A bit peckish

Before I dive in here, let me just say that I had a really busy week at work. 10 hour days at work, kids in the evening, just a few hours of shut eye in between. So you can maybe understand why when I got home Thursday night I decided to cook a 2 and a half pound pork chop. This was no ordinary cut of pork however. This is a chop from a heritage breed pig, untouched by any genetic modifications, hormones, or antibiotics. During the last month or so of life, the pig was fed a limitless amount of hazelnuts and goats milk. As a result, the pig gets fat. Really fat. He roams around uncaged and unstressed. The farm that the pig is raised on goes so far as to get the pig drunk on beer right before slaughter. Not cheap beer either. Good Oregon microbrew. Apparently it doesn't take much to get a pig drunk. The thought behind this practice is that by avoiding stress before slaughter you can achieve a more tender animal. Stress equals adrenaline which equals tougher meat. It's also a nice humane way of doing things. I don't feel good that one of God's creatures gave his life for my meal, but knowing the pig was fat and happy and drunk makes it easier. As you can see, the chop has a tremendous amount of fat on it. That is the reason this pork chop is so special. Some of the fat melts during cooking, bathing the meat, keeping it moist, helping to flavor the chop throughout. It also creates a good deal of smoke which penetrates the meat and gives it that "grilled" taste. The fat on and in the chop really differentiate it from store brought pork which is caged, fed a steady diet of hormones to make it big and lean, and then slaughtered completely sober.

Even though the pig was raised humanely, fed a better diet than any other pig, and lubed up before slaughter, he did still give his life so I could eat way too much food and then brag about it on a blog. This pig, or any pig/cow/chicken/lamb/halibut/etc deserves our respect. Don't overcook it, don't under season it, and most importantly, give it a good rest. If you cut into a 3 inch pork chop fresh off the grill, you are going to lose a lot of juice, a lot of flavor, and a lot of enjoyment. Put the chop down and walk away. Go open a bottle of wine.

One benefit of cooking a nice fat laden pork chop is that there is some forgiveness in the meat. Meaning if you over do it by a few degrees, you will still end up with a juicy piece of meat. Just try that with 1.99 a pound pale pink pork from the big box store. Another bonus is that milky white piece of fat. Not chewy at all, it literally melts in your mouth, blending with the pork. Is that a hint of hazelnut that I taste?