Our tent outside the Taste of Ohio

Some people ask us at the fair how we make our pork loin taste so absolutely delectable!  Trust me when I say we do nothing special with it.  We do use one of these:

Our Smokers

They are our smokers.  They give the pork a slight pinkish tint, which is good.  Most people want their steaks with a little pink in the center and pork is no different.  This is easily achievable on your grill at home.  Just grill a pork loin until it gets to around 145-150 degrees and take it off the grill.  Don’t worry about getting to that 165 degrees, the pork will continue to cook after you take it off.  Let it sit for about 10 minutes so that your pork is really juicy and cut and serve!  It’s all in the cooking temperature to get something that looks like this.

Trust me when I say we are doing nothing special. Okay except for maybe this picture!

You can find these shirts on Facebook under Ohio Hog Farmers!

What can I say… you got to have a little bit of fun!

-B

How about this type….

This little baby comes from around the ham bone and the meat is in fact made of ham.  Pig wings became a very popular fair food at the Ohio State Fair this year (stand back deep-fried Twinkies).  They were on the radio, television, and were photographed more than Brittany Spears on vacation!  It may look completely innocent but when pig wing and its fellow pig wingers (I just made that word up) were gone they caused exasperation, jealousy, and even anger.  All for a piece of ham!

I had my share of the pig wings during the fair and I can understand the excitement.  They proved to be juicy and delicious each time with or without the barbecue sauce, with or without the use of utensils, and without or without trying to eat it all in one bite… not that I would know.

What’s your favorite fair food?

-B

You can enter the National Pork Board’s “Calling All Grillers with Groupies” photo contest and win a trip to NYC! Through August 31, visit TheOtherWhiteMeat.com to submit a photo of you and your crew around the grill, along with a 50-word-or-less caption that details how you enjoy spending time grilling-up pork with your “groupies.”

One grand prize winner and guest will be flown to NYC to cook alongside celebrity chef Melissa d’Arabian during the Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival, October 7-10, 2010. Prize includes airfare, a two-night stay in the Big Apple and a Char-Broil® grill.

My picture would be of my dog, Max.  He is always there within milliseconds of us starting the grill.  It’s like he senses a change in the motion of the earth when we fire up our grill to put on some pork chops.  Not only is he a groupie, but he’s also the official taste tester.  Self appointed but backed by the entire family.  If this dog ever weighs 100 pounds, it will be because we just can’t say no to those ‘feed me’ eyes.

Source

Who are your grilling groupies?

-B

My Home Away From Home!

There you go!  That’s a picture of our pork stand!  (I could never catch someone dropping our plastic knives in front of the stand.  I just wanted to show them the trash can 10 feet behind them!!) Can’t you just feel the excitement and enthusiasm from the opportunity to provide the world with delicious pork!

The cashiers and I recorded the most asked questions from the fair this year.

What are pig wings?

One of the cashiers recorded the amount of times she got asked this question and it resulted in about 30 in one day.  This also happened to be the slowest day at the fair.  I’ll be sharing with you the inside scoop of the pig wings later.

Where can we buy that shirt?

We were all wearing some pretty sweet shirts.  Again, something I’ll be sharing later!

How did you cook the pork loin sandwich to make it so delicious?

Another question I’ll be answering but trust me it’s all in the temperature!

Can I have a cheeseburger?

I think the giant word ‘Pork’ on the banner should have been a little hint to the answer to that question…

More to come!

- B

I can smell the deep fried food already! The Ohio State Fair begins on Wednesday and I’ll be there in the morning, I’ll be there in the afternoon, and I’ll be there in the evening.  This is my opportunity to get out from behind my desk, join the trenches, and stir some BBQ!  Don’t worry, I’m planning on documenting it every step of the way… that is if I can find my camera back…

Some upcoming posts to look forward to:

• Pork Rib-Off: An amazing display of BBQ skill and most importantly free samples!
• Pork Food Stand: My home away from home for these next two weeks.  This is where the hungry become full, the volunteers become family, and the intern becomes covered in BBQ sauce!
• Pig Wings: The real reason why pigs will never fly!
• Whatever else happens at the fair this year.  It’s the fair, honestly you never really know…

What’s your favorite fair food?

Well, now I have the opportunity to win a year’s worth of Bob Evan’s breakfast!  Thanks to the Ohio Livestock Coalition and Bob Evans all Ohio residents need to do is watch a video about a farmer and submit your name!  You can register seven times a day until October 15^th!

I was told that you have to be pretty open when writing a blog so I have a confession! Something that just may get me kicked out of Porktastic…  Part of registering for the free breakfast is choosing to learn about raising pigs, turkeys, lamb, beef, etc.  You think to yourself, “Well, I love bacon, ham and all things pork so I’m obviously going to choose Jim Heimerl.  Bethany is also going to choose the Heimerl’s because she works for the Ohio Pork Producers Council and helps write this blog.”

…Um, well… my dad happens to be the turkey farmer!  Wait, wait… before you start lighting the pitchforks and forming an angry mob, I need to let you know that he actually raises both pigs and turkeys (the man wears many hats).  I may have to choose both because not choosing the pig farmer would be denying my love of bacon and not choosing my father would be allowing my mom to pile on years worth of guilt.  (Seriously, my parents are some of the coolest people you will ever meet, but one time I forget to call home after my drive back to Columbus to let them know that I arrived unscathed.  Four years later, I still get the “Make sure to call when you get back and not forget like that one time…)

Whew, sorry for bringing up all those hidden emotions.  Back to the free breakfast! Seriously, the only real question is do I want the hotcakes, sausage gravy and biscuits, or turkey and spinach omelet…  The ethical dilemmas continue and if I have gray hair by the time I’m thirty, you will know why!

