The Traditional Southern New Years Day Meal:

A New Year… a time for new beginnings.  What is it about being able to start off a new year?

Maybe you had a great year and hate to see it end – or – maybe you just can’t wait for New Years Day to hopefully wipe the slate clean and just start all over again.  Either way, there’s just something special about New Years Day.

Here in the South, we try to start it off… with a plan. A plan that hopefully includes good health, good luck and good fortune.  Oh yeah, and good times with family and friends.

Growing up, I always heard that it meant you would have “Good Luck” in the New Year if a MAN visited your house first on New Year’s Day.  I’m not sure where that came from.  Maybe it was just a woman’s way of thinking as she hoped the New Year might finally bring her a husband.

Secondly, you always had to serve up the Traditional Southern New Years Day Meal.  What is that you ask?

Collard Greens
Black Eye Peas
Hog Jowl
Corn Bread

You can click on any of the links above to see the complete, step-by-step, photo illustrated recipe.

It’s a simple meal, it’s Southern, and it’s really good.

There are many varied stories about each particular part of the plate above.  Each is suppose to represent good luck and fortune going into the New Year.  Just how and when it all started will always be up for debate I guess.  Nonetheless, I’ll give it a go.

Collard Greens:

The collard greens are supposed to represent folding money.  Collards are green, so is our folding money.  It’s all about wealth, prosperity and good fortune as the New Year begins.  Some folks say the more collards you eat on New Year’s Day, the more prosperous you will become during the year ahead.

I’ve posted a recipe for collard greens here on Taste of Southern.  If you’ve read that, you will already know that I just personally DO NOT like collards.  It ain’t a secret in any way or form.  I hope you’ll read the post however, just to see how much I hate them and to learn why I made cooking collard greens the very FIRST post to start out our Taste of Southern website.

I will take a bite ever so often, mostly on New Year’s Day, but as for eating a bunch of them… well, maybe that explains my life of prosperity.  My mama loved them by the way.

Black Eye Peas:

The peas are also supposed to be a symbol of good luck.  Again, the more of them you eat, the more prosperity you’ll experience.

If you search the internet, you’ll find various stories as to why this is supposed to be true.  One of those is going back to Civil War times when the Union troops stripped the countryside of all stored food, crops, livestock and whatever else they could not carry away.  Northerners it seems, considered black eye peas, field peas, and field corn to only be good for feeding animals… thus… they didn’t steal it or destroy it.

As the story goes, this then was the only food, along with maybe some salt pork, that was available at the time and Southern soldiers lived off it for awhile.  It was their good luck to have had it.

I’ve read that some people thought placing a coin in the pot of cooked peas was also part of the tradition.  The person that found the coin in their plate was considered to be even more likely to prosper.  Mama never did this at our house so I have nothing to go by in that respect.

Peas also swell when they cook.  This again was a sign of increase.

Hog Jowl:

Hog Jowl is pork.  You could use ham, bacon, tenderloin or fatback along with your meal.

The important thing is to include pork as the meat of the day as opposed to some other animal meat.  Pigs it seems, root or forage in a forward direction.  This moving forward is seen as a symbol of moving forward in the New Year.  Serving chicken, or a winged animal that flies, would represent your fortune as possibly flying away from you.  So, make it pork, whatever the cut of choice might be.  Mostly, it adds good flavor as a seasoning for your collards or black eye peas.

Hog Jowl is usually smoked, salted and cured.  It’s like bacon, only it has more fat than it has meat.  You can slice it up thin, fry it and just enjoy it as a meat addition to your meal.  Or, cut it into larger portions and add it to a pot of vegetables for flavor as a seasoning.

You’ll probably need to boil it some ahead of adding your peas to the pot to extract more of its flavor.  After you’re done, you can just remove it all together prior to serving.  Or, you may want to cut the boiled piece up, removing most of the fat and keeping the meatier parts and tossing them back into the pot.

Corn Bread:

Corn bread is just a good addition to any Southern meal.  Folks will argue over whether it should be white or yellow.  The yellow corn bread is thought to represent gold… thus adding more of a chance of good fortune and prosperity to the New Year.

Baking your cornbread in a round skillet forms a circle, like a cake.  It’s a continuous circle of prosperity.

A Poor Man’s Meal:

Many would consider this type of meal to be a “poor man’s meal.”  It was often thought that if you “Eat poor on New Years, you’ll eat fat the rest of the year.”

Whatever your reasons, eating this traditional New Year’s Day meal is a great way to start off any New Year.  It’s just the good thoughts behind starting off another year with a hope for prosperity and good fortune.

You’ll find complete recipes for each part of your Traditional Southern New Years Day Meal right here on Taste of Southern.  And of course, we’ll provide full photo and step-by-step instructions to help you prepare it.

Why not make this the year you start some new traditions at your house.  Cook up our New Years Day Meal for your family.  Just don’t forget the Sweet Tea.

Let’s Get Cooking!

I’d love to hear your thoughts on our New Years Day Meal menu.  Is it a part of your family traditions?  Please share your comments below.  Thank You.

Here’s a really quick and simple recipe for some delicious southern fried comfort food.  Next to fried chicken, these Southern Fried Pork Chops are a long time family favorite.  It really is the “other white meat” as the Pork Council tells us.

Southern Fried Chicken may have taken first place when I was growing up, but I’d have to say that these Southern Fried Pork Chops would have to be second in line.  They really are just that good.  You can have them bone-in or boneless, whichever you prefer…or…whichever you find on sale at your favorite grocery store this week.

Some folks say that the bone-in pork chops are better because the bones help make the meat more moist by holding in more moisture.  That may be true.  Also, those bone-in pork chops kind of resemble a nice T-bone Steak so whats not to like about that?  Bone-in also gives you that bone to gnaw on, kind of like a chicken bone, but just harder to manipulate.

I suggest that either way, you be careful to select a somewhat thicker chop.  Since pork is usually cooked a little longer, you don’t want some thin pork chop that’s going to fry up tough and dry.  Pork chops can normally be found to be cut between 1/2 inch, up to 2 inches in thickness.  Thicker ones are often used as “stuffed pork chops,” while the thinner ones usually are found in those “family packs.”  If you get the thinner ones, be sure to get enough for about 2 chops per person.

I’m using some boneless center cut pork chops in this recipe.  They just happened to be on sale the day I went looking for some.  I would normally buy the bone-in pork chops since thats what we had all the time when mama cooked them.

You want to watch them closely as they are cooking.  Don’t cook them too fast and don’t let them overcook.  Overcooking will make them tough and dry them out and you don’t want that to happen.  They cook up pretty quickly so this is a quick and easy meal to get on the table.

Ready to give them a try?  Then….Let’s Get Cooking!

Southern Fried Pork Chops Recipe:  You’ll need these ingredients.

We’ll begin by making a breader for our pork chops.  Using a medium sized mixing bowl or similar container, add one cup of flour.  Just use what you have available, self-rising, or all-purpose.

Add TWO Tablespoons of corn starch.  Just pretend I did this twice….because I really did.  TWO Tablespoons.

Add one teaspoon of Garlic Powder.

Add 1/2 teaspoon of Salt.

Add 1/2 teaspoon of Black Pepper.

Add 1/2 teaspoon of Paprika.

Use a fork or spoon and stir the ingredients together.

Make sure you mix all the ingredients well.  Set the breader aside for the moment.

Break one egg into another shallow dish.  This is a plastic container from where I’ve ordered Chinese Take Out.  I can’t throw them away for some reason.  They come with clear plastic tops and are very sturdy.  They make great dredge type dishes and you’ll see me use them often.  I’m recycling I guess.

Now, add about 2 Tablespoons of Buttermilk.

Use a fork to break the egg yolk and stir the mixture well.

Mix it all up real good.

Open up your pack of chops and rinse them gently under cool running water.

Place the rinsed pork chops on a plate lined with a couple of layers of paper towels and let them drain.

Use another couple of paper towels to pat the tops of the chops dry.

Gather everything together to setup your dredge station.  We’re going to dip the chops in flour, then the egg wash, and back into the flour once again to coat them with the breader.  Keeping an organized dredge station makes it quick and simple.

Place one of the pork chops in the seasoned breader mixture.  Use one hand to coat the top of the chop and make sure it’s fully coated all around the edges.

Pick the chop up with the same hand you used to flour it and then place it in the egg wash mixture.

Use your other hand and flip the pork chop over in the egg wash.  If you’ll use one hand for the dry mixture and the other hand for the wet mixture, you will keep your hands cleaner and not have lumps all over your fingers.  It’s a simple idea but the little things make cooking fun…and easy.

Use the “wet hand” and lift the pork chop from the egg wash.  Let any excess drip off.

Place the coated with egg wash pork chop back in the flour breader mixture once again.

Flour both sides of the pork chop, making sure to coat all around the edges.  Oooops….looks like I forgot which hand was the wet one and which was the dry one.  Flip the chop over and make sure you coat both sides completely with the seasoned breader.

Lift up the pork chop and gently shake off any excess flour.  Any loose flour will just fall off in the pan and burn quickly.  The less of that we have in the pan, the better things will be.

