Blizzard Lard

I left work early yesterday to avoid the disaster that would be the evening commute plus blizzard bonus. After reading and a nap, it was time to render some LARD! I got 2 pounds of leaf lard (the best fat you can get from a pig) for 4 bucks from Jake's Country Meats at the Logan Square Farmer's Market. Sweet!

We started by cutting up the thawed chunks into 1" pieces, trimming off pieces of flesh as we went.

Then all of the greasy chunks were put into a pan on low heat to start the rendering process. We diligently stirred the pieces around often, making sure none of them browned.

We poured off the melted fat into two jars which we placed by the drafty door. Soon the fat cooled into creamy white lard (pictured by Davis' cracklin' coconut curry stir fry)

Oh and cracklins! Think Revolution Brewery's bacon fat popcorn is where it's at? Then you haven't had fresh cracklins.