Iowa is the number one pork-producing state in the nation, and we are pretty darn good at preparing and eating it, too.

I'm Charity Nebbe.

On this episode of Iowa Ingredient, we'll head to Northwest Iowa, one of the biggest pork producer populations in the state and visit with Dan Wilson, a Niman Ranch pork farmer.

And we'll engage the talents of Dean Lutrell, who believes strongly in revolving his restaurant menu around local Iowa ingredients.

He'll tantalize our taste buds with some delightful dishes centered on Iowa pork.

All that and more coming up on Iowa Ingredient.

Funding for Iowa Ingredient is provided by the WT and Edna M. Dahl Trust, Chef Lisa LaValle of Trellis Cafe and the River Center, and Chef Michael LaValle of the Des Moines Embassy Club.

For more than 100 years, the Des Moines Embassy Club has provided a place to dine, celebrate, and do business, located in downtown Des Moines and in West Des Moines.

And, Friends, the Iowa PBS Foundation.

Just put that on the side.

Just add some more cantaloupe flavor.

Chef Katie, you've done it again.

Thank you so much.

Iowa is often called the breadbasket of the world, but that basket is actually pretty full of a variety of foods, including fruits, veggies, of course, corn, eggs, soybeans, and pork.

Did you know that pork is the most widely eaten meat in the world?

And I am not just talking about bacon.

There's ham, ground pork, loin, shoulder-- so many choices.

As the sun climbs in the sky, a soft-spoken farmer tends to his pigs in Northwestern Iowa and tells us how he coordinates raising pigs with the needs of the land and his other farming ventures.

We're kind of proud of this area.

It's excellent farm ground.

And we've adapted the hog operation to fit into our rural cropping operation.

It's their part of the rotation of the land.

So the piglets go on, existing hay ground, and then after, they go off then we plan it to corn.

And so the pigs do the fertility for next year's corn.

Dan Wilson is a Niman Ranch pork producer, which essentially brings with it, among other things, some space and animal welfare requirements, things Dan was pretty much already doing before Niman came along, so it was a natural fit for him.

We have a pasture farrow to finish operation, and the piglets are born on pasture in the spring.

They stay on pasture until usually about October.

And then, they'll go into the barns for the wintertime when it's cold and snowy out.

And then we farrow again the second time in August and September.

Another batch of moms will have baby pigs.

And those will stay until October, and then they'll go inside for the winter, too.

And they go into bedded buildings and then they have outside access so they can run in and out both during the wintertime.

We've been pasture-farrowing and since 1966.

And so we were on pasture and we really liked pasture.

So when Niman came along, it just fit our philosophy.

It was just a really nice match.

We were glad to find it.

We started with Niman in 1998, so we didn't have to change much at all to be on the Niman program.

This pasture is set up for farrowing.

Each sow chooses her own hut about a week before she gives birth.

The huts also protect the pigs from the sun and rain.

Niman tends to use heritage-breed pigs.

Because we use a lot of Chester White, Berkshire.

Those are old, old breeds.

On our rotation, we are using Durocs, which tends to be a more modern breed of pigs, but we use the fattest Durocs that we can find.

We concentrate on having some fat on our pigs and not lean sow.

And it's the fat that has the flavor.

That flavor is what makes Iowa pork famous.

Chefs across the state and across the nation plate up Iowa pork dishes in their restaurants.

And this farmer doesn't just produce pork.

I love bacon for breakfast.

I love bacon, I love sausage.

I'm a big fan of ham.

I eat a lot of ham.

We eat pork chops, always great.

And we do a lot of pork roasts.

We eat just about the whole pig, I guess.

And I love pork.

As with any pork producer in Iowa, Dan has daily chores.

Feeding these animals seems to be one of the big ones.

Pigs spend a lot of time eating.

And they tend to eat early in the morning and late in the evening, and then they sleep a lot during the daytime.

Quietly making a difference in our reputation as a great pork producing state, Farmer Dan Wilson likes what he does and plans to continue.

I've raised pigs most of my life, and I enjoy it, so that's fun.

I'm here in The Kitchen with Dean Lutrell of the Iowa Culinary Institute at Des Moines Area Community College.

Dean, welcome back.

Well, thank you.

Thanks for having me again.

And we're going to talk about pork today.