Place the coated chop in a plate and just let it sit while you coat the other pieces.

Once you get them all coated, you could even place them in the refrigerator to “dry out” a bit.  So, if you wanted to do these steps ahead of time, then fry them closer to serving time, that will work fine.

This is a great dish to cook up in your cast iron skillet.  If you don’t have one, any large skillet will do.  Just add about 1/4 inch of cooking oil and set the heat to medium or maybe just one notch above.  Let the oil heat up slowly and test it before starting to fry the pork chops.  You need just enough cooking oil to come about half way up the side of the thickness of your pork chops.  Adjust accordingly.

One mistake most new cooks will make is either heating the oil too fast…or too slow.  If you start seeing smoke, more than likely the pan is too hot.  Lower the heat and lift the pan off the burner for a minute to let it cool down.  You’ll need to “test” the temperature of the oil before you add the pork chops to start frying.  Once you see the oil heating up, you can drop a pinch of corn meal or flour into the oil and watch for it to “sizzle.”  If it does, you”re ready to start frying the pork chops.  You could also carefully place a drop of water in the pan.  If the temperature is at the right point, the water will start to pop or “talk” to you as it also dances around.  Just be careful if adding water and remember that all you need is about one drop.  As always, use extreme caution when frying anything.  Keep the handle of your pan turned away from the front of the stove and make sure the kids aren’t around the stove.  You can thank me later.

Gently lower one of the coated pork chops into the pan of hot oil.  You should hear it start to sizzle once it touches the hot oil.  Also, remember that adding the meat is going to cool the pan down a bit.  Add the pieces one at a time, allowing just a minute or so before adding the next one to let the oil come back up to a good frying point.  It just takes a little practice but you can learn it quickly.

Don’t crowd the pan.  I’m only going to cook two pieces at a time.  Watch the bottom of the pork chops as they begin to cook.  Once you start to see the bottom edge begin to turn brown, you’re getting close to the point to flip the chops over.

If you look at the pork chop on the right, you can see the bottom has started to brown.  At this point, use some tongs and carefully turn the chops over to fry the other side.

With the bottoms brown, flip over the chops and let them cook.  This will take about 6-8 minutes depending on your stove and how fast you’re cooking.  You want to make sure they are done, but you don’t want to over cook them as this will dry them out and make them tough.  If in doubt, take a sharp knife and cut a small slice in one of the chops so you can see if it looks done towards the middle.

When they’re done, remove the pork chops from the skillet.  Place them on a plate with a layer of paper towels to absorb any excess oil.

Serve and Enjoy!

Serve the pork chops while warm.  They go great with all types of vegetables and really well with some mashed potatoes.  You could use the leftover drippings in the pan to make a gravy for them that would also be really good.  I’m going to cook the ones left from this pack in another recipe and make some mushroom gravy to go with them.  Watch for that recipe and post soon.

I opted for the string beans and red potatoes mostly for the sake of not having everything on Taste of Southern served up with mashed potatoes and gravy.  Ha!  We southerners just love our potatoes and gravy don’t we?  And, if you know me, that hunk of Fried Pork Chop would make a great Pork Chop Sandwich slapped between a couple of slices of bread.  OK….I’m hungry….Let’s Eat.

Chili with meat.  Chili-con-carne literally means chili with meat.  This may not be a true hand me down Taste of Southern recipe from my family heritage, but every once in awhile, you find a recipe that you just want to try out.  You may not know exactly what intrigues you about it, you just know that you want to cook it and see what it tastes like.  Thus….today….I present you with Baxter’s Chili-Con-Carne Recipe.  Let me explain.

I’ve become pretty much addicted to attending a local auction house each Friday and Saturday night.  Friday night is designated towards new stuff, and Saturday night is classified as Antiques, Collectibles and Old Stuff night.  I much prefer Saturday night, but I’m usually in attendance on both nights.  And, I must add, I bring home WAY too much stuff.

On one particular Saturday night a few months back, I purchased an older book at auction.  The book is entitled “STARSTRUCK – The Wonderful World of Movie Memorabilia.”  It was published in 1986, written by Robert Heide and John Gilman.  In short, it contains lots of color, and black and white pictures of old movie posters, signs and more, with movie stars from long ago.

Since my very first job ever was working at our local movie theatre, this kind of stuff fascinates me.  I’m not a big collector but I do have a few old movie posters of my own along with some other items of interest.  Mostly, I was able to pick up this hardback book for $2.00 so I went for it.

I’ll quickly admit that I’m not much of a book reader, just give me one with lots of pictures.  Glancing through this book, there is a section on the Movie Star Magazines that were popular as I was growing up along with some earlier items.  If you remember when you use to be able to buy ice cream cups that had pictures of movie stars inside the lids of those cups, then you might be a bit older than I am.  I do remember them, but just barely, and there is an article about those in the book also.

Among the sections were a couple of pictures about movie stars and their recipes.  One of the recipes said it was “Warner Baxters own recipe for chili con carne.”  It just kind of caught my attention.  I had just started work on this website back then, and thought I’d give it a try.  As it turned out, it tasted pretty good and was simple enough to make, so I decided to add it to the site.

About the only chili we ever had around our house was hot dog and hamburger chili.  I don’t recall my mom ever making just chili with beans.  If she did, it wouldn’t have been one of her regular dishes or I’m positive I would have remembered it.

Chili con carne is said to have originated in Texas.  Thus, it’s an American dish according to Wikipedia and you’ll find it served in many restaurants throughout the South.  If you’d like to read more, you can read the latest information posted by Wikipedia by Clicking Here.

By the way, Warner Baxter was indeed a very popular movie star back in the day.  He was an American actor best known for his role as The Cisco Kid in the movie “In Old Arizona.”  He won the second Academy Award for Best Actor in the 1928-1929 Academy Awards.  He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was somewhat of an inventor as well.  He first appeared in Silent Films but later moved on to the “talkies,” as you can see by the poster above.  You can learn more about him at this link… Warner Baxter.  Baxter was rather handsome so I’m sure the ladies all liked him.  Looks a bit like Clark Gable if you ask me.

Here’s a scan of the article and recipe from the book.  Please note that I totally did NOT start out with the one and a half cups of Olive Oil, nor did I use three onions.  I made a few slight changes, but the recipe I’m offering here is adapted from the above recipe.

As I mentioned, this is a pretty quick and easy meal to prepare.  It does require soaking the beans overnight so keep that in mind.  I think you’ll like it if you give it a try.  I know there are thousands of variations on chili so I’d also be interested in learning about your favorite recipes for the same.  If you’re ready… Let’s Get Cooking!

Baxter’s Chili Con Carne Recipe:  You’ll need these ingredients for my adaptation of the recipe.

Secret Ingredients:  You’ll also need some Black Pepper, Beef Bouillon Granules and Cocoa Powder.
(OK…so maybe…just maybe…they aren’t really all that secret.  Maybe…I just forgot to include them in the picture with the other ingredients….or….maybe they just all wouldn’t fit in that one single picture.  You decide.  OK? ) 

Spread the dry beans out in a large dish or on your counter-top and sort through them.  You’ll want to remove any small sticks, rocks, or other foreign items you might find.  Also, remove any shriveled up and bad looking beans that might be included.  Beans are usually harvested by mechanical means and it’s just natural to find these type of things in any given bag of dry beans.  Just throw the bad parts away.

I like to place the sorted beans in a colander next and run some cool water over them to rinse away any dirt or dust that might be on them.

Place the rinsed beans in a large pot and cover them with several inches of cool water.  Set them aside and let them rehydrate overnight or for at least 6-8 hours.  You’ll probably also find some directions on the bag the beans came in for ways to do a quick soak if you need them sooner.

The next day, drain the dirty water off the soaked beans and rinse them once again under cool running water.  See how they have plumped up?

While the beans are draining, dice up one medium sized Onion.

Just rinse out the same sauce pot and place it on your stove.  Turn the heat to about medium-high and let it warm up for a minute or two.

As I mentioned, I opted not to use as much olive oil as the recipe called for.  Instead, I’m using 1/3 cup to saute the onions in.

Toss in the diced onions.

LOWER the heat back to medium and keep a close watch on the onions.  Stir them often and let them simmer for about 10 minutes.

Once the onions start to get a little color on the edges and turn translucent, you’re ready to move forward to the next step.

Add the Ground Beef to the pot.  Break it up with your wooden spoon or fork and stir it around a bit.

A couple of minutes later, do the same with the Ground Pork.  Drop it in the pot, break it up and stir it around.

Let the meats simmer over medium heat, stirring often to keep breaking it up.  You don’t want the meat to burn so stir often.  It will need to simmer for about 15-20 minutes, depending on your stove and heat settings.  Just let it brown and don’t overcook it.

Once most of the meat has browned, it will look something like this.

Add the 2 cans of Tomato Sauce to the mixture.

Add one Tablespoon of Chili Powder.

Add one teaspoon of Garlic Powder.

Add one teaspoon of Oregano.

