Greater Midwest Foodways Alliance

FAMILY HEIRLOOM RECIPES

Illinois State Fair

August 13, 2021

 

 

First Prize

 

Grilled Pork Chop Plate
Amy Wertheim, Atlanta, Illinois

 

 

If it’s hot and the dog days of August are here, then it must be time for Field Days.

 

For those that aren’t of the farming community, Field Days are the personal invitation events held by Seed Companies in the Midwest. They invite the clients who have purchased seed that year, and in previous years, to attend essentially a “show and tell” of all their varieties growing in specialty plots. Following which, they have a catered luncheon. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves here          

 

So, back to the beginning….

 

In the late 1930’s, my grandfather left the family business to marry his sweetheart, Nancy. Nancy was, for want of a better title, farming royalty. She was a fifth generation – and the only female in those five – to be living on the family farm, which encompasses thousands of acres, a hog operation, a cattle operation, and in the 1940’s, a seed company. So, naturally, farming being a “man’s world”, Bob moved to the farm to take on one of the areas within the family -the hog operation.

 

Although he had grown up a “city boy”, his grandparents owned and ran a large stockyard in Ashland, IL. Bob spent most weekends there, soaking up the knowledge and wisdom from his elders, staff and other farmers that brought their livestock in to be shipped to the Chicago Stockyards. This knowledge would serve him well when he took over the hog operation on his wife’s family farm. So much so, that the farm soon was the winner of the World Barrow Show. And continued to hold this title for many years. (For those who aren’t aware, a barrow is a castrated pig, a market hog, destined for people’s tables.) Their reputation was such that people would come as far away as Europe to “look the hogs over” to purchase breeding stock to take back to their herds.

 

But in the mid-1940’s. Bob suffered a heart attack, and the family moved off the farm into town. Although Bob was no longer running the business, he still had his hand in the presentation of the meat. He had developed a unique “rotisserie-like” apparatus that could cook 500 chops at a time on “racks”. The large loins used for chops were evenly sliced, seasoned and placed on one side of a rack, a second rack would close over the chops and pins would hold the two sides closed, trapping the chops in between. Each rack held 250 chops, and they would cook two full racks at a time. The racks would rest on a panel system, with coals burned down, on the ground inside. The racks would then be able to be flipped over to evenly cook each side of the chops. In later years, a trailer was purchased which allowed for the racks to be mobile to go the various events…but we’re getting ahead of ourselves again.

 

With the new family venture into the seed business in the Iate 1940’s, it wasn’t long before Field Days were a yearly event on the farm – and Bob was charged with cooking the chops from the champion hog line – for the attendees. Although no longer running the hog operation, Bob still was involved in the management and was a well-respected member of the hog world, specifically the Illinois Pork Producers (IPP). And he had become quite well known, not only for his knowledge of hog husbandry, but how to cook a good chop, or really anything hog related. County and State hog tours were often held on the farm, and of course, Bob’s famous chops were always a requested item. And folks knew, with Bob running the show, his top hogs would be a delicious meal to enjoy.

 

It wasn’t long before Bob’s son, Tom, became involved in the hog operation business and began to grow his own herd. And of course, he learned the chop cooking side of the business also, along with his wife, Connie, who by now was a strong and very involved member of the women’s version of the Illinois Pork Producers, the Illinois Porkettes. The Porkettes were even featured in a special mention in the Chicago Tribune after serving 3,400 sausage balls at the Illini-Ohio game in the early 1970’s.

 

But alas, sometimes life intervenes and the hog business as it were, was not to continue past 1975. A fire broke out in the main farrowing house and within a very short time the entire barn was consumed and over 42 sows and piglets were lost, virtually wiping out the entire operation with hours.

 

Taking time to regroup, Bob and Tom decided to step back from the hog business and focus on the grain production part of the farm. Although they kept a few hogs until ready to go to market, essentially the Wertheim Livestock Operation was now deceased; and the trailer was “retired” except for the local Fall Festival, IPP events or an occasional family wedding.

