Spice Infused Grilled Pork Chops

First of all, I have to say this is not the "other white meat." This is pastured pork from a small family farm in South Carolina, Sunny Cedars Farm, and it's amazing. You'll notice the rosy red color of the meat, and the flavor it imparts is wonderful. Do yourself a favor and buy pork just once at a local farm who raises their pigs on pasture, without antibiotics and added growth hormones ... I believe you will not be disappointed.

My husband came up with the spice blend himself and grilled this meal to perfection. I am so lucky!

Look at that rosy red meat

So delicious

Perfect grilled dinner

Recipe

Ingredients
Two 1"-inch thick pork chops
1 tsp. course-ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. ground mustard
1/4 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. turmeric
1/4 tsp. dried basil

Method
Bring pork chops to room temperature. Mix all spices together and liberally rub on to both sides of the pork chops.

Cook pork chops on your grill over medium direct heat 7 minutes per side or until internal temperature is 145 degrees, or until it is cooked to your preference.

Safe Cooking Temperatures

Remove from grill and let rest 5 minutes before serving. Serve with your choice of sides.

Find a local farm:
Eat Local Grown
Eat Wild
Farmers Pal
Local Harvest


Enjoy,
Mary

Deep Fried Pork Chops

Sometimes there's just nothing better than a deep fried pork chop. Of course, you can cut the bone off the chop if you want, but I personally enjoy the flavor it imparts and none of us mind gnawing the pork chop off the bone.That's just finger lickin' good as they say.

RECIPE

Ingredients
2-4 center cut pork chops
1 cup buttermilk (make your own by adding a tbsp lemon juice or vinegar to regular milk)
1 cup self-rising flour
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. seasoned salt
Oil for frying (your choice)

Method
Put buttermilk in a bowl. In another bowl or zip top bag, mix flour, garlic powder, pepper and salt.

Dip pork chops in the buttermilk and coat in flour mixture. Place pork chops on a cooling rack and let sit 20-30 minutes before frying (this will help the coating stick to the pork).

Pour oil into large skillet or dutch oven (I use an electric fry pan so I can control the heat) and heat to 350-400 degrees.

Place pork chops in pan and fry for 5 minutes per side or until cooked through and the internal temperature is 145.

Remove from heat and let drain on paper towels. Serve while hot.

Enjoy,
Mary

© Cooking with Mary and Friends. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Cooking with Mary and Friends with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Honey-Dijon Pork Tenderloin

I first tried this marinade recipe I found on South Your Mouth. The marinade is just perfect for pork, and one I adapted from her original recipe she used for Pork Kebabs. I used a pastured pork tenderloin from our good friends at Sunny Cedars Farm. It is awesome.

RECIPE
Ingredients
1 pork tenderloin
1/4 cup local raw honey (we use Bell Honey)
3 tbls. Dijon mustard
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 -3 tsp. minced garlic
2 tbls. Balsamic vinegar
1 small onion, minced

Method
Mix all marinade ingredients together, reserving 1/3 cup and set aside. Put remaining marinade in a large zip-top bag, add the pork tenderloin, seal, massage marinade into meat, and refrigerate several hours.

Remove pork tenderloin from marinade, discarding marinade.

Using 1/3 cup reserve marinade you set aside, grill pork tenderloin over indirect-medium high heat for 15 minutes on one side and 10 minutes on indirect-medium heat, basting often. Internal temperature when done should be 145 degrees.

Remove from grill, tent with foil and let rest 5 minutes. Slice and serve while hot.

Safe Minimum Cooking Temps

Yield:  4 servings

Enjoy,
Mary

© Cooking with Mary and Friends. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Cooking with Mary and Friends with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Gourmet Longaniza

So, first of all, what the heck is Longaniza?  Well according to Wikipedia "Longaniza is a Spanish sausage similar to a chorizo and also closely associated with the Portuguese linguiça. Its defining characteristics are interpreted differently from region to region." But these didn't really taste like that at all. 

Essentially, they're a slightly spicy pork sausage, and at Thames Farm it is likened to a hot dog but made with pastured pork instead of beef.  And since longaniza means "long and thin" that is why they are referred to as gourmet hot dogs. Keep in mind though, unlike traditional hot dogs, these are uncured, and completely raw. They do need to be fully cooked before serving. I prefer mine with with diced white onion, yellow mustard, and pickle and/or relish. They're just as delicious plain and simple with ketchup and mustard. Or you could do spicy mustard and sauerkraut, or a chili-cheese dog.

I purchased some during our recent farm visit, and just grilled them today! Oh my goodness ... they are amazing, with just a little bit of spicy bite to them. I will definitely be buying more.