Add TWO teaspoons of Beef Bouillon Granules.  Just pretend that I did this one twice… because I did.

Add Four Cups of Hot Water.  Just use hot water straight from your tap so as not to cool down the cooking process.

Add the soaked Kidney Beans to the sauce pot… carefully.

Stir it all together very well.

You may want to raise the heat just a little and let it all come back up to a slight boil.  That’s just about the time you start to see some bubbles coming to the surface and popping.

Cover the sauce pot with a good fitting lid.  The lid on my pot has an adjustable vent built in.  I normally open it up completely to allow steam to escape.

REDUCE the heat down to about Medium-Low and let the pot simmer for about 1-1/2 to 2 hours, or until the beans are done to your liking.  You’ll need to stir the pot about every 30 minutes or so to be sure nothing is sticking to the bottom.  A slow simmer is best.

Add one teaspoon of Salt.  You may want to add more or less depending on your personal tastes.  You just need to start off slow and add more as you go if you think you need a bit more.

Add one teaspoon of Cocoa Powder.

Add one teaspoon of Black Pepper.

TASTE TEST:  Stir everything together very well and let it simmer for another 10 minutes or so.  Give it a little taste test and make any adjustments as needed.  You might think it needs a little more of the Beef Bouillon Granules for more of a beefy flavor, or perhaps a little more salt or pepper.  Just make it your own recipe for you and your family.  If you do add something, make a note of it for your recipe box for next time.

Top it off with a little shredded cheddar cheese.  OK, not as little as I’m showing here.  I wanted you to see the Chili-Con-Carne and not hide it under a lot of cheese.  Add a big old hunk of cornbread on the side or maybe a hot toasted cheese sandwich of some sort.  Either way…

Serve warm and Enjoy!

Follow our step-by-step, photo illustrated instructions for making delicious Pulled Pork BBQ in your oven.  We’re using a dry rub to give the outside a bit of that crispy bark all the championship pit masters go for and, we’re including recipes for both the dry rub and our Eastern North Carolina style Barbecue Sauce.  We’re roasting it low and slow in the oven but you could also do it on the grill.

Pulled Pork BBQ, in the oven.

Pig Pickings, pulled pork, chopped or sliced barbecue, it’s all just a way of life and living here in the South.  BBQ is KING!

I realize I’m stepping into an area that can stir up a lot of emotions and opinions, especially here in North Carolina.  Still, I’m willing to do it so I can share this recipe on how you can enjoy some fresh Pulled Pork BBQ at home.  Purists will say it can’t be done in a crock pot, it can’t be done in an oven and, it can’t be done without wood and lots of smoke.  I’d tend to agree but, sometimes you just have to do the best you can with what you have to work with.

If I can’t cook it outdoors on a big grill or a pit, I’d certainly rather cook it in the oven than in a crock-pot.  Ooops, I’ve stepped on toes again.  Of course, you’ve got time and space for your own opinions about barbecue in the Comments section below.  I’ll be looking for you to chime in and share yours and don’t be afraid to speak up… OK?

While this is my first post about barbecue, lets just say that it probably will not be the last.  There is just so much to cover when it comes to making barbecue and I’m only going to scratch the surface with this recipe.  I’ll provide you with a simple Dry Rub you can use plus, I’ll give you a recipe for our Eastern North Carolina Vinegar Based Barbecue Sauce to finish it all off with it.  I didn’t say I’d give you all the family secrets just yet though.

I have fond memories of my dad stacking cinder-blocks to make a fire pit so he could sit up all night cooking a pig.  It all began of course with “hog killing” time which is a whole bunch of other stories all unto themselves.  Once the pigs were prepared or, dressed, as it was called, daddy would start up a wood fire in the pit he had made a few days before.  He’d sit up all night tending to the cooking pig and by morning, he was ready to start breaking it down so he could bring it into the kitchen where he’d chop it up to make barbecue.

It was all about the smells, the aroma’s, the smoke, the taste and, even the mess of… making barbecue.  Daddy did it all and everyone enjoyed what he prepared.  I could go on but, let’s just dive right in and get started, I’m getting hungry just thinking about it.  How about you?  Ready to cook some pig?  Good… Let’s get cooking!

You need some pork of course.  Here’s a quick look at where it’s coming from.  If you’re having a pig picking, you’ll need the whole thing.  We do those too but, we’ll be working with either a Boston Butt or a Fresh Picnic Shoulder this time around.  Can you find it on the chart?

Oven Pulled Pork BBQ Recipe:  You’ll need these ingredients to get started cooking.  I make my own dry rub and my own vinegar based barbecue sauce.  The store labelled this as a “fresh whole picnic.”  Boston Butts are pretty much a favorite around my area with the picnic shoulder running a close second.  This piece weighed just a bit over 9 pounds.  You’ll need to figure on about half of that for actual barbecue once it’s cooked.

I just place it in a clean sink and remove the outer plastic wrap.

Give it a good rinse under cold running water, washing all sides, the top and, the bottom.  If the tray its sitting in has one of those pads that absorbs liquids, throw that away along with the plastic wrapping.  I like to leave it sitting in the tray while I’m working with it.

Pat it dry with clean paper towels.

I like to trim off a lot of the excess fat.  This will be another area of contention amongst folks that cook pig.  There’s going to be plenty that doesn’t get removed so, taking off some of the visible excess isn’t really going to be a problem in my humble opinion.  You need a sharp knife and just be careful as you trim away any loose pieces of meat or, any of the excess fat from the top and sides.

You may also find a large vein as you’re trimming.  Hopefully it belongs to the pork and not you.  (Smile)  I like to remove it as much as possible just for better presentation purposes.  Sorry, I guess I should have warned you about this picture ahead of time.

Here, I’m getting into it pretty deep.  I want to get some rub on these spots before I start cooking and, as you can see, there is still a good amount of fat being left on.

I managed to trim this much away from the top and along the sides.  There’s a bunch more on the bottom but I’m not worried about that at the present time.

Now, shake on a couple of Tablespoons of the Worcestershire Sauce.  Give it a good overall coating.

Shake on about a Tablespoon of Liquid Smoke.  You can probably find this product in your grocery store, usually around the spices and marinades sections.  We’re trying to add some flavor since we will not have the luxury of actual smoke during the cooking process.

Use your hands and just rub the liquids into the meat.  Work it under any flaps that might be attached and cover as much area as you can.

Squeeze a couple of Tablespoons of Mustard onto the meat.  You can use about any type of Mustard you prefer here.  The mustard isn’t going to actually add any flavor to the meat.  We’re going to coat the pork with mustard to help hold the dry rub spices that we’ll be adding shortly.

Use your hands again and, rub the mustard over the pork to lightly coat it.

Flip it over.  This skin side is called the “fat cap.”  We’re going to coat it as well although it’s not really going to absorb any of the spices.  It’s not even going to end up in the finished product, I just wanted to show it to you.  Besides, I like to be thorough in these things.  We could have just trimmed it away in the beginning and baked it later to make pork skins.  I’ll save that for another recipe.

Give the fat cap a coat of mustard as well.  It’s going to melt into the fat at the bottom of the pan but may add some flavor along the way.  Just rub it down with a thin layer of mustard.

If we were cooking this out on the grill, the skin would crisp up and get hard.  Some folks like to add a bit of that into their barbecue.  Its pretty tasty when cooked that way and, daddy always chopped it up into the barbecue he made.  However, since we’re baking this in the oven, it will not end up crispy from sitting in the bottom of a roasting pan once the fat starts breaking down.

Flip it back over and lets add the Dry Rub.  The dry rub is just a mixture of spices for adding flavor to the meat.  You will find thousands of versions of how to make dry rub if you start searching for them.  Most of the folks that cook ribs, briskets, chicken and pork, make their own rubs.  You should give it a try sometime and create one of your own.  Then you can have your own “signature” rub.  Keep it secret though, thats the fun part.

You can also purchase a variety of dry rubs in your local grocery store.  Lawry’s Seasoning Salt would work well along with many others.

It’s called a dry rub for a reason.  You’re suppose to rub it into the meat and work it into it really good.  The problem here is that it’s covered in mustard and trying to rub it just causes it to form little balls of spice and doesn’t seem to really accomplish the needed effect.

Just use your fingers and pat it into the mustard coating.  You just want to be sure it’s sticking to the outside.  I did the top, bottom and all sides until it was coated all over.

Next, line a baking pan with Aluminum Foil.  You need something a couple of inches deep because this meat is going to produce a lot of fat in the bottom of the pan.  The foil makes for simple cleanup of course.

Place some plastic wrap across the the pan in both directions.  Place the meat inside the pan.

Fold the sides of the plastic wrap up and around the meat.  Wrap it securely and then just sit the whole pan in your refrigerator overnight.

That’s right… overnight.  We want to just let it soak up the spices as much as possible before we start cooking.

Next Day:  Remove the plastic wrap AND, the TRAY, if you had left it in.  We’re ready to start cooking some pig… low and slow.

Preheat the oven to – 250 degrees.  Once you’ve reached cooking temperature, place the pan on one of the lower racks in your oven.

