Sunday, August 7, 2011

You Say Party, We Say Pig!

If you want a successful party, invite a pig. And a keg. And lots of wonderful people. Last night was our very good friends Dino and Keltie's going away bash and to make the occasion one to remember, we decided to roast a pig. Only we didn't do it on a spit, this one was done in a china box. Best pork ever.

We ordered the pig from Murray's Market where they brined it for over a week for us. Once we got it home, we splayed it out between two racks and sat it neatly inside a china box, not to be seen until a few hours later. In a china box, the pig cooks by placing hot coals over the top. The inside, which is all stainless steel, gets super hot and basically slow cooks the pig to utter perfection. We got this lovely contraption from Dennis, a wonderful gentleman up in Tremblant who runs his own South African catering business. About an hour before the end, you flip the pig skin side up and make some slices through the skin so that it gets nice and crispy on the edges. Opening the lid to flip it also gives you the opportunity to baste it in delicious homemade barbecue sauce. Our sauce was made by the lovely Charlotte, a deliciously smokey and spicy chipotle sauce.

Just to blacken it a bit more, my husband went over it with a blow torch.

Then Derrek, a good friend of Charlotte's showed up and spent the next hour and a half carving every mouthwatering morsel of meat for our guests to enjoy. Words cannot describe how happy and lucky we were to have a pro like him in the kitchen. Derrek, I can't thank you enough!

This pig was AMAZING! The meat was tender and juicy and with more of that heavenly bbq sauce, it was like a dream. Even a friend who eats only fins and feathers ate some pork. She has not eaten pork in 20 years! That's how good it was. 62 pounds of pig was literally gone in under 2 hours.

Along with the pork, we also served some corn on the cob that we cooked over the hot coals on the china box. We soaked the corn with just a bit of husks left on for 24 hours beforehand. We set out a large container of melted butter so guests could just dip their corn in. My husband also made a huge vat of coleslaw. And for the appetizer, he made a beer-up-the-butt chicken. I'm telling you, there was some good meat eating at my house yesterday!

And what's a pig party without pig cupcakes!? Leave it to Teresa to show up with the perfect dessert. These beauties went FAST. And as Teresa walked through the room with her trays of treats, the room lit up.

I love summer. And I love pig.

3 comments:

Sarah E. Hoffman said...

The contrast of the pig cupcakes with the roast pig is too cute!

hiepvu said...

I'm so sad we missed this. Damn you Mexico!
Clam bake next?

dinko said...

I miss pig!