Thursday, November 12, 2009

Tour du Freeze

As I continue my journey through the deep freeze, I'm realizing I have NO IDEA what some of the various cuts of meat are exactly. Our neighbors, I mentioned previously, still partake in the dying artform of home butchering along with their family members who still farm. Each year, we usually buy a side of beef, and half a hog. We love it. But after we make our way through all the bulk hamburger and sausage, and then patties, a few roasts, and later steaks, I start to come across packages labeled with parts I have no clue about. There's chuck and arm and flank and english and rump to name just a few. (Those are the easy ones.) This afternoon I pulled out a ham...sounded simple enough. Except knowing that it wasn't precooked or smoked, and was labeled "Fresh Ham" I thought I better read up a bit, to see how I might prepare it differently. Turns out, my recipe would work just fine, except...a fresh ham turns out more like a roast than the "sandwich" ham I was hoping for. So, my attempts at slicing it (and watching it fall apart into pieces) turned into "pulling" it apart, and mixing it with a little barbecue sauce. It should make for some delicious shredded barbecue pork sandwiches for lunch tomorrow. Not what I was expecting...but yummy none the less.
Okay, so what does this nonsense have to do with anything? I really don't know, but thought I'd share my little tour of the freezer with you all, as this old dog learns a few tricks along the way.
Being able to roll with the punches is pretty much the name of the game after all...when life hands you "Fresh Ham," make pulled pork sandwiches...that's what I always say.
Peaceful night all.

We give thee thanks Almighty God, for all the benefits which we have received, from your bounty, through Christ Our Lord. Amen.