Just as if we were cooking this on the grill, we’re baking it Low and Slow.  The temperature needs to be at 250º and the time will vary based on the weight of the meat being cooked.  You should figure just about one hour for each pound of meat that you have.

If you wanted to cook this on the grill, you should cook it over indirect heat at the same temperature and this will also take about one hour per pound of meat being cooked.

You will want to check it after its cooked for about 4 hours.  At that time, we’re going to start basting it with some of our vinegar based sauce and, we will do that once each hour until the meat is done.  Hopefully, you’ve got a good Meat Thermometer to keep track.

Speaking of grills… this is a pig cooker.  Yes, this is a shameless plug for my brothers grills.  We believe its one of the best pig cookers you’ll find anywhere around.  He started renting and selling these years ago at his grocery store.  He kept the cooker part of the business when he retired from the grocery business and he’s sold a ton of these things.  I’ve been riding with him over the past several months as we deliver them to places all over Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky.  He’s got them all across America and down in the Bahamas.  They’re just that good.

I built a website for him several years back and you can learn all about them at www.CarolinaPigCookers.com.  I’ve even got some video’s of the folks we’ve been delivering too.  My brother and I have joked about making a reality type TV show about delivering cookers.  Maybe one day.  Do check out the website though.  The cookers have many available options.  You Know You Want One!

I’m sorry.  I guess it’s just the former radio announcer in me coming out.  I have to do a commercial every once in awhile.  Thank you for listening.  We now return you to our regular scheduled recipe.

This is after four hours at 250º in my oven.  It’s looking a little dry on the top but that’s what I wanted.  That crispy outside edge is called the “bark” and it will be full of flavor when its finished.  I love it.

Use a basting brush and, brush on some of the Eastern North Carolina Vinegar Based Sauce.  I’ve included the recipe in the printable at the bottom along with the recipe for the dry rub.  Daddy use to call this a “mop.”  He would make a brush using a stick with some cotton rags tied to the end of it to brush the sauce over the whole pig as it cooked.

It keeps the surface of the meat moist as it’s cooking so it doesn’t dry out too much.  He would also add some butter and a couple of slices of lemon into the mopping sauce he made.  It wouldn’t take much lemon juice, in the small amount of sauce we’re making, to overpower it and, the butter just rises to the top in the sauce after it cools.  I’d do it if it were a whole hog though… just to follow the family tradition.

In case you aren’t familiar with it… North Carolina has a bit of a “controversy” over which way to prepare barbecue.  The Eastern part of the state prefers what we call a Vinegar Based Sauce while the Western Part of the state has it’s Tomato Based Sauce, also often referred to as Lexington Style.  Since I’m in the Piedmont area of the state, I’m pretty much located in the middle but, my house prefers the Eastern North Carolina Vinegar Based Barbecue Sauce as opposed to the ones that are made with ketchup or, some form of tomato sauce or paste.

I like them both but, given a choice, I’ll opt for the vinegar based.  If you travel a bit further South, like down to South Carolina, they have one that is Mustard Based.  I believe its Alabama that has one called a White Sauce that is made of well…wait for it… mayonnaise.

The BBQ Song below will give you a good idea of what all the confusion is about.  Since we’re cooking this pork low and slow… we’ve got time for some entertainment.

You might like to check out THE BBQ SONG, as performed by Rhett and Link from nearby Lillington, North Carolina.  These two guys do a lot of comedy videos about all sorts of things.  They live about 30 miles from my town and, they stopped by for a visit on one of my radio programs back in my broadcasting days.  It pokes a bit of fun about the whole Southern BBQ thing.  Just be back before the pork is done… OK?

Pork is considered done nowadays at an internal temperature of 145º.  You will want to cook your pork shoulder, picnic or Boston Butt up to 190º.  This higher temperature will cause the proteins and collagen to further break down and, make the pork juicer and more flavorful.  Let it cook on up to the full 190 degree mark before taking it out of the oven.

When the pork is done, remove it from the oven.  Be careful not to spill all those hot juices on you.

If you recall, I started out with a 9 pound piece of pork.  The actual cooking time for me was 7 hours.  I couldn’t find my oven thermometer and I suspect that my oven is cooking a bit warmer than it indicates.  But again, you’re looking to cook it on low heat for as long as it takes to reach that 190º mark.  Your actual cooking time will vary based on your oven.

Remove the pork from the pan and place it on a large sheet of aluminum foil.  I just used a couple of forks to lift the pork from the pan.  The fat cap on the bottom stuck to the foil in the pan and it just pulled away from the meat as I lifted it up.  I’m not using it anyway so, no problem.

Gather the foil up and wrap it tightly around the cooked pork.  What… you thought you were fixing to eat it NOW?  (Smile)

Next, grab a clean towel and, wrap it up really good.

If you have a cooler, you can place this inside the cooler.  If not, just do like I did and leave it out on the counter top.  The meat needs to REST for about one hour before you pull it apart.  This just requires patience and restraint.  You can do it though and you’ll be happily rewarded for it.

Allowing the meat to rest like this will make it much more juicier than if you just started ripping it apart now.  During this time, the internal temperature will rise another 5º to 10º or so.  This carry over temperature allows time for the juices to absorb back into the meat and, makes the finished product hold the juice that you would otherwise see running out if you sliced it right away.

After the meat has had an hour to rest, remove the towel and the foil and, place the meat in another clean baking or roasting pan.  As you can see in the photo above, this is the bottom.  The fat cap pulled off when I lifted it from the roasting pan so I don’t have to bother with that.

I grabbed two forks and just scraped away some more of the fat that was remaining.  You may like the fat and want to leave it in but, I just have never acquired a taste for it.  Some folks leave it in their BBQ while others remove it.  Its a personal choice so make yourself happy and do what pleases you.  I promise not to argue with you about taking it out though.

Use the forks like bear claws and start pulling the meat apart.  Remember, its still pretty hot so, don’t burn your fingers trying to pull it apart. The bone will pull out really easy if the meat is cooked properly.

Continue to use the forks and pull the meat apart… thus the name… Pulled Pork.  Creative huh?

Sometimes, when we do a whole hog or, pig picking, we just let folks come up and pull off what they want of the pig thats been cooked.  That’s OK if you’re cooking with wood and smoking the meat a good bit.  You’ll have some good flavor from the smoke ring that forms just beneath the skin as it cooks.

Here’s a piece of the top of the meat with it’s bark.  Once it was all mixed up, it had a good flavor from the spices that had been baked into the meat.  It was really quite tasty at this point but… let’s make it even better.

I weighed this out and had just an ounce or two over five pounds of meat.  I started out with nine pounds so, I lost four to the trimming, cooking and removal of the bone.  Its still a lot of meat and well worth the time to fix it.  To be considered “pulled” you will want to leave it in shreds like its pictured.  You could also chop it up if you desire, its just whatever makes you happiest when it comes to barbecue.

Start out slowly in adding the sauce.  Sauce is meant to compliment the meat and not overpower it.  Of course, this is the good part because, you get to add a little sauce, taste it… then add some more and taste it again.  Drizzle the sauce over the cooked meat and then stir it in.

Just jump in with both hands and mix the sauce in really good.  Be gentle with it though… you don’t want it turning into a bunch of mushiness from overworking it.  Taste it, then add more sauce, vinegar, pepper, whatever you think it needs.  Make it your own Special Sauce.

Serve it while it’s warm.  Barbecue is best when enjoyed shortly after its made.  It will keep in the refrigerator for several days… if it lasts that long and, it can be frozen if absolutely need be.  It will change the taste a bit in my opinion but, I’ve got several cartons of this in my freezer as I write.

This stuff makes some great sandwiches.  Just add some of our Creamy Cole Slaw and you’re good to go.  Serve it with Baked Beans, Potato Salad or, whatever your favorite side dish might be.  Don’t forget the Sweet Tea either.  Just be sure to keep some extra sauce close by, along with the Texas Pete and some pepper flakes so, your family and guests can spice it up the way they like it.  I could eat this stuff everyday… even for breakfast.  Must be a Southern boy… right?

Enjoy!!!

Chances are, you missed National Pig Pickin’ Day for the year 2013 and… it’s all my fault.  You should know that May is National BBQ Month but if you don’t, I’m sorry, I can’t accept responsibility for that one.  I will however take full blame for the fact that you may not have been eating any BBQ on May 18, 2013.  Let me explain.

The very FIRST National Pig Pickin’ Day:

The very first Official National Pig Pickin’ Day was held on May 18, 2013… a day that will go down in BBQ history.  You probably missed it this year and, if you did, its all MY fault.  I totally accept full responsibility for you missing out on this special event and, to make matters worse, it was indeed the very FIRST one ever held in the whole wide world.

But, take heart, all is not lost on this day.  I can gladly say that the very First and Official “National Pig Pickin’ Day” Event went off very well.

