Mangalitsa leaf lard biscuits
the flakiest biscuits, made with home-rendered Mangalitsa leaf lard
There’s been much talk of leaf lard lately, that ultra-clean fat that surrounds a pig’s kidneys that, when used in pastries and biscuits, creates the flakiest texture possible. I’ve written about leaf lard in Seattle Magazine, and more recently, Ashley Rodriguez of Not Without Salt provided beautiful, step-by-step photos on the process. I’ve used both Skagit River and Seabreeze leaf lard in the past, but this weekend, my husband bought home 1 1/2 lbs. of Mangalitsa leaf lard (only $8 at the U-District farmer’s market) and we rendered it at home in a Dutch oven. I made a tray of biscuits to take to our friend Atta’s birthday this weekend. A true Southern boy at heart, Atta had a few friends bring homemade biscuits, while he provided a spread of fried chicken, gravy, baked beans, and coleslaw for thirty. We ate while his wife Michelle and their friend Darrin sang and played a live set in their front yard.
Atta is the best guy, and I thought he deserved the very best biscuits, made with the very best fat for his birthday. I rendered my own leaf lard, which doesn’t require much effort at all. To do it yourself at home, get a heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven, and simply add 1/3 cup of water to 1 1/2 lbs. of chopped leaf lard. Place it in the oven, uncovered, at 300 degrees, for about 50 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes or so. After 50 minutes, the fat rendered out will be liquid gold, and there will be lovely pieces of chicharones floating on top–sprinkle these with salt, and enjoy. (Or invite me over and I will eat them for you.) Then, strain out the fat, and allow it to cool in your fridge or freezer. Rendered lard keeps beautifully, covered in an air-tight container in the freezer for up to a year.
When the fat cools, it will become opaque and white, ready for cutting into your favorite pie crust recipe, or in my case, a batch of biscuits. I used my go-to biscuit recipe here, choosing to go with all leaf lard instead of my usual combination of leaf lard and butter. (All the other ingredients, and the steps were kept the same.) And oh, these biscuits! They rose so tall and proud, and the crunch when I bit into each golden-bottomed biscuit could be heard by my husband standing next to me, his own biscuit in hand.
I do hope you’ll give leaf lard a try in your pie crusts or biscuits. After all, it’s what blue ribbon-winning Kate McDermott uses in her pie crusts as well!
ETA: Just found more praise for Kate’s pies via Pork, Knife and Spoon!
Posted: August 31st, 2009 under Uncategorized.
Comments
Comment from Heath Putnam
Time September 1, 2009 at 12:01 PM
Another thing – anyone who is really into knowing where their food comes from might be interested in this event: http://www.mosefund.com/pigstock2010_XX.html
People will buy, slaughter, cut and process their own Mangalitsa pigs, under the supervision of Austrian experts. There will be some lard rendering, of course.
Comment from Giyen
Time September 1, 2009 at 5:19 PM
That biscuit looks awesome. I am going to have to look up this leaf lard. Like right now. : )
Cheers,
Giyen
Comment from lorna
Time September 1, 2009 at 6:04 PM
Thanks Giyen!
Heath: Thanks for the tips! I will render it at a lower temperature next time and see if I notice a difference.
Comment from Ashley
Time September 1, 2009 at 6:27 PM
Thanks for the mention Lorna. I can not get over how flaky those look. Looks like I have more rendering to do!
Comment from Valentina
Time September 1, 2009 at 7:45 PM
Lorna,
The biscuits looks…*I can’t talk…I’m drooling!*
I love biscuits and one of my favorite cuisines is Southern (American). And I love lard. I know there are many that will never use it, but oh, Lord, it does add so much to food. Thanks to Heath for the great explanation about Mangalitsa lard.
Beautiful photo, too!
Xo
Comment from lorna
Time September 1, 2009 at 7:59 PM
I will make biscuits for you girls someday! They are one of my favorite things to eat, with lots of good butter.
Comment from Brenda
Time September 2, 2009 at 7:01 AM
I am so glad that others love lard in pastry and baking. It really adds something.
Comment from Renée
Time September 3, 2009 at 5:12 AM
Spoken like a true Asian (pork is multipurpose). 
There’s something about using lard in pastry… and I think you’ve captured it right here.
Will I ever get the chance to sample all these pork-based treats?
Comment from redmenace
Time September 4, 2009 at 8:19 AM
I’m so excited to try the leaf lard. Great post. Thanks!
Comment from Heath Putnam
Time September 1, 2009 at 11:29 AM
I’m happy you liked the lard!
A few comments:
Fat quality is determined by multiple factors like breed, feed and age at slaughter. Wooly Pigs, the company, optimizes those things to produce the highest quality fat.
When you’ve got a producer like Wooly Pigs, which optimizes fat quality, most people can’t perceive a huge difference betweent the lard rendered from the leaf lard and the fatback. You probably could have rendered lard from Wooly Pigs fatback (from Mangalitsa pigs) and gotten very similar results. Of course, if you don’t optimize the breed, feed or age at slaughter, the fat quality on the pig will vary more; so it would pay to take the leaf lard.
In a few weeks, I’ll have Mangalitsa lard for sal (5# buckets). It isn’t easy to get USDA-inspected lard made, but Wooly Pigs has done it.
There’s different ways to render lard. Depending on how hot you make the lard, you get more or less impurities in the lard. The Austrian ideal is fewer impurities. The goal is white fat that lasts a long time. That means rendering around 225F. In Mexico, for instance, I hear they render at higher temperatures, producing a more porky lard that doesn’t keep as long.
Mangalitsa lard whips. I suggest you render Mangalitsa lard at 225F, whip it, add salt and herbs and eat it: http://woolypigs.blogspot.com/2008/11/whipped-mangalitsa-lard-mangalitsa.html
In the past, people used a lard sieve to keep impurities out of their lard. I’ve rigged one up. It seems to improve the quality of the lard. You can see a photo of one here: http://woolypigs.com/_kropf.html
I think Mangalitsa lard is really amazing. There’s a bunch of steps, and it can go wrong at any step – but if you do them all right, you can really wind up with something amazing. As that antique lard sieve indicates, there was a time when people took lard very seriously.