What’s your favorite breakfast food?

- B

Some hot dog trivia from the National Hog Dog and Sausage Council:

1. Americans eat more hot dogs on the 4^th of July than any other day.  Around 155 million of them!
2. Los Angeles is the #1 hot dog eating city!
3. Sausage is one of the oldest forms of processed foods.  It was mentioned in Homer’s Odyssey in the 9^th century!
4. The name ‘hot dog’ probably came from a dachshund dog that the German’s brought with them along with the idea of serving sausage on a bun.

Here are a few ways to celebrate this month the Porktastic way:

1.  Take a bite out of this monstrosity- a foot long hot dog, loaded with cheese, chili, and bacon.  Nothing like a little pork on pork!

2.  Attend Brat Fest and eat a few for philanthropy’s sake.

3.  Enjoy a listening to these songs:

1. Hot Dog by Elvis Presley
2. Hot Dog by Buck Owens
3. Who Let the Dogs Out by the Baha Men
4. Jack and Diane by John Cougar Mellencamp

Let us know how you are going to celebrate this month!

What is your hot dog of choice?

-B

I.   Introducing Jamie

II. Cooking Attempt Number One

Let us begin where we left off.  Introducing pork into my cooking repertoire!

Using the America’s favorite pork chop recipe from the Super Pork Recipes guide distributed by OPPC, I made eight pork chops, which I marinated for 30 minutes in reduced-fat Italian dressing. Yes, it is a children’s recipe guide, but don’t judge.

After marinating, I used a little of Lawry’s seasoning salt and grilled until the chops reached an internal temperature of 160 degrees. I combined the chops with my first attempt at green bean casserole, which was so easy I’m slightly mortified I had to Google a recipe for it! I also grabbed a dozen ears of amazing, Ohio sweet corn, which was so good it’s slightly ridiculous.

Despite the fact that my entire family left the house at the mention that I was cooking dinner, all did eventually return and sample supper. Only after I tried a bite myself to assure food quality and safety levels to all parties. Everyone lived to tell about the meal, their stomachs are still intact and even though they’d never admit enjoying it, everyone had seconds…

I survived marinated pork chops on the grill, so obviously you can too! It’s time to get grilling. Use this simple and tasty recipe to cook for your family tonight and check out other great pork chop cooking tips in this guide.  Love to hear back about how it works out for you! Oh and be sure to check back for how my round two of pork cooking went, where I insanely tried TWO different recipes!

–JJ

Learn more about this recipe here!

Ingredients:
-4 pork chops
-3/4 cup Italian dressing (or use a reduced-fat Italian dressing)
-1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Cooking directions:
Serves 4. Place all ingredients in a self-sealing bag; seal bag and place in refrigerator for at least 20 minutes (or as long as overnight). Remove chops from bag, discarding marinade and grill over a medium-hot fire, turning once, until just done, about 8 to 11 minutes total cooking time.

Nutrition facts:
Calories: 210
Cholesterol: 60 mg
Protein: 25 grams
Saturated fat: 3 grams
Fat: 11 grams

What’s your favorite marinade or rub?

Okay this isn’t exactly centered on pigs, but look he or she’s in the background!

This is what I did when I realized that I didn’t save my post for today and had to come up with something else. Isn’t this a better idea than the bacon and cheese soufflé that I was going to talk about instead?

I would just like to say on record that I have never done this to my father! (Since this statement is written in black and white it must be true, isn’t that how it works… right Dad )

Hope these made your day as much as they did mine!

-          B

Don’t miss the beginning!

I. Introducing Jamie

As I kick off one of my first cooking highlights, I think a little background material might be beneficial to showcase how incompetent I am in this arena. Living in Columbus, going to Ohio State, working a couple of jobs and attending the occasional class took up a lot of time throughout college so I always had an excuse for why I was just ordering out. That, and doing so allowed me to avoid an evening run to the grocery store when already hungry and buying twenty items, all of which expired before ever being consumed.

One day I got off work early, perhaps skipped an afternoon class—though I’d never admit it—and decided I’d do the craziest thing ever (yes, even more so than jumping in Mirror Lake when it’s 20 degrees). I would make dinner. So, I loaded up on groceries, got back to my lovely college apartment and attempted marinated chicken breasts. Yes, I know it’s a PORK blog, but hang in there. So, I did everything perfectly, dinner smelled amazing as it started to cook and I decided it’d be the perfect time to catch up on some studying and my favorite television shows.

THREE hours later, my roommate got home from class and asked if she actually smelled something cooking—as in, ‘are you seriously cooking dinner?’ which was dripping with sarcasm no less. The picture at right showcases my so-called dinner that night after I remembered that food I happened to be cooking. Hours earlier. How was I supposed to know our oven had a super over-cook function? I’m sure this had nothing to do with the time the food was actually in that oven…

It only took me three years to recover from my cooking cluster and to work up the confidence to try another go at marinating. Keeping in mind the pan used that day didn’t fare near as well as I did. But, nonetheless, this time I marinated in style with—you guessed it—pork.