Any National type event has to start off somewhere… right?  The very first National Pig Pickin’ Day event was held this past Saturday, May 18, 2013 in Sanford, North Carolina.  Sanford is situated in Lee County, better known as the heart of North Carolina.  We’re a growing community, conveniently located to Raleigh-Durham, Chapel Hill, Greensboro, Southern Pines, Fayetteville and Gulf, NC.  Gulf is a much smaller community where country singer and musician Charlie Daniels first learned how to play guitar.  I’m proud to say I know the man that taught him and, the lady that claims to have sold him his first guitar.

But more about National Pig Pickin’ Day 2013. 

Back at the first of the year, I had this great idea to put on a BBQ Cooking Competition in our area based on the fact that my brother sells one of the best pig cookers you’ll find anywhere.  He’s sold over 1600 of them in the past few years and they’re all handcrafted right here in North Carolina and, made to last a lifetime.

The plan was to host this BBQ Cookoff and invite the owners of the Carolina Pig Cooker to participate.  We’d do it just to have some fun with the owners of the grills and also as a fundraiser event for Family Promise which helps provide shelter for the homeless.  About 10 churches in our area participate in Family Promise and like most non-profits, they can always use some extra funds.  A family that has lost a home, for whatever reason, can spend one week in each of the 10 churches that provide shelter, warm food and lots of encouragement so, hopefully by the end of the ten weeks, the family will have saved up enough money to get back into a home.  It’s a good program and my brothers church participates in it.

I shared the idea with my brother and how we could bring many of the Carolina Pig Cooker grill owners together for some fun, fellowship and a little friendly competition.  We’d get at least 10 of them together, provide them each with a pig to cook, judge one as the best, chop up all the pig and make BBQ then, we’d sell plates until it was all gone.  Easy huh?

Well, we kind of thought so at first but, the more we dived into it, the more we realized, we just didn’t have enough time to properly pull it off by May 18th, the date I had determined would become National Pig Pickin’ Day.  I had selected a day in May because the entire month of May is already recognized as National BBQ Month anyway.  It just seemed like a logical fit for it.

The more excited we got about the idea, the more we realized that we might should put it off until the fall of this year.  So, we’ve set the month of October as a time to hold the BBQ Competition and plate sale.  Now, we just have to really get busy and make it happen.

However, we couldn’t just let May 18th pass us by without doing something.  Afterall, it had already been declared National Pig Pickin’ Day.

The local auction house that I attend almost every Friday and Saturday night had been asking me about having a pig picking as a promotion for the auction house.  I approached the owner about doing a fundraiser plate sale at his place of business on the official day set aside as National Pig Pickin’ Day and… as they say… the rest is now history.  I have the picture to prove it.  No, that’s not a typo, its meant to be singular because ONE PICTURE is all I managed to get to prove we actually did celebrate National Pig Pickin’ Day.

Allow me to explain:

Three weekends ago, Carolina Pig Cookers was asked to throw a real Southern style Pig Picking at the home of an attorney in Charlotte, NC.  His name is Jim and he wanted to invite 100 guests to his house for his annual party.  Seems he lives right on the golf course down that way and, they were hosting the Wells Fargo PGA Tournament that weekend.  So, my brother, my nephew-by-marriage and, yours truly, packed up the gear and headed to Charlotte to cook some pig for the pig picking.

We travelled about three hours and having visited the site, made some last minute shopping and, picked up some boxed chicken for supper, we settled down in our hotel room just about midnight.  We all tried to get some sleep about 1:00am but didn’t have much luck with it.  We were all back up at 4:00am and at Jim’s house with the pig on the cooker and cooking at 5:05am.  It takes a long time to slow cook a pig.

It was still dark and we started unpacking for the day.  The photo above was taken around noon time as my brother and Wren began setting up the serving area.  Guests would start arriving around 5:00pm.

Wren, on the left and, my brother, pictured here on the right, began prepping the food for the day.  My whole purpose in being there was pretty much the driver and photographer.  You see, I wanted to take full step-by-step photos and some video of how to cook a pig on one of the Carolina Pig Cooker grills. 

I got up at 4:00am to drive everyone else back over to the work site and, I had planned to go back to the hotel room once the pig was placed on the grill and take a shower for the day.  But then, we discovered we needed another item or two and I ended up driving my brother over to one of those big box stores.  There really wasn’t anything for me to do at that particular time so I offered to drive for him.  I’m just that kind of guy.

We got back around 10:00am and I took a couple of pictures of the work in progress.  We shot a little video about the pig and I was about ready to go back to the hotel room for that shower.  As it turns out, Wren had decided he’d like to get back home that night as opposed to us staying over night as had originally been planned.  We all agreed that it would be fine so, I headed back to the hotel room to collect our things, shower and, check us out by 11:00am.  It was 10:45 by the time I got back to the room but, the very nice desk clerk lady gave me another hour to grab that shower and get us all packed and checked out.

Arriving back at the catering site, work was moving along on prepping all the food for the day.  Wren had been busy chopping Bell Peppers, Onions and slicing some Bacon for the Baked Beans while my brother had been working on his famous BBQ Sauce and some other goodies for the pig.

Our menu for the party that evening was as follows:

Chopped Pork Barbecue
Baked Beans
Green Beans with White Potatoes
Cole Slaw
Hushpuppies
Banana Pudding
Sweet Tea

It was approaching 1:00pm by now and I was informed that the crew had saved the making of the Banana Pudding for me.  I already kind of knew that since my brother had first mentioned that Jim had requested we serve Banana Pudding for dessert that evening.  The original plan was to try and use the hosts kitchen to make Banana Pudding from scratch with a cooked custard and egg white meringue topping but, we had to abandon that and go for the regular catering version instead. 

Around 3:30pm, my brother called Jim over to give the now cooked pig a taste test.  That’s Jim with the big smile and a couple of ribs in his hand.  I’m sorry but I don’t remember the name of the guest on the left.  Jim gave his full approval to the pig taste test and with that… the party was on.

Once Jim tried another rib or two, my brother went into action and started chopping up the BBQ.  This is his specialty and, in about an hour, he had it all chopped up, sauced up and ready to be served.  You can see Jim in the background and a couple of the guests that milled around the cooker while the work continued.

I had completed making my two large pans of Banana Pudding while Wren had all the other items ready and was setting up the serving area.  We were right on schedule and the first of the guests gathered under our tent to fill up their plates.

I just need to say that Jim and all of his family and friends were one of the nicest bunch of folks we have ever worked for.  We were pretty well give out tired by this time but, the guests boosted our moral and spirits with all of their kind and gracious compliments.  They could have treated us like the hired help we were but, instead, they all came over to talk with us about the food, pig pickings in general and made us feel like part of the family.  It was Awesome!  Thank you Jim and to all your friends as well.  You made us very happy and it was a pleasure to have been a part of the experience.

We monitored our buffet line until around 7:00pm, moved the remaining food over to one of Jims tables and by 7:30pm, Wren and I were sitting in the packed truck waiting for my brother to wrap things up with Jim.  Jim came out to the truck to speak to Wren and myself and, then he made us all promise that we would come back next year and do it all again.  How cool is that? 

We were all exhausted after such a long day and still running on just a few hours overnight sleep.  I knew that my brother and Wren were counting on me now to get us back home safe and sound.  We pulled out tired but happy and, feeling as good as we could about all the great compliments we had received that evening and just settled back for the ride home.  I got Wren home about 12:00 midnight and I got home about 12:30.  My brother had to drive himself home from my house and it was about 1:00am he said before he got into bed.

Now, the point of this story is that I was suppose to take pictures.  I wanted to use the pictures to setup a recipe for National Pig Pickin’ Day.  Problem is, once we got past the point of the pig being ready, I never had the chance to take any more pictures.  I had missed the opportunity.  Ugh.

But, I knew that the following weekend, my brother was scheduled to cook not one but, TWO pigs for our local Arts Council fundraising event.  I still had a chance to get the photos and create the recipe and step-by-step photos in time for National Pig Pickin’ Day.  But wait, pretty much the same thing happened again.  It was just my brother and myself this time, Wren was at his full time job and again, once the pig came off the grill, there wasn’t time to take pictures.  I had missed my second and final chance to get something up BEFORE National Pig Pickin’ Day.

That brings us to this picture. 

This past Saturday morning, just after midnight, I was back at my brothers house as we removed yet another pig from cold storage and placed it on one of the Carolina Pig Cooker grills.  It seems all of my pictures of placing a pig on the grill have been made with flash… in the dark. 

The pictures turned out OK, it’s just not much to look at.  Pig looks better once it’s all cooked so I’m going to spare you, for now, on seeing the pig just after it went on the grill. 

We were cooking THIS PIG for National Pig Pickin’ Day.  It had to be ready by 10:00am because we would start serving at 12:00noon.  It was about 2:00am Saturday morning before I got home and into bed and, 5:30am when the alarm clock went off to get back up.  Somehow, we just don’t get any sleep when it’s time to cook pig. 

It was just going to be me and my brother again this time and, we were responsible for getting everything ready by noon serving time.  So, we met at the auction house about 8:30am on Saturday morning, set the tent and tables up and jumped right in on prepping the food to be served.