Yes.

That's Iowa's meat.

Yes, that's Iowa.

Ironically enough, Iowa is the number one pork-producing state.

We produce about 30-something million pork every year, and about 33% of the pork in the United States comes from Iowa.

Somewhere around those numbers.

More pigs than people.

That's right.

But we ship them all over the place.

We don't eat all those pigs ourselves here.

We ship them all over.

So, we have-- there are a lot of different kinds of pigs.

Right.

What are the most popular breeds?

Well, the number one breed is a Yorkshire pig.

It's a leaner pig.

It grows fairly quick.

That's the number one breed.

But in Iowa, we have a couple different breeds as well.

We have the Duroc, which is a very stable pig.

And a lot of times, they use that as the sire for other pig stocks.

So the Duroc's going to have a lot of intramuscular fat, and that's what you want in your pork.

It's called marbling and so-- intramuscular fat.

And we also have the Berkshire pork.

And the Berkshire is-- well, it's going to be a little bit redder meat.

And it's going to have a lot of that intramuscular fat as well.

I guess-- I'm never-- I've grown up in Iowa, but still, it blows my mind how many things can be made with pork.

Oh, pork is so super versatile.

You can grill it, you can roast it, you can smoke it.

You can sous vide it, you can make sausage out of it.

You can make charcuterie out of it.

You can do all-- cure it.

You know, bacon, right?

We all have bacon.

Who doesn't love bacon?

That's a cured pork item.

Yeah.

And we're only going to make it in a couple of different ways today, not 300.

No, no.

We don't have time to do all 300 today, but maybe tomorrow.

Well, let's get cooking.

All right.

All right.

What are we making?

We're making pork carnitas today.

So what we have here is a pork butt, which is actually not the butt of the pig, it's actually the shoulder of the pig.

That's very confusing.

Yes, it is.

Pork people make things confusing for us.

So, can I use you as a model real quick?

We'll talk about pigs for a second.

OK.

So the pork butt would be up here, OK, and the ham would be down here.

OK. Got it.

OK. And then back here would be where the pork loin is.

And then your belly would be your pork belly.

So that's where we get pork belly and bacon and things like that.

Plenty of marbling.

Plenty of marbling, that's right.

But this particular cut is good for pulling, OK. You know, because it's just got a lot of flavor in it, and it's got some intramuscular marbling and stuff like that.

Nice.

All right.

So what do we do?

So first thing we're going to do, get some gloves here, and I'm going to rub this down with salt and pepper and garlic.

That's my go-to seasoning for everything.

And then we're going to take it over to that pan, and we're going to render the fat a little bit and sear it on all the sides.

And what that does, it gives us texture, it gives us color, it gives us flavor.

So I'm going to take my salt, pepper.

I'm just going to rub it in all over.

OK. Save some for the other side.

And this is not the entire flavor for this pig.

We're going to add some other stuff here later on, OK?

So we're going to take this over here, and then we're going to take it over here.

All right.

Into the pan.

And this pan is cold.

It's a cold pan, yes, because we have this fat cap on here.

And what we want to do is, we want to render that down.

We don't really want to sear that.

We just want it to kind of melt.

OK.

So we're going to start off with a cold pan.

I'll turn that on.

Thank you.

What do you want it?

Let's turn it on medium high.

All right.

All right.

And we're just going to let that render for a few minutes until we get some fat.

All right.

All right.

Let's take a look at it and see if we're ready to flip.

Oh, yeah, we got some nice browning on that side, and we're just going to carefully-- oop, there we go.

A two-tong operation.

Yes, right.

Definitely is.

And so then we're going to let that sear on that side.

And then once that's done, we're just going to rub it down with our seasonings over here.

So we've got a good sear on here.

We're going to take it over here now, and we can shut off this heat.

We're going to take it over here now and rub it down, without making too much of a mess.

All right.

Beautiful.

So what else are we going to put on it?

OK. We have some cumin, we have some oregano, we have some adobo seasoning, and we have some garlic.

And we're just going to rub all this down together.

OK. OK.

So first off, like that, like that.

And then you just got to get your hands dirty again.

Put down on there.

And once you rub it down, do you want to let it sit for a while to kind of soak in, or-- No, what we're going to do-- I mean, there's several ways that we could cook this or a couple of different ways.