 

Fast forward to the early 1980’s and the trailer was once against cleaned and the racks replaced with new heavier metal. Tom, a member of the local Rotary Club had been tasked with cooking for the Rotary’s night at the Atlanta Fall Festival. Unbeknownst to him, a seed dealer was visiting and loved the Pork Chop Plate that was served for the meal, which featured the secret seasoned chops, homemade potato salad, bacon-infused sweet corn and sun tea. When he approached Tom about cooking for a few of their Field Days, it seemed to be kismet. Although no longer in the “hog business”, Tom and the family were back in the hog business cooking chops and serving the now famed, “Pork Chop Plate” at all the IL Pioneer Seed Field Days.

 

The “catering” business continued on into the mid-1990’s, until Field Days started to fall out of favor – they were just too costly and farmers were less inclined to spend a day looking at test plots. So once again, the trailer was “retired” to behind the barn to await the next venture or generation wanting to resurrect the pork chop cooking….

 

And that is what happened shortly after the new millennium….the family began a yearly 4^th of July party, which started out with just a few family and friends and grew every year until it was needing 4 racks of chops to be cooked to meet the Pork Chop Plate demand, loL.and the trailer became a frequent traveler on the fair and BBQ circuit. But it was starting to breakdown with all the use. That was until July 2019, when the fourth generation to use the trailer and special grill decided it was time for a make-over. And what a make-over it got…. New boards, a new base grill, the original panels were sandblasted and refurbished, and the cooking racks were refinished with cooking-grade metal. And thus began a new era of the Pork Chop Plate, featuring the pork chops just like Bob used to make, using the same secret seasoning; the famous potato salad and grilled bacon-infused sweet corn. And we can’t forget the sun tea, brewed naturally by the gallon under nature’s own power. Mm – mmm – there just isn’t anything better.

 

Please enjoy the scrapbook of pictures as it shows the different operations of the hog business and the cooking throughout the years.

 

 

 

 

First Prize

 

Grilled Pork Chop Plate
Amy Wertheim, Atlanta, Illinois

 

2-10 lb. pork loins

1 jar pork seasoning

 

Trim the fat from the pork loins and slice into individual chops. There should be 50+ chops. Coat each chop with seasoning on both sides. Place chops in baggies and refrigerate overnight.

 

Spread charcoal in grill and light. When embers have burned down to white ash along the edges, place chops in grilling crate and set over fire. Cook chops 5-8 minutes per side or until golden brown. Remove and cover for 10 minutes. Serve on a bun, with Bacon-wrapped Sweet Corn and All-American Potato Salad (recipes below); and Sun Tea.

 

Bacon-wrapped Sweet Corn – head to the field and pick 50 ears of sweet corn. Carefully peal back outer leaves and remove all silk (the hair like fibers); wrap uncooked slices of bacon around the ears and pull back leaves into place. Soak at least an hour; then place on grill above pork chops while they cook – they only need about 5 minutes to cook. Don’t tip grill while the corn in lying on top, they’ll end up in the fire and ash.

 

All-American Potato Salad –

3 lbs red potatoes

1 med red onion

3 hard boiled eggs, diced

1/2 c sour cream

2 tbsp cider vinegar

Salt and pepper to taste

8 slices of bacon, cooked crisp and broken up

3 stalks celery, diced

1/2 cup chopped parsley; save a few full sprigs

1/2 mayo

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

2 oz plus a few more for the top – potato chips, crumbled

 

 

Boil potatoes until cooked through. Drain and let sit to cool. Add bacon, onion, celery, eggs and parsley; stir in so evenly distributed. In a small bowl, combine sour cream, mayo, vinegar, mustard, and salt/pepper; whisk to combine. Add to the potatoes and stir until everything is evenly coated. Cover and chill overnight. Just before serving add 2 oz of chips, mix in; and sprinkle the remaining potato chips and some extra parsley to garnish.

 

Sun Tea – place four regular sizes tea bags of your favorite tea in a gallon glass jar. Fill with water, put on the lid and set out in the sun to “brew”. It’ll be ready in about 6 hours. Remove tea bags, pour into a serve container and add ice.