The menu for the very first, officially sanctioned, National Pig Pickin’ Day event is as follows:

Pulled Pork Barbecue
Candied Yams
Baked Beans
Texas Toast
Banana Pudding

We might have been about 5 minutes late in getting our first plate out but, let me tell you, we started making plates at 12:05pm as the tent was immediately surrounded with folks and we never stopped until an hour later when… we had sold completely out of barbecue. 

I made plates on one side of a long table and Wanda, wife of the auctioneer, made plates on the other side.  We handed those off to Patricia who was taking up tickets and handing out prepared plates along with taking donations for a cup of Banana Pudding.  My brother had finished chopping and saucing up the Barbecue and was moving hot pans of food from the cooker to the table about as fast as we were making plates.

Every once in awhile I got a chance to sneak a peek at the long line of folks waiting for their plates and, it was nothing but relief when I saw only two folks waiting for plates.  That’s when I told Wanda that the old man had to sit down.  I don’t know how I had managed to continue to stand up for even that length of time.  The legs have given up their youth and being up for more than 10 minutes at a time usually is all I can handle.  I can only give thanks to God for the strength to keep pushing out plates.  Thank you also to Wanda and Patricia for their help with the serving line, to Charles for holding down the styrofoam hinged lid plates as the wind tried to blow them away and, to Ricky and his son Joseph for allowing us to be on the property of the auction house, slinging BBQ left and right.

By now, you may have figured out WHY I only have this one picture of the pig on the cooker.  That’s right, once it was ready, there never was time again to get any more pictures.  We had the very first Nationa Pig Pickin’ Day fundraiser and, I don’t even have one single picture of our setup, the auction house or anything else to share with you.  How could that have possibly happened three times in a row?

Since we were all donating our time to Family Promise, we did manage to raise a little money for them and, hopefully a little awareness of the program with those that purchased plates.  We had a good time but we were all exhausted once again by the time it got around to cleaning everything up, afterall, there was an auction coming up just a few hours away. 

Thank you to everyone that stopped by for a plate and again for your compliments on the food.  We do hope you enjoyed it.

Thank you very much to Ricky, Wanda and Joseph at R&W Auctions for hosting the very first, officially sanctioned, “National Pig Pickin’ Day” Event… ever held in the entire world.  We truly made history on May 18th and I promise, good Lord willing, we’ll do much bigger and better next year.

We knew we had to start somewhere and we can’t wait to see where we’re going.

Be Blessed!!!
Steve

Follow step-by-step, photo illustrated instructions to fry up some good old Southern Hog Jowl.  Often referred to as Pork Jowl Bacon, it’s not just for New Years Day.  We’ll show you how easy it is to slice it for frying, or to use it as seasoning in lots of your favorite beans and greens side dishes.  Printable recipe included.

Hog Jowl is typically something you might only look for in the grocery store as you plan your New Years Day menu.  It’s sad, but that’s just the way it is.  I say “sad,” because it can be used all year round, but most folks don’t think about it beyond the traditional New Years Day meal.

So, what exactly IS this Hog Jowl that we speak of?  Well, it’s Bacon.  Maybe not the typical bacon you might think of, but it’s still a type of bacon.  And, it’s just as good as what you normally consider bacon to be.  The bacon you typically purchase is made from smoked and cured pork belly.  Hog Jowl Bacon comes from smoked and cured cheeks of the pig.  Both have sections of fat, and sections of meat. Regular bacon though, doesn’t come with the rind, or skin, like Hog Jowl normally does.  The Hog Jowl part, is more like fatback in that respect. But, we’re getting off into another section and direction all together.  Let’s try to stay focused.

You can slice the Hog Jowl, as we’ll show you below, and fry it just like bacon.  (Because it IS bacon.) You can also use it to season up Pinto Beans, Butterbeans, Black Eye Peas, or even your Collard Greens.  It’s very versatile, AND it’s usually much cheaper than regular bacon.  That makes me smile.

Serving pork on New Years Day is a big part of our Southern tradition.  Because pigs “root,” or “forage” in a forward direction, this moving forward is seen as a symbol of moving forward as you begin a new year.  You can read more about our Southern New Years Day meal by clicking: HERE

Personally, I prefer to use Hog Jowl over Ham Hocks when I cook up a pot of peas or beans.  There’s just a little difference in the taste of the smoked jowls that tickles my taste buds, so I try to keep some in the freezer year round.  Normally, buying a section or two just as the year ends, and placing it in the freezer, will keep me in good supply for months to come.

So, if you’re ready to keep the tradition going, Let’s Get Cooking!

How To Fry Hog Jowl

Fried Hog Jowl:  You’ll need this, a Hog Jowl, smoked and cured.

This is the meat side of this particular piece of Hog Jowl.  It’s been fully smoked and cured and it’s ready to be sliced and fried.

You’ll find Hog Jowl in all types of shapes and forms, large pieces and small, when you go to purchase it.  It just depends on how it’s been cut and prepared by the butcher.  You’ll find thin pieces and you’ll find thick pieces.  Just pick out the one that suits your fancy.

This is skin side up.  Most of the time, Hog Jowl will come with the rind, or skin, still attached.  You can leave this on, but you’ll need a good sharp knife to cut through it.  I think the markings on this one is what caught my attention the most.  It looks like it’s straight off the grill, but it’s just from where it was smoked and cured.

It looks like bacon!  Once you slice into it, you’ll see how much it resembles bacon.  You’ve got a good amount of fat, and some marbled lean meat as well.  You’ll often find it labelled as Pork Jowl Bacon if it’s been smoked and cured.  The neat thing about it is, you can slice it up as thin or as thick as you like.

As mentioned, you’ll need a good sharp knife to slice through the skin part.  It’s best to have the meat really cold, so you might want to pop it into the freezer for about 15 minutes before you try to slice it.  It just make it firmer and easier to work with.

Slice off enough bacon like pieces to fry up in the skillet.  I like it a little thick so these pieces are a good quarter of an inch thick or more.

When I got down to the thinner edge, I just cut it up into hunks.  I’ll freeze these to be used later as seasoning meat when cooking up Pinto Beans, Black Eye Peas and other dishes.

Because I still don’t have that food saver to vacuum seal my foods with, I start out by wrapping each piece in clear plastic wrap.

Then I wrap each one of those in aluminum foil.  Next, I place several pieces inside a good Ziplock bag and place them in the freezer.  I did this to keep that heavy, smokey aroma from getting into my ice cubes and other food items in the freezer.  I can pull one of these out of the freezer when I start to soak my Black Eye Peas overnight, then it’ll be thawed and ready to toss in the pot when I start cooking the peas the next day.

I warmed up the cast iron skillet and placed the sliced pieces of the Hog Jowl inside.

Cook them just below Medium heat on your stove top.  You’ll need to turn them as needed so they don’t overcook in any one place.  Rotating them around in the pan can help as well.  Just keep an eye on them and don’t let them cook too fast and burn.  Unless you like it burned, that’s your choice.

Thicker slices will not crisp up like thin slices of bacon, but it will get pretty close.  Cook it up as brown as you like it.  When it’s done, remove it from the pan and place it on a couple of sheets of folded paper towels and let it drain a bit.

Because it’s full of fat, you’ll have a good amount of grease remaining in the pan.  This can be saved and used just like you would with bacon grease.  It will also add good flavoring to your other dishes. Don’t pour it out, save it in a container inside the refrigerator.

Serve it warm and enjoy!

Follow our step-by-step, photo illustrated recipe to make this traditional Southern favorite of Country Ham and Red Eye Gravy.  The gravy may be somewhat of an acquired taste, but it’s too easy to make to not give it a try.  We’ll fry up the Country Ham, make the gravy and show you how to take breakfast up to another level.  Printable recipe included.

Country Ham with Red Eye Gravy Recipe:

Through the years, many a person has started their day with a breakfast consisting of Country Ham and Red Eye Gravy.  Country Ham itself is a cured ham, first mentioned in print back in 1944, and referred to as a method of curing and often times smoking of pork meat.  It’s typically very salty.

According to the online encyclopedia known as Wikipedia, Red Eye Gravy is mostly associated with the Southern United States and is made from the pan drippings left from cooking country ham, or bacon, and is normally made using black coffee to deglaze the pan.  The name itself comes from the appearance of the gravy once it’s been placed in a serving bowl.  The dark coffee and meat bits sink to the bottom, a layer of grease is usually visible on top, and the result gives the appearance of a human eye.  And, so ends our History lesson for the day.

The December issue of Our State Magazine contained an article about Henry West down in Duplin County here in North Carolina, and told about his Westwater Country Hams.  It’s an interesting read and brought back lots of memories from my childhood as I watched my dad rub salt all over a ham or two right after we had killed hogs on Thanksgiving Day.  Later, he’d hang them up in an old storage building out back of our house where they would remain for months before we ever had the chance to enjoy their distinct flavor.

I’ve been telling my older brother lately, that I’ve recently developed a “hankering” to try and cure a ham myself.  I’m not sure where the urge is coming from other than all the cookbooks and stories I’ve been reading over the past few years, and the many stories my brother tells me while we travel the roads of North Carolina and beyond delivering his custom built pig cookers.  He thinks I’m a bit wacky, but he’s offered his tool shed to let me hang it up in.  We’ll see.