Ingredients
1 pkg. Gourmet Longaniza
1 pkg. Hot dog buns
1 small onion, diced
Mustard, ketchup, pickle relish, sauerkraut, chili, cheese

Method
Grill Longaniza approx. 8-10 minutes over medium heat, turning several times during grilling to insure even browning and cooked completely. Remove from grill and serve as desired on hot dog buns with your choice of toppings.

Enjoy,
Mary

Thames Farm - Pastured Pork, Lamb and Chicken

Amy Thames and Melvin - Thames Farm

It was a cloudy start to our recent farm outing, with a few sprinkles along the way, but that didn't do anything to dampen our spirits.  We met early in the morning at the Kershaw County Farmer's Market (our favorite local market) and enjoyed walking around, seeing familiar faces and some new, stopping to chat with a few of the vendors and purchasing some delicious South Carolina grown products.  Cucumbers, Organic Blueberries, Green Beans, freshly dug Red Potatoes and the BEST looking Onions I've seen was my haul, while my friends scooped up some tomatoes, squash and more.

Kershaw County Farmer's Market - Organic Blueberries from Le Farm

After our market stop we made our way over for breakfast at the Carolina Cafe and Grill. At this small, quaint little place just around the corner from the market, we were pleasantly surprised by how FRESH everything was, especially because one of us saw them cutting up fresh vegetables for the Vegetable Omelette ordered.  Oh my word, the breakfast was delicious, with all of us commenting about how great it all was. Trust me, you owe yourself a visit if you are ever in Camden, South Carolina. Now that we had full bellies, however, it was time to pay our bill and be off for the highlight of our day, a tour at Thames Farm, located at 3510 Catawba River Road, Fort Lawn, South Carolina 29714.

Following Hwy 97 north from Camden, we twisted and turned just over 30 miles, crossing over the Wateree Dam and headed up Hwy 21 to our destination. Easy to find with a large sign on the right side of the road, we made our way down the long driveway where we were met by Amy Thames and her sidekick, Melvin the turkey! Oh my ... Melvin!  What a character he is.  He likes to greet the guests and loves to flirt. I've never see a turkey flirt until now! Melvin has a small birth defect and an amazing personality so will always be a GREAT ambassador for the farm.We all loved Melvin! 

Situated on 82 rolling acres, Amy explained "Thames Farm is dedicated to raising healthy all-natural pastured Berkshire pork, pastured chicken and lamb. All our animals are raised on a natural diet and are never given antibiotics, steroids or any growth hormones. Our pastures are maintained chemical free. Our pigs are allowed to be pigs. They are happy and have social interaction with each other. We finish our pigs for processing on the pasture. Our pigs are supplemented with grains, vegetables, and raw Jersey cow milk. They graze and bask in the sunshine.

Chickens - Thames Farm

Our chickens are raised in mobile 
"chicken tractors" where they are protected from predators. They have access to grasses, insects and plenty of fresh air and sunshine. Junior our Great Pyreness dog watches them with a careful eye keeping them safe from anything or anyone who may harm his friends. the mobile units are moved several times daily to ensure they are always kept clean. The chickens in-turn provide our pastures with fertilizer allowing us to avoid using chemical fertilizers. We have a nice group of laying hens that do an excellent job of providing us with fresh eggs. You can see them roaming around the yard all day. We also grow seasonal produce so check with us to see what is ready for harvesting."

Thames Farm raises Berkshire pigs for a reason. As Amy explains "the quality of the Berkshire meat is unmatched, it stays juicy and tender when cooking due to the pH of the meat that is unique to the Berkshire breed. Berkshire pork has been featured on the Food Network show Chopped and BBQ

Berkshire sow and piglets - Thames Farm

Pitmasters on the Travel Channel." 

Berkshire Pork Products - Thames Farm

Berkshire pork is a heritage breed of pig, which was discovered over 300 years ago in Berkshire County in the United Kingdom. Berkshire pork is renowned for its richness, texture, marbling, juiciness, tenderness and overall depth of flavor. It is thought by many to be the Kobe beef of pork. It is said to have a very specific taste, not generic and bland or mild like regular pork. Berkshire pork is prized for juiciness, flavor and tenderness, is pink-hued and heavily marbled. The Berkshire’s originated from England. They were specially bred for the King of England for his own personal meat supply, because of the excellence in the meat! Today Berkshire Pork is the most highly sought after pork in the world. Berkshire pork looks and tastes like no other pork. Unlike commodity pork or “the other white meat” Berkshire pork is visibly different. It has a darker richer color with an abundance of intramuscular marbling. Its flavor is distinctive with an unparalleled juiciest and tenderness for pork. (source:  Wikipedia)
After touring around, we ended up in a barn-type building where the small chicks are housed until they are big enough to go out on the pasture, and the on-farm sales take place among freezers full of yummy pastured products. Good thing we brought a cooler or

