smaller cubes and place in deep pot.

Fat will cut easier if you freeze fi rst. • Cook uncovered on stovetop or outdoor burner at a low to medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until fat renders and the pork pieces (cracklings) sink and rise again. Once all of the cracklings have risen, the lard is done. Typical cooking time is 2-3 hours. • Place a canning (or metal) funnel covered with a few layers of cheese cloth (or coffee fi lter) and topped with a sieve into a widemount quart canning jar or over a glass or metal container. • Using a heat resistant ladle, scoop out rendered oil and pour through sieve/cheese cloth/funnel.

Be careful as the oil will be hot! Oil should be clear, but once it cools, it will turn white.

Yields approximately one quart of lard and 12-15 oz of edible pork cracklings.

Alternative cooking methods

If you don’t want to cook on the stove top, try cooking on low in an uncovered crockpot or in the oven at 225-250 degrees F in an uncovered Dutch oven for 2-3 hours.

Crispier cracklings

If your cracklings aren’t crispy enough transfer to a frying pan and fry at mediummedium high heat until they are puffy and crisp – feel free to add salt or other seasonings.