I do hope you’ll give our Red Eye Gravy recipe a try.  If you enjoy Country Ham and ever cook it at home, the gravy is just too quick and simple to not try out at least one time.  I’ll be waiting to hear from you in the Comment section below and feel free to share your memories of Country Ham with us as well.  So, if you’re ready… Let’s Get Cooking.

Country Ham and Red Eye Gravy:  You’ll need these ingredients.  Yep, there’s some coffee in that cup.

Most center cut slices of ham are pretty large.  It will be easier to fry if you’ll cut the slice in half.

Cut through the layer of fat around the slices about every three inches.  This will help keep the ham slice from curling so bad while it cooks. Some folks also like to remove the “rind” or outer skin layer from the ham slice prior to cooking.  That’s an option that’s entirely up to you.  I left it on this slice.

Country Ham is usually very salty.  I prefer to soak my slices in water for 30 minutes to an hour to try and reduce some of that salty taste.  It’s still going to be pretty salty even after you soak it.  Soaking is not required but I highly recommend it.  A glass pie dish comes in handy for soaking one or two pieces. Just place the ham in the dish, cover with water, and let sit for for about 30 minutes or longer.  Some of the water will also absorb back into the ham and cause it to plump up a bit.  Some folks soak in milk, but water will work just fine.

When the ham is ready to fry, remove it from the water and pat it dry with some paper towels.  Then, place your skillet over medium heat on your stove top.  When the pan gets hot, drop in about one Tablespoon of Butter.

Place the ham in the skillet.  As you can see, this is one slice of ham and it fills up my 10 inch skillet.

Country Ham will cook pretty quick.  Turn it after about two minutes and let it cook until the fat around the edge is translucent.  Do not overcook the ham, it can get really tough and dry if you do.  Most folks that don’t like Country Ham have probably only had ham that was over cooked.  Having said that, my late wife would order a ham biscuit at a drive-thru and tell them she wanted the hardest, dryest piece of ham they had.  If they didn’t have one, she’d ask that they “burn it” for her.  To each his own… right?

Just cook it until you get it the way you like it.  When it’s ready, remove it from the pan.

Don’t throw out the good stuff though.  We’re going to use the pan drippings from the cooked ham to make our Red Eye Gravy.  You will need about two Tablespoons of the grease.  If you have more than that in the pan, pour it out but save all the hard bits and pieces inside the skillet.  Place it back on the heat.

Pour the cool coffee into the skillet.  It will steam up and start to deglaze the pan.

Use a spatula and scrape the bottom of the pan as you stir the liquid.  You want to break all the bits and pieces free from the bottom of the skillet.

Then, add in the water.  I’m using cool tap water, straight from the faucet.  Stir that around some more.

Continue to stir and scrape the bottom of the skillet as you let the liquid come back up to a low boil. Then, reduce the heat and let the gravy simmer and reduce. You’ll need to taste it to see if it needs anything. You could add a little more Salt or maybe some Black Pepper if need be. The gravy needs to reduce down to about half it’s volume and the flavors will become more intense and concentrated in the process.

Your Red Eye Gravy should be ready in just a few minutes.  Remove the pan from the stove and pour the gravy in a small serving dish or gravy boat.

Serve the Red Eye Gravy as a side with your Country Ham slices.  Some folks like to dip a biscuit into the gravy and use it as an au jus.  It’s great to drizzle over the ham slice itself, or to add a bit of gravy to your cooked grits.  You might also like to keep a bit of Jelly handy to help offset the saltiness in the Country Ham, but either way you try it… Enjoy!

Follow our step-by-step, photo illustrated recipe to make this combination pork sausage and ground beef meatloaf.  We’re using a mild flavored sausage, and recipe from an old North Carolina company known as Neese Sausage.  You could take it up a notch by adding hot sausage if you’d prefer. Either way, we’ve got a new twist on an old favorite. Printable recipe included.

Neese’s Sausage-Beef Meat Loaf Recipe:

When winter weather arrived in North Carolina, back when I was a youngster, it meant hog killing time. Daddy raised a couple for our family each year and usually on Thanksgiving Day, instead of sitting down for a big dinner, we got up early and ended the day late, preparing pork for the winter ahead.  OK, I didn’t really do much, I was a bit young and pretty much a city slicker, but I do have some fond memories of those days.

Daddy made his own sausage and I got a kick out of helping turn the handle on the sausage grinder he would clamp down on the kitchen table. I remember he went a bit heavy on the Sage, but it was still good with one of Mama’s Buttermilk Biscuits on a cold morning.

Other than homemade sausage, we grew up eating Neese’s Country Sausage around our house. Neese’s is an old North Carolina Company dating back to around 1917 according to their website.  I still love their Liver Pudding products, and my brother is a bit fond of their Souse Meat.  They just make some really good products and we’re proud to know they’re North Carolina home folks.

I spotted a small Neese Cookbook at a local auction a couple of weeks ago and had to add it to my collection.  I broke bad and spent a whole dollar bill for it.  I’m a big spender like that.  I can’t help it some times.  Later, while thumbing through the recipes here at home, I saw this one particular recipe for a Sausage-Beef Meat Loaf and decided I had to give it a try.  I think it turned out pretty well and I hope you’ll feel the same way should you decide to try it at your house.

I used the Mild Country Sausage from Neese’s, but you could punch it up a notch by using their Hot brand if you’re up to it.  Either way, it’s a great variation on an old Southern favorite that I’m sure you’ll enjoy.  I also liked the fact that it uses crumbled up Cornbread instead of white bread, breadcrumbs, or crackers.  That was different, and I liked being able to use some of the last batch I made in my cast iron skillet.

I’ll tell you a bit more about the cookbook in just a minute.  If you’re ready for some Neese’s, then Let’s Get Cooking!

This is the Neese recipe book that I picked up for 1.00 at a local auction.  Interestingly enough, the book is marked on the back as costing $1.00 originally. Seems they hold there value pretty well at least. I leaned it up against an old wooden Neese Country Sausage crate that was given to me by a friend a couple of years back.

I’ve loved the old crate since the day I got it. It’s become even more of a treasure in the past few weeks though. The fellow that gave it to me suddenly passed away right before Christmas at age 48.  It was a shock to all of us and he is dearly missed.  He was all the time buying and selling stuff, and thought I’d like the crate so he gave it to me.  He was a bit of a character and we always ended up joking and laughing about almost anything.

The book contains 34 pages of recipes, all printed on thick brown colored paper.  Here’s a scan of the Sausage-Beef Meat Loaf recipe as seen on page 19 of the recipe book. It didn’t have an exact date, but I think it was printed in 1976, probably as some type of promotional advertising piece for the sausage company.

I wanted to show you the end of the wooden crate.  It’s marked with a Value of $1.75 and “Please Return.”  The crate has a hinged wooden lid but I think someone may have just done that themselves. I’ve contacted the Neese Sausage Company to see if they can give me some more information on both the crate and the recipe book, but haven’t heard back from them yet.  I just hope they don’t ask me to RETURN the crate.

Neese’s Sausage-Beef Meat Loaf Recipe:  You’ll need these ingredients.

We’ll start by washing, slicing, and dicing up the stalk of Celery.  So far… so good.

Do the same with the Bell Pepper. If I had a farm, I’d raise nothing but Bell Peppers.  They get up to about $1.50 each around here in the Winter months.  During the Summer, I can usually find them at a local roadside produce stand priced at 5 for $1.00.  I buy a couple of dollars worth, slice them up and freeze them.  This one happened to be fresh though.

Place your skillet over Medium heat.  When it’s warm, drop in a couple of Tablespoons of Butter.

Add the diced Bell Peppers.

Add the diced Celery.

Stir them around and saute them until they are lightly browned.  Don’t let them burn as you continue to work on the rest of the recipe.

Place the Ground Beef and the Neese’s Sausage in a large mixing bowl. Just remember that you’re only using half the one pound package of Sausage.

Use your fingers and crumble up all the meat.

When you have it all crumbled, mix it up real good.

Add the slightly browned Celery and Bell Peppers.  I poured the little bit of butter left in the skillet right in with the veggies.

Crumble up the cornbread and add it into the mixture.  I’m going a bit “rustic” here, you might want to crumble your cornbread a bit more, like bread crumbs.

Add the can of Cream of Onion Soup.  Do not add the water you would normally add to make the soup, just pour it undiluted, straight out of the can.

Add the Salt.

Add the Black Pepper.

Break the Eggs into a small bowl and whisk them up a bit with a fork.

Add the Eggs to the mixture.

Jump in with both hands and mix it all up really good.

Butter up a 9″ x 5″ loaf pan.  Brush the butter all in the bottom and all around the sides, all the way to the top.

Spoon the mixture into the loaf pan and spread it out evenly.  Use gentle pressure to pack it down in the pan.  Be sure to wipe any excess off from around the edges of the pan, otherwise it’ll just burn right on and make cleaning the pan a bit more trouble. You can thank me later.