Whole Chickens - Thames Farm

two, because we all loaded up on chicken and pork products.
After paying our bills and saying good-bye to Amy and Melvin, we headed home. It was a great day with good friends, and another wonderful adventure exploring a small, local family farm doing it right for you and me.
I am happy to be on this journey to explore what's fresh right outside my door and look forward to many more farm trips because I've met some of the BEST people, who have become friends.

Naturally I couldn't wait to cook something with my purchases, so a few days later my husband and I prepared this Italian Seasoned Grilled Chicken.  It was so good and made for a nice summertime meal with a side of fresh pasta and grilled green beans.

Prepared with a whole, split chicken - Thames Farm

Ingredients
1 whole chicken, cut into pieces (I also split each breast in half for 10 total pieces)
Course-ground black pepper
Oregano
Thyme leaves
Garlic powder

Method
Liberally sprinkle chicken pieces with listed spices. Grill on direct medium low heat, turning every 5 minutes until cooked through, approx. 30 minutes (watch for flare ups).  Remove from grill, cover with foil and let stand 10 minutes before serving. 

Italian Seasoned Grilled Chicken 

Clink here for printable version


Enjoy,
Mary

Grilled Pork Shanks

Sometimes "branching out" and trying a lessor known cut of meat is a real experience, but 99.9 percent of the time it is totally worth it. Fresh pork shanks are the upper leg, right below the ham. It's the thigh and has nice, red ham-like meat inside. My local small family farm friends have the best pasture-raised pork we have access too, and shanks are very economical, nutritious and delicious! 

Pork Shanks must be cooked long, slow and low in order for them to yield their delicious, tender meat. There are a variety of ways to prepare them from the German Schweinshaxe to a simple braising, all are delicious in their own way. 

Today my husband and I experimented with grilling them and basting them with his special, homemade barbecue sauce. Oh my goodness, so good and all the credit goes to my husband for being an awesome "grill master!"

RECIPE

Ingredients

2 fresh pork shanks (or more for larger family)
Fresh cracked pepper
1 cup barbecue sauce 
3/4 cup vinegar
Barbecue sauce (or sauce of your choice)

Method
Mix 1 cup barbecue sauce with 3/4 cup vinegar and pour into bottom of grilling pan. Cross cut tops of pork shanks and place in grilling pan over sauce mixture. Coat heavily with fresh, cracked pepper. 

Cover tightly with foil and grill on medium indirect heat for 1 1/2 hours. Remove foil, spoon pan sauce over top to coat, recover and continue to grill 45 minutes. 

Take off foil and heavily coat with fresh barbecue sauce. Cook uncovered (foil removed) for more 45 more minutes on low indirect heat. Remove from grill and serve. 

Total cooking time:  3 hours

You may also enjoy these recipes ~

Bavarian Beer Hall Pork Shanks:
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/bavarian-beer-hall-pork-shanks

Pork Hocks/Shanks and Sauerkraut: 
http://www.quick-german-recipes.com/pork-hocks-and-sauerkraut.html 

Osso Bucco: 
http://www.reluctantgourmet.com/pork-osso-buco-recipe/

Braised Pork Shanks:
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/braised-pork-shanks

Enjoy,
Mary

© Cooking with Mary and Friends. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Cooking with Mary and Friends with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Grilled St. Louis Ribs

The BEST pork we've ever had was purchased from our friends at Sunny Cedars Farm. This is pastured pork, raised humanely without antibiotics or hormones.  You can taste the difference in the pork raised this way ... dark rosy pink, perfectly marbled, rich and juicy,bursting with flavor. No wonder these Grilled St. Louis Ribs are off-the-chain tender and delicious.

Ingredients
1 half-rack or full rack St. Louis Ribs
1-2 tbls. Spice Rub of your choice 
(we use Fein Tasting Foods)
Barbecue Sauce (make your own, or favorite brand)

Method
Unwrap ribs and rub liberally with your favorite spice rub. Wrap ribs tightly in foil and grill over indirect low heat for 2 hours. 

Uncover ribs, brush barbecue sauce liberally over all and continue to grill an additional 45 minutes (with foil open) or until meat has pulled away from the bone and is very tender. 

Remove from grill, brush on additional barbecue sauce, cut ribs and serve.

Enjoy,
Mary