We could cook it in the oven, and you'll have some sort of liquid with it, some sort of braising liquid, and braise it.

But I think we're going to take this out back to the smoker and we're going to smoke this one.

Oh, terrific.

Yeah, we're going to smoke this one.

And while this is smoking, we're going to make some tortillas.

Awesome.

And how long are we going to smoke that for?

We're going to smoke this-- the answer to that question is until it's done.

But we are actually going to smoke it 'till it's about 205 degrees.

So it depends on the smoker, right?

I can't give you a definite ounce answer on that, but we want it to be-- But you're cooking it low and slow.

Low and slow, right.

For the maximum flavor.

Right.

And again, this fat will render off.

And then once this comes off the smoker, it'll be 205 degrees, I'll pull it.

All right.

I think we have it all rubbed it down.

I'm going to give it to my assistant Gretchen and she's going to take it out to the smoker for us and get it started smoking.

Terrific.

OK.

While she's doing that, I'm going to wash my hand.

Great.

Thanks, Gretchen.

All right, we're going to take these pork tacos to the next level by making our own tortillas, right?

Exactly.

Because tortilla is very easy to make.

And they are so much better fresh.

Oh, yes.

Oh, yes.

We're talking about four ingredients.

We have flour, we have water, we have vegetable oil, and salt.

And that's it.

Perfect.

Take our flour, we're going to dump it in here.

Add a little salt.

Salad oil.

And then, water.

And again, I'm going to use these guys.

Your best utensils.

Yup.

I'm going to just mix these in.

We're going to roll this out and we'll cut it into probably six pieces.

All right.

Should I be warming up the pan?

Yeah, let's put it on a low heat.

And once these are warmed up or rolled out, once these are rolled out, we're going to just cook them for about a minute and a half, two minutes.

Quick and easy.

All right.

I might just do a little quick roll here just so I can get even parts.

OK.

I just want even parts.

I'm not rolling it flat like a pizza dough or pasta dough.

OK. 1, 2, 3.

1, 2, 3.

OK, and now we're just going to roll this out.

OK.

Very carefully.

And we're going to roll it into, like, a 7 inch circle, so we have to-- And if they do get sticky, you can add some flour, right?

Yes.

If they do get sticky, if there's-- maybe it's a high humidity day or something, you can add some flour.

All right.

Perfect.

All right.

And we're just going to put it in this pan and, like I said, we're going to cook it for maybe a minute and a half.

OK.

So it looks like it's cooked on the other side.

We're going to flip it on this side for about 30 seconds.

Perfect.

That looks great.

All right.

We've got tortillas made.

One last one.

I'm going to have a little bit of this one, because they're just so good, fresh.

You got to tell me how they taste.

Yeah.

Fantastic.

Good, good.

Yes.

All right.

Our pork came out of the smoker.

It's 205 degrees.

And what we're going to do is, we're going to pull this by hand.

It's going to be hot, so I doubled up my gloves just so I don't burn myself.

Or I could use a fork or whatever, but we're going to go with this and see how it works.

OK.

So look how that just pulls apart so easily.

And so juicy.

So juicy.

Look at that.

And we need smell-o-vision here.

Right.

This kitchen smells amazing.

Yes.

And then we got texture, too, because we have the third seared and the smoking on the outside.

So I'm just going to do a quick pull.

I am going to take my tortilla.

You can use as much or little pork meat as you want.

OK, I'm gonna put the pork meat in.

I have some avocado.

I have some radish and some cilantro.

And then I have a little queso fresco.

Nice.

You got to have queso fresco.

Yeah, cheese is good with everything, right?

The eaters can squeeze the limes, right?

That's right.

We're going to have a little lime garnish on the side, and you can squeeze that on as you see fit.

Perfect.

Oh, Dean, that's fantastic.

Thank you so much.

Oh, thank you.

We've been talking about how versatile pork is, so we're going to make something completely different now.

Right.

We're going to make pork meatballs because we have some ground pork here.

We're actually going to make Asian fusion of pork meatballs.

It would be an Asian and Italian mix on this.

Nice.

So you'll just put everything that tastes good in your meatball.

Right, on one dish, right?

