Black Market Ladies of the Lard Cartel

[IrishLass]

After reading Pailo's post in this thread http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=58533&highlight=lard I ordered 5 lbs of leaf lard from Fanny & Flo on Etsy, and I just received it the other day (I'm so excited- I've been looking for a good source of leaf lard forever!). They also sent me a hand-written and hand-signed thank-you card with a personal message to me (not a generic message, but a genuine personal message!), along with some recipes, and also the back-story of their business, which had me laughing out loud at the description of how they used to feel about themselves when they fist started out: 'Black market ladies of the lard cartel' LOL. I love it!

For my first dish made with my newly acquired leaf lard, I think I shall attempt to make my first ever double pastry crust using leaf lard (I normally use all-butter for my crusts). And I shall fill it using my French meat pie recipe. Yes- methinks that's what I shall do!

Here's a link to my French meat pie recipe: http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showpost.php?p=500453&postcount=16


IrishLass

 

[cmzaha]

Sounds Fantastic. Heading to check out your recipe now. Been needing something new to fix. Thankyou IL

 

[DeeAnna]

"...Black market ladies of the lard cartel..."

Love that!

 

[KristaY]

Ooohhhh! I didn't know such a product existed so thanks Pailo and IL! I don't use lard in soap but want to use it in baked goods. As you know, IL, I tried your French Meat Pie and it was soooo yummy. My hubby developed a severe sensitivity to MSG so I can't use Crisco in pie crusts and the like. Butter just doesn't give the same texture so I want to try lard. Fanny and Flo sound like the perfect solution to my hubby's preservative problems so I'm off to shop their site! "Black Market Ladies of the Lard Cartel"....that just totally tickles me.

 

[dixiedragon]

My mom makes amazing chicken and dumplings. They are fluffy dumplings, not the dense, almost noodle-like dumplings that are more typical of Southern chicken and dumplings. She got the recipe from her grandmother who was literally a coal-miner's daughter in West Virginia. (Though she doesn't sing!) The recipe calls for butter, which she replaced with Crisco. We figure at some point that the butter replaced lard. Well, on a whim, we tried it with lard and OMG....Best. Dumplings. EVER!

ETA: I need some recommendations on the beef gravy part, though!

 

[lenarenee]

After reading Pailo's post in this thread http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=58533&highlight=lard I ordered 5 lbs of leaf lard from Fanny & Flo on Etsy, and I just received it the other day (I'm so excited- I've been looking for a good source of leaf lard forever!). They also sent me a hand-written and hand-signed thank-you card with a personal message to me (not a generic message, but a genuine personal message!), along with some recipes, and also the back-story of their business, which had me laughing out loud at the description of how they used to feel about themselves when they fist started out: 'Black market ladies of the lard cartel' LOL. I love it!

For my first dish made with my newly acquired leaf lard, I think I shall attempt to make my first ever double pastry crust using leaf lard (I normally use all-butter for my crusts). And I shall fill it using my French meat pie recipe. Yes- methinks that's what I shall do!

Here's a link to my French meat pie recipe: http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showpost.php?p=500453&postcount=16


IrishLass

Shoot, I didn't know that. I started ordering from F & F back when they only sold tallow and squealed with glee when they added lard. I could have saved you a lot of searching. And don't you love the vacuum packaging? I don't have to sacrifice freezer space any more!!

 

[Arimara]

You're so lucky I didn't bust out laughing loud enough to wake the dead. XD

 

[lsg]

Lard makes great pie crust. It also makes great biscuits.

 

[topofmurrayhill]

After reading Pailo's post in this thread http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=58533&highlight=lard I ordered 5 lbs of leaf lard from Fanny & Flo on Etsy, and I just received it the other day (I'm so excited- I've been looking for a good source of leaf lard forever!). They also sent me a hand-written and hand-signed thank-you card with a personal message to me (not a generic message, but a genuine personal message!), along with some recipes, and also the back-story of their business, which had me laughing out loud at the description of how they used to feel about themselves when they fist started out: 'Black market ladies of the lard cartel' LOL. I love it!

For my first dish made with my newly acquired leaf lard, I think I shall attempt to make my first ever double pastry crust using leaf lard (I normally use all-butter for my crusts). And I shall fill it using my French meat pie recipe. Yes- methinks that's what I shall do!

Here's a link to my French meat pie recipe: http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showpost.php?p=500453&postcount=16


IrishLass

Awesome.

 

[SoapingChick]

Lard makes great pie crust. It also makes great biscuits.

