I give up. I’ve tried to cook with commodity pork (cheap, factory-farmed pork) and have grown tired of manipulating its bland flavor through heavy marinades, brining, smoking, glazes, rubs, etc.
I’ve tried “premium” pork whose only difference from commodity is that it’s more expensive. What I want now is pork that has a big, free-standing flavor of its own.
So what I cook with now is expensive loins and shoulders from highly marbled Berkshire pigs. Berkshire is the pork that America’s kings of pig — the chefs Nate Appleman and Mario Batali — cook with because it’s highly marbled and it doesn’t dry out. Older diners who taste it say it tastes the way pork used to taste.
And yet, I don’t want to eat a huge piece of fatty meat. What I want is a small morsel of something that’s very flavorful — and I don’t want to spend a fortune on it. So I turn to the masters of “extending” meat: the Italians. Italians are pros at turning small amounts of meat into full meals by stuffing and breading it.
One of my favorite Italian meat dishes is the saltimbocca. Saltimbocca means “jumps in mouth” and the combination of salty, fermented prosciutto with creamy mozzarella and a big bite of musky sage is a happy explosion of flavor. This is not a traditional saltimbocca — it is a kind of straniere mashup that would probably outrage your Italian grandmother.
Most saltimbocca dishes are made with veal and usually served as a roulade. I like to use Berkshire pork instead, with the flavor combination of the classic saltimbocca. I add moisture and crispness with a Milanese-type breading. (Call your local butcher to order Berkshire pork.)
John Broening cooks at Duo and Olivea restaurants in Denver.
Pork Saltimbocca
Serves 4.
Ingredients
1 pound Berkshire pork loin, outside fat trimmed, loin cut into 4 equal-sized medallions
1 ball mozzarella (about 4 ounces), cut into 4 equal-sized rounds
4 small sage leaves
4 paper-thin slices of prosciutto
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 eggs
1/3 cup milk
2 cups coarse breadcrumbs
1/2 cup grated parmesan
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
Directions
Lightly flatten each medallion with a mallet to about 1/2-inch thickness. Cut a slit in the side of each medallion to make a pocket, being careful not to cut through the surface of each medallion. Wrap each mozzarella slice and sage leaf in a slice of prosciutto. Insert one prosciutto packet into each pocket. Secure each medallion with a wooden toothpick.
In three separate bowls, mix the flour and the salt and pepper, then the milk and the eggs, then the breadcrumbs and parmesan. Dredge each medallion in the flour, then in the egg mixture, then in the breadcrumb mixture.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Heat the olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the butter. When the butter begins to sizzle, place the breaded medallions in the pan. Cook until golden brown on one side, about 4 minutes. Gently turn the medallions, then place the pan in the oven for about 6-7 minutes until the medallions are springy when touched. Remove the toothpicks.
Serve the saltimbocca with a wedge of lemon and roasted or mashed potatoes.