Open up the can of Tomato Sauce and pour it all over the top.

Cover the top completely.  I wasn’t sure about this part as my pan was about to overflow.

PLEASE NOTE:  This is not the typical ketchup and brown sugar glaze – that I happen to like – that you’ll normally find on Southern style Meat Loaf.  I can’t say it added a large amount of flavor to the finished product, but we’re following the original recipe.

Since the loaf pan was so full, I opted to wrap a small sheet pan with aluminum foil, and use it as a drip pan underneath the loaf pan, as it baked in the oven.

Bake at 350ºF for a good 60 minutes.  You could use a meat thermometer to be sure it’s reached an internal temperature of 170ºF to be on the safe side.

When it’s done, remove it from the oven and just set it aside on a trivet to cool a little.  You might see some liquid around the inside edges of the pan when you remove the loaf pan from the oven.  Be careful not to spill that and just let it absorb back into the meat as the meat loaf cools down a bit.

Serve warm and Enjoy!

Follow our easy, step-by-step, photo illustrated recipe to make this old Southern Pork Neck Bones with Gravy recipe. It’s called “soul-food” for a reason, it’ll warm up your insides. We’ll show you how to prepare the neck bones, cook them, then make a big old pan of gravy to go along with it. Printable recipe included.

Pork Neck Bones with Gravy Recipe:

Pork neck bones are often an over looked item in the grocery store, that is, IF your favorite store even carries them at all.

Admit it, if you’ve seen them, you’ve probably looked at the package and wondered, “what would I do with these?” Have you ever tried them?

They use to be one of the really cheap packages of meat in the meat counter, but now, like everything else, their prices are going up. I paid $1.99 per pound for the package I purchased to cook for this recipe. Not a bad buy, but I remember when ground beef went on sale about every week for .69 and .79 cents per pound. I must be getting old.

Pork Neck Bones with Gravy is a really old Southern favorite. Still, many folks liken it to eating pigs feet and stay away from it. What… you’ve never had pickled pigs feet either? Where have you been eating all your life? (Smile)

Often referred to as “Soul Food,” it’s just neck bones around these parts. You have “regular” and you have “smoked.” We’re using the regular neck bones, meaning they are fresh and not smoked. The smoked neck bones are often used as seasoning, much like a ham hock. They can be prepared several ways. We’ll have to do another recipe soon and barbecue some in the oven for you.

Before we continue with the recipe, let me tell you how I came to cook this.

Back in early May, my brother and I stopped by a BBQ Cook Off being held over in Durham, North Carolina. One of my brothers pig cooker customers (Greg) was competing, and we stopped by to check out all that was going on.

About 20 teams had setup to cook pig that day. We stopped by to speak to Greg first, then made our way around to the other teams to sample some of their goodies. Each team had prepared ribs and butts for the competition, and they were all handing out samples. Doesn’t get much better than that, now does it?

Once the teams had turned in their plates for judging, they were allowed to sell plates of their own, and that kept the crowd coming in most of the day. We ended up staying for about 3 hours ourselves, hanging out at Greg’s tent with his team, and just talking barbecue.

Having sampled a good amount of pork, I looked for a shady spot to sit down and rest a bit. I settled down in the open door of Greg’s trailer, and just observed all the work everyone else was doing.

Before long, a lady came over to the trailer and said she was going to join me for a bit in the shade. It was a bit hot that day in the open sun, so I welcomed her to my spot. She pulled up one of Greg’s lawn chairs and sat down.

Turns out, she was related to Greg’s wife, and was there to help cheer him on in the competition.

We immediately started talking about barbecue, and then other foods, and I think we found a mutual chord between us, because we talked about food for a long time… sitting in the shade watching everyone else work.

She introduced herself as “Cherry,” as I handed her one of my Taste of Southern business cards. Seems she works for Duke Medicine in the Administrative Systems area.

When I got around to asking her the question I now ask just about everybody, she answered pretty quick. I’ve developed a habit now of asking people I meet, “what one item do you cook that most everyone says is the very best they’ve ever had.”

Cherry said, “pork neck bones.”

Long story short, I asked for the recipe and she agreed to share it with me. I took a few notes on the back of a napkin while we sat and talked, and she described the process pretty clearly.

Cherry was born near Conway, South Carolina. Her mother provided and raised her, and her 3 brothers, after her father passed away. The family moved to Durham when she was 8. Cherry says she was always “underfoot” around her mother in the kitchen, and that she learned by watching her mother cook. She says she can pretty much just taste something and then duplicate it herself.

Cherry remembers having neck bones, beef roast, chicken and turkey growing up. Her mother couldn’t always afford the best cuts of meat, but Cherry says they always had meat on the table. God was good.

As of this writing, her mother is 87 years young, and still cooks. Cherry says the family still gets together on Friday and Sundays, with Cherry now cooking the meats for the meal, and her mother preparing the vegetables. What a blessing that is.

So, scroll on down and take a look at this recipe, courtesy of Cherry. I think you’ll enjoy it, and if you’ve never tried cooking pork neck bones, this is a good way to start. Just let us know how you like it in the Comments section below.

My thanks to Cherry for sharing the recipe. I’m happy to call her a friend, and hope she’ll share another recipe or two with us in the future. If you’re ready to get in the kitchen, grab some neck bones, and… Let’s Get Cooking!

Pork Neck Bones with Gravy: You’ll need these ingredients. PLUS, you’ll need one medium Onion.

I think the Onion that I had was still getting ready when I snapped this photo. It should show up in a minute though. I hope.

To begin, clean the pieces of neck bone under cold running water really good. You might want to do this in a colander so you aren’t sending small pieces of meat down the drain. Either way, rinse the pieces under the water, removing any loose particles or blood that might be on it.

Remove any excess fat and cartilage that you might see. The piece the arrow is pointing to came out of that opening you see in the neck bone. I used a small knife to remove it. Just be careful that you don’t let the knife slip into a finger. Removing as much of this “stuff” as you can, will help keep the finished product from being really greasy. A little extra effort at this point, will pay off later.

Depending on how well the bones were cleaned before packaging, you might not have to remove much. Here’s another section of fat and pieces that we don’t need. Meat and bones are what you’re looking to keep, so cut away anything other than that and toss it.

Give it all a final rinse under cold running water, then let it drain. Looks much better now huh?

Place the neck bones in a large sauce pot. Add the Red Pepper Flakes.

Add the Salt.

Add the Black Pepper.

Well, the onion finally showed up. It appears she had been crying… wait… that was me. (Smile)

Dice the onion.

Add the Onions to the pot.

Cover the neck bones with about an inch or two of water.

Place the stock pot over Medium-high heat on your stove top, and let it come to a boil.

Let the mixture boil for about 15 minutes uncovered.

Using a large spoon, skim away any foam that forms. You don’t have to get it all, just most of it.

Some folks will boil the meat without seasonings first for about 30-45 minutes, then dump that water and add fresh. Once it returns to a boil, then they add the seasonings and let it cook on out. Guess it works about the same either way.

After you skim away the foam, REDUCE the heat.

Cover the pot with a lid, and let it simmer on about Medium heat until the meat is fall-off-the-bone tender. This will take about an hour to an hour and a half.

Just keep a watch on it to make sure the liquid doesn’t boil away. With the pot covered, you should be okay and not need to add more water. Test the meat with a fork, until it pulls easily away from the bone.

When the meat is fully cooked, turn off the heat.

REMOVE one cup of the liquid from the pot, RESERVING it for the gravy. Let it cool a bit.

Either remove the cooked neck bones from the stock pot, or just let them sit in the remaining liquid while you make the gravy if you intend to serve them right away.

To Make The Gravy:

I prefer to make gravy in my cast iron skillet. Place the skillet on the stove top and turn the heat up to about Medium-Low or slightly warmer. I think you’ll have better results with your gravy if the skillet isn’t too hot, and you don’t try to rush it.

Add the Butter to the skillet once it’s warmed. I also added about a teaspoon of Bacon Grease for a little added flavor. Personal choice, and not required.

Once the butter has melted, sprinkle the flour all around the inside of the pan on top of the butter.

Quickly stir the flour and the butter together to make a roux. The flour will absorb the butter, and the mixture will start to thicken.

The flour needs to cook for at least a minute to lose it’s “floury” taste. Continue to stir it and let it brown. The longer the flour and butter cook together, the darker it will get, and the darker your finished gravy will be. If you keep this on a lower heat, it will be much easier to work with from my experience.

Start stirring the flour and butter as you gradually add in the reserved liquid. My other hand might have been on the camera at that particular moment. Just saying.

Keep stirring the gravy, letting it cook and thicken as desired. It will thicken a bit more once removed from heat, so keep that in mind as you’re letting it cook. You’ll also want to taste it at this point to see if it needs any salt or black pepper. Add it according to your taste.

Pour the finished gravy into a serving bowl, and keep warm until ready to serve.

Serve the neck bones over a big scoop of rice, and top it off with some of your homemade gravy.

Enjoy!