Giant Mosefund Farm Mangalitsa pork chop and roasted carrots. And I guess the Pahlmeyer 1995 Cab blend is worth a mention as well… This was a gift (anyone looking to give me gifts, take note); a wonderful, wonderful wine at 17 years of age.

Mangalitsa pork neck steak with Brussels sprouts and bacon. A mini-porkfest with great neck and bacon from Mosefund Farm. The steaks got more or less the EMP Cookbook treatment—the whole neck roll was cooked sous vide at 142 degrees for 24 hours, then sliced and seared. This time, I cut them much thicker (closer to an inch thick), only barely dusted with Wondra flour, salt, and pepper before searing. I liked the results much better; the original recipe produces thin medallions which have lots of fried pork flavor, but with pork this good, a thicker steak gives a meatier, fuller flavor. And of course, pan roasted Brussels sprouts cooked in Mangalitsa bacon fat is a perfect side.

Mangalitsa pork sirloin chop from Mosefund Farm with chanterelle mushroom risotto and bourbon-maple pan sauce. The 18 ounce mangalitsa chop was cooked sous vide with salt, pepper, and BLiS maple syrup, then quickly seared. The pan was deglazed with bourbon, then the liquid from the sous vide bags was added to the pan and reduced.

I tried something new with the risotto—a new minimal stirring recipe from Serious Eats. I’ve always been in the stir-the-risotto-constantly camp because I like the control. This batch didn’t do anything to pull me away from stirring. I don’t doubt that these recipes work well when followed to the letter and have been customized for your home’s range. But, when you want to start playing around with different liquids like mushroom steeping water, etc., there’s no substitute for the control that comes with adding one cup of liquid at a time and stirring constantly. Oh well.

Mangalitsa pork neck cooked sous vide, with some of the first asparagus of the season and hen of the woods and oyster mushrooms. I discovered Mosefund Farms Mangalitsa pork almost 6 months ago, but then the New Amsterdam Market and my only source for this great product shut down for winter. Now, the market is back and so are the piggies.

The neck is my favorite part of this animal—it has the perfect balance of fat, tenderness, and flavor. There really is no other pork product like it. Here I cooked it in a 141 degree water bath for 2.5 hours then seared with a maple glaze, but it seems to take equally well to slow cooking or treating it just like a thick ribeye steak.

Carnitas made from Mangalitsa pork shoulder. Mangalitsa month continues, although this should be my last post hyping up these delicious little piggies. Anyway, Carnitas made from Mangalitsa is richer, fattier, and significantly more tasty than the standard faire. I would love to see what a really talented chef of Mexican cuisine would do with this stuff. I confit’ed the shoulder with the traditional flavorings (onions, oranges, cinnamon, etc.) a day in advance. The Mangalitsa is so well marbled that you can literally confit the chunks of pork in their own fat (yum). Before serving, I hacked out a block of shredded pork and fat and threw it under the broiler until hot and crispy. I can’t imagine how unhealthy this meal must be, so this will be an uncommon treat.

Mangalitsa pork chop with BLiS Bourbon Barrel Aged Maple Syrup glazed sweet potatoes. These Mangalitsa chops from Mosefund Farm might just be the best pork there is.

Unbelievably well-marbled boneless Mangalitsa pork chop from Mosefund Farm. 

Mosefund Farm Mangalitsa pork shoulder/ neck. A couple of weeks ago, Food Curated ran a story about Mosefund farm and the heritage breed of Mangalitsa pigs they raise. The meat was described as the Kobe beef of pork, and Mosefund supplies some of my favorite restaurants like The Breslin and Eleven Madison Park. In other words, it sounded like something worth seeking out.

I finally tracked some down this weekend at the New Amsterdam Market, and let’s just say that this is unquestionably the best piece of pork I have ever had. It’s hard to even compare it to other pork, because it’s almost beef-like in richness and flavor. This is a terrible picture, but I had to post it to show the deeply colored, almost beef-like appearance. This piece of meat is a shoulder cut close to the neck, apparently an Austrian and German delicacy called Schopf(?). Next time, I would slow cook this specific cut, but I wanted to get a feel for the breed/ cut so I seared then roasted it with some salt and pepper and ate it as is. Even so, the meat was so tender and the fat so well marbled that this was a perfectly acceptable way to serve it. Actually, right now I can’t stop thinking about the carnitas this would make.

I also have a pound of bacon that I’ll test out over the next week or so, but what I’m really looking forward to is finding some double-thick rib chops. I can’t recommend Mosefund Farm highly enough.