So I was given a 350 pound pig

[Coyote_Bandit]

Probably relatively lean for his size. Found a place a couple of hours from here that butchered and dressed him out for the grand sum of $150. After sampling some of their product of course. Looks like I'm gonna be eating LOTS of pork for awhile.

I would appreciate your suggestions as to the tastiest ways to prepare this beast.....

[The empressof all]

1. OMG I'm so jealous

I'd probably have the butcher only cut half for the freezer. Then I'd take the other half a hog and have a pig roast. Nothing better than the crispy skin off a roast pig.

[Coyote_Bandit]

4. I had the whole pig dressed

I don't expect to have enough freezer space for all of him. I had less than a week's notice that he was coming so I need to purge my freezer to make some additional space available. I'll either trade pieces of him for some additional space or find it a bit easier to temporarily pack him off to a nearby meat locker.

A pig roast sounds like a wonderful idea. Conjurs up all sorts of images and memories of my rural childhood. Not sure I could do those memories justce in my decidedly suburban home.....

[kfred]

2. How is it cut?

Did you order sausage or bacon from it? The reason I ask is that Alton Brown of FoodTV has an EXCELLENT homemade sausage recipe as long as you can grind it and it uses pork roasts.

Porketta style (you'll have to smurf that one) is also excellent for a midwinter bellywarmer.

[Coyote_Bandit]

5. I did order

sausage and bacon cut from it. The butcher offered over 10 different sausage recipes - one of which has to be among the best flavored pork sausage I've ever tasted.

Porketta? And winter food? Ummmm......definitely sounds like something I'll have to Google.

[The empressof all]

3. Also...Make sure you ask the butcher to seperate the Leaf lard

Leaf lard is the BEST fat for pie crust. Regular lard will work but the leaf is the best for flavor.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B01E6DC173EF936A25752C1A9609C8B63

The meals you'll have are limitless.

[Coyote_Bandit]

6. I did ask the butcher

to separate the leaf lard. I'll keep some of it but will give the majority of it to my mother. She makes pie at least once a week. I'm hoping to spend some kitchen time with her making pies and hear some of her old food stories.

[hippywife]

8. Now I'm jealous!

How much of it was there on this one pig?

[Coyote_Bandit]

9. Not sure

Piggie is still being dressed out. I don't expect to be able to pick him up until sometime next week. Hopefully.

[Retrograde]

7. Now I want a pulled pork sandwich!

I hope you saved the "nasty bits", especially the head meat for head cheese, and the feet and ears. The latter make nice, thick, tasty stock.

[Coyote_Bandit]

10. Nasty bits -

what an apt description.

Dad is gettin the head meat which is beng processed into head cheese. My grandfather (Dad's dad) loved it. I'm considerably less fond of head cheese.

But I'm getting the feet and ears and hocks. Plan on making some tasty soups during cool weather.

[japple]

11. You can also roast or smoke those ears as a treat for your dogs. n/t

[Coyote_Bandit]

12. Both my dogs

have medical issues (heart, thyroid, kidney) and restricted diets.

They'll probably still get to share a small part of this pig however. I just can't completely deprive them. I figure small infrequent piggie bites should be ok.

Their usual treats are things like apples and carrots and vanilla wafers.

[sazemisery]

13. We purchased a Bershire last fall

I had them cut the belly but I cured it myself and made bacon and pancetta. Yummy and so easy. I also made my own sausage. Chorizo is our favorite around here. I had them leave the hams fresh and we slow smoked them with sugar maple wood. Oh, so tender and juicy. The "nasty bits" were given to relatives and friends who appreciate the porcine delicacies.

[Coyote_Bandit]

15. I'll be smoking the hams

I went ahead and had the butcher cure the bacon.

Not sure what kind of piggie this was. I know the farmer that raised him. And I know he was fed a pretty high protein diet. He was fed household scraps, some high quality vitamin enriched grain and lots of eggs which were not otherwise saleable.

[Vinca]

14. I was going to suggest keeping him as a pet . . . too late I guess.

Marinate a loin in Newman's Own Balsamic Vinaigrette overnight. Brown in a frying pan and bake at 350 for the length of time appropriate for the weight. I do 45 minutes for a 1 lb. loin.

[Coyote_Bandit]

16. Too Late for That

Thanks for the baking suggestion. I'll try it.

I'm making a list of things to try with all this pork.

I'm looking forward to the opportunity to try new things in the kitchen.