So we have some soy sauce and some mirin, some Italian seasoning, a little bit of cornstarch for a binding agent, scallions, ginger, and garlic.

We have sambal, which is an Asian chili mixture and then Parmesan cheese.

I'm going to mix all this stuff together.

Is that sweet and spicy, or just-- Yes, it's sweet and spicy.

Nice.

A little bit of that.

Just throw it all in.

All right.

And then we're going to get our hands dirty and mix it all together.

Perfect.

And then you're just going to bake these off?

Yeah, we're going to put these in the oven and bake them at 350 degrees.

Why don't I put them in the oven?

OK.

Thank you.

All right.

The meatballs are out of the oven, and they are in these adorable single serving boats.

They're so great.

Yes.

And this is, again, something if you're doing an appetizer party or whatever.

Graduation party, wedding, all of them.

Super easy, right?

We're going to make a quick little sauce here.

It's a mayonnaise base, so with our sambal again.

We have honey.

And then we have some lemon juice.

And we're just going to mix all that together.

Nice.

OK. A little bit of lemon juice, a little bit of honey.

Let me just give that a quick mix.

And that's it on the sauce.

It's four basic ingredients.

Yeah, nice.

Mix it up.

Some edible pansies.

Yes.

Oh, those are beautiful.

OK. And then I have a little fork here that I'm just going to put right here on the side that you can eat it with.

Chef Dean, thank you so much for coming and showing us the versatility of pork.

You're quite welcome.

A wise person once said, sitting down for dinner not only helps you learn, it also teaches you how to listen.

Dinner tables all over Iowa are occupied by families and friends learning about each other's school days, work days, challenges, and dreams.

But sometimes, inquiring about the food on the dinner table can lead to a deeper understanding of family roots.

At Dawn Martinez Oropeza's house in Des Moines, it's a special enchilada recipe from her ancestors that brings the family together.

This is my grandma Agustina's recipe.

And the reason why ours are very different than they were in Mexico is because she had nine kids, and my uncle Albert who's out here is one of those kids.

And so she used what she can get.

They weren't rich, and so she would add the potatoes and the carrots and the peas to fill it.

And then she would get government cheese.

So that's our secant ingredient.

It's like, I use Velveeta now because you can't get government cheese.

But that's the secret ingredient, so these are very special and unique to Iowa and to our family.

It's a family activity to assemble grandma Agustina's enchiladas.

And just like any other family recipe, there are individualized ingredient tweaks or presentation styles that make the recipe unique to the cook.

The Ingredients are basically the same, but each family makes them a little bit different.

Fold in so that the stuffing don't come out.

And then you start rolling it.

How often do you make enchiladas?

Well, maybe like once every few months.

And you'll help?

[LAUGHS] He never makes them.

We eat them once every few months, but, yeah.

Do you know how to make enchiladas?

I do.

Kind of.

He doesn't.

Not as much, no.

Is this how you would make enchiladas?

No.

It's totally the opposite of everything.

My enchiladas don't include any meat or really any filling.

And they're not even rolled up, so they're completely different.

And why is your recipe so much different than the way Dawn's family does it?

I think it's because we're from a different part of Mexico.

I'm from the northern region, whereas they're from central south region.

We want our children to preserve our customs and do no different foods.

Like, any family would like to have that recipe passed on.

And you may not make it exactly like they made it, but at least you're trying.

Gathering the family together at the dinner table does indeed satisfy a daily need for food, but sometimes, it's the origin stories of the food that can be even more fulfilling.

Well, that's it for this week's show.

Thank you for enjoying some of the diverse and delicious tastes of Iowa with us.

I'm Charity Nebbe.

See you next time for another enticing episode of Iowa Ingredient.

Keep in mind that circumstances are always changing, so please take a moment to check ahead if you're planning to visit a restaurant, farm, or event featured on the show.

Funding for Iowa Ingredient is provided by the WT and Edna M. Dahl Trust, Chef Lisa LaValle of Trellis Cafe and the River Center and Chef Michael LaValle of the Des Moines Embassy Club.

For more than 100 years, the Des Moines Embassy Club has provided a place to dine, celebrate, and do business, located in downtown Des Moines and in West Des Moines.

And, Friends, the Iowa PBS Foundation, generations of family and friends who feel passionate about the programs they watch on Iowa PBS.