Kiss the cook! 🐷😘 28lbs baby

Perfect Crumb: Black Pepper Walnut #wildyeast #bread #sourdough #soupmama

LARDO 🐷🐽: 15 day cure mix rinsed, dried, wrapped, hung in creepy garage for next 2 months to age. #soupmama #lardo #curing #curedmeat (at Soup Mama Mel’s Kitchen)

Blueberry picking @organizedtourist (at Mt. Hood)

Gnocchi! @keiroppi (at Luce)

Saturday dinner for one! #heritagepork #padrons #soupmama (at Soup Mama Mel’s Kitchen)

How to Home Cure Lardo

Home-Curing Lardo

5 pounds of high quality Pork Fat (I was gifted two beautiful pieces of heritage-breed pork fat at the Cochon Heritage Fire 2013 Event in St. Helena pictured above!)

1.5 pounds kosher or grey coarse sea salt

12 g blackpeppercorns, toasted, crushed in pestle

4 sprigs of fresh rosemary, hand torn

12 cloves of fresh garlic, minced

3 g dried bay leaves, crushed

chili flakes, optional

* you can change the spices/herbs to your liking.

Mix the above curing ingredients.  Sprinkle 1/3 of mix on the bottom of a non-reactive dish (or plastic ziplock bag that can fit the side of fat).  Place pork fat on top of salt.  Cover with remaining salt cure mixture.  Refrigerate while pressing down with heavy weights (cans, bottles, etc).  Flip over fat every other day for 10-12 days.

Rinse the cure off.  Pat dry well.  Poke holes in the top of the fat so you can string it with butchers twine.  Hang dry in your refrigerator or preferably a 50-60F dark climate for at least 2 months.

Thinly slice and enjoy on just about anything!

Curing mixture!

Gifted heritage pork fat from Cochon Heritage Fire 2013 will now become lardo! Thanks! #portfatrules #curing #soupmama (at Soup Mama Mel’s Kitchen)

Cochon Heritage Fire 2013: it was a beautiful day to support sustainable farming of heritage-breed pigs 🔥🐷 #meat #fire (at St. Helena)

Gifts from Farmer Annie! Beautiful squash blossoms, cucumbers, zucchini #moonfoxfarm #pickleprojects #farmfresh #soupmama (at Soup Mama Mel’s Kitchen)

"It’s organic 🐛🌽" - Farmer Annie #corn (at Castro Farmers’ Market)

Good thing I trained on the pasta station at Delfina 🍝 #handmade #tagliatelle #ragu #soupmama (at Soup Mama Mel’s Kitchen)

Who wants home-cured gravlax? #wildsalmon #curing #soupmama (at Soup Mama Mel’s Kitchen)

Gettin’ down with some bolognese 🍅🍅🍅#housegrind #sanmarzano #soupmama (at Soup Mama Mel’s Kitchen)

Yesterday’s wedding wild salmon is today’s gravlax. #curing #soupmama

Canapé land: ahi tuna marinated in citrus, tomato compote, cilantro #catering #wedding

Catered a wedding: heirloom tomatoes, tofu, bagna cauda vinaigrette, crispy shallots #babylurker (at Walnut Creek)

Homemade ricotta is the only way to go! 1 part buttermilk, 1 part heavy cream, 3 part milk. Heat to 185F. Strain in cheesecloth. #ricotta #cheese #soupmama (at Soup Mama Mel’s Kitchen)

Here come the curds!!! #ricotta #homemade #soupmama (at Soup Mama Mel’s Kitchen)

Crispy Mary’s organic chicken, market corn, arugula