I've heard of the pie crusts and always figured it was for savory pies, but then you say biscuits and that makes me think of crackers, like Digestive, and THEN had me thinking -- cookies??

I know biscuits in the US is a (DELICIOUS!!) bread-roll type thing, but do y'all use lard for sweet pie crusts? And anyone ever had lard-cookies??

 

[lsg]

Yes, and it makes delicious flaky crusts for all kinds of pies. The old timers used lard or butter for almost any kind of baking because that is what they had on hand. My suggestion is to find an old cookbook from the library. It should contain lots of baking recipes with lard. I wouldn't use as much lard as butter for cookies because it makes the cookies spread out more on the pan. Here is a link with ingredient substitutions. It shows how much lard to use as a substitute for butter.

http://dish.allrecipes.com/common-ingredient-substitutions/

 

[DeeAnna]

Lard in pie crusts -- yes! Some small-batch lard can have a smoky aroma, and I'd avoid using that for sweet pie crusts, but if the lard has a neutral odor it's a good choice.

My grandmother used lard in cookies too although I have not (yet!) The Snickerdoodles cookie recipe I got from Grandma Goldie called for lard. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snickerdoodle

 

[IrishLass]

The Black market Ladies of the Lard Cartel sent me two recipes with my leaf lard. One is entitled "Aunt Hazel's White Cookies" (which looks very snickerdoodle-y, but uses a sugar coating without any cinnamon), and the other is for Soda Crackers. I'm going to try both....not today, though. Meat pie comes first!

Having never made an all-lard crust before, I did some digging to see if I could sub the lard 1:1 for butter, and I found some of the bakers over at one of my favorite baking forums (King Arthur's Baking Circle) like to use 15% to 20% less of leaf lard when subbing for butter in their baked goods (because leaf lard has about 15% to 20% less water in it than butter). So that's what I'm going to do.

This is going to be my recipe (which is an amalgamation of my favorite all-butter crust recipe ingredients/ratios (tweaked to sub in 100% leaf lard), and Fannie & Flo's 1914 lard crust recipe, which they have on their Etsy site:

For a 2-crust pie:

-360g (3 cups) King Arthur AP flour
-216g (roughly 1 cup) leaf lard (the gram amount is exactly 20% less than my usual butter amount in relation to the amount and type of flour used)
-3/4 tsp. salt
-30g full-fat sour cream mixed in 78g ice water (the sour cream/water mix is something I normally use in my all-butter crust). Depending on how dry my flour is, I'll be using anywhere between 54g and 108g of this mixture.

ETA: I need some recommendations on the beef gravy part, though!

This is what I do for a super easy/quick beef gravy to serve with my meat pie:

-4 cups beef broth (I like to use the Pacific brand beef broth)

To thicken and season the beef broth:

-4 tbsp. cornstarch mixed with 1/2 cup cool/room temp beef broth until smooth (you might not need to use all of it, by the way). Or you could mix up a slurry of flour and beef broth to about as thick as pancake batter.
-Better Than Bullion brand beef base paste- add to your own taste. For what it's worth, I usually use 1 to 2 teaspoons or so, depending.

Bring the broth to a simmer, and add the beef paste to taste, making sure to mix it in well (I use a whisk).

Add in as much of the cornstarch/broth mixture or flour/beef broth mixture as need to thicken.

Taste the gravy and adjust seasoning as needed (salt, pepper, etc...). Sometimes, I add a small splash of wine and a few pinches of dried herbs if the fancy strikes me.


IrishLass

 

[lsg]

Here is my mom's old lard pie crust recipe. She could make the best pies with it.

1 cup flour
1/2 cup cold lard
1/4 cup ice water

Cut the cold lard into flour and the stir in ice water until just mixed good. Turn out onto a piece of plastic wrap or waxed paper. Refrigerate for at least one hour and then divide into two equal parts. Roll out the top and bottom crust on a well floured board or cloth.

 

[dixiedragon]

I've heard of the pie crusts and always figured it was for savory pies, but then you say biscuits and that makes me think of crackers, like Digestive, and THEN had me thinking -- cookies??

I know biscuits in the US is a (DELICIOUS!!) bread-roll type thing, but do y'all use lard for sweet pie crusts? And anyone ever had lard-cookies??

An American biscuit is very similar to a scone, but more buttery.

This was interesting:
http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/article/scone-is-not-a-biscuit

My sister did a study abroad in Australia, and she recounts how, after partying all night, she and fellow American students rambled into a McDonald's and demanded (with much whining) a bacon, egg and cheese biscuit. The Australians with them thought that sound yucky - but they eat Vegemite, so their opinion doesn't count.