Sirloin chops, also known as sirloin steaks, are cut from the back section of the loin, in the hip area. With sirloin chops from lard breeds, tenderness is typically not an issue as long as the meat is properly cooked (i.e. not overcooked, it will still have pink color). In regular “bacon breeds” (pigs bred for leanness, low fat and more common pale color), these chops tend to be tougher and are best braised or slow cooked.

Again, with lard breed chops you needn’t worry- tenderness is built in thanks to the intramuscular marbling and overall fat quality.

I used some of our Rosemary & Garlic Whipped Lardo to prepare this meal. This is used in place of cooking fats, such as olive oil, in this case. It’s whipped pork fat with seasonings. To sear the chops I used the same method I’ve written about in this post: “How to cook a Heritage Pork Chop, featuring Kunekune Pork“, only when I put the chops into the oven to finish, I added a liberal dollop of whipped lardo to each chop. This melted, infusing the chops with flavor from the rosemary, garlic, sea salt, pepper and vinegar.

Fresh beans and farm-foraged chanterelles also enjoyed the same whipped lardo seasoning, although the flavoring was a bit heavy on the chanterelles. Butter or olive oil is best for those.

The final plating, a delicious and perfectly cooked sirloin chop with beans from our garden and chanterelles from our woods.

This recipe was originally shared on Facebook in July 2018.