Superstork 2017
Roast Suckling Pig!
Our annual New Year's Eve Dinner Party with the "Italians", a group of four couples who are not Italian but did travel in Italy together, was postponed for a week this year so that all of us could attend. This gave us a little more time to think about what we might serve.
Having sampled and loved roast suckling pig in Spain this past fall, we thought, hmmm, I wonder how hard it could be? After doing a minimal amount of research online, I came upon this gem:
"You'd have to be a complete idiot to be able to start with a good pig and end up with something nothing short of extraordinary... You'd have to be a diabolical madman of unrivaled genius bent on destroying deliciousness in order to ruin a good suckling pig."
OK then, I decided I am qualified to prepare a suckling pig because I am (in my opinion) neither an idiot nor a diabolical madman, so my mind was immediately made up, assuming I could find a "good suckling pig".
A casual chat last Sunday with one of my butcher buddies at Seaside Market revealed that they could supply a delectable little piggy for our dining pleasure, so I ordered one.
I picked it up this morning (Thursday) and this is what it said on the box. Yes it came in a box, straight from Ames, Iowa, where all the best little piggies are raised. 20.10 pounds! That should feed the eight of us! And here it is:
I'm not going to call it "he" or "she" or give it a name. I don't want to get too attached. "It" arrived frozen in a vacuum-sealed bag. If you look closely you can make out the snout and an eye. Mmmm, mmmm, I'm getting hungry already!
Friday
I pulled the piggy out of the fridge this morning just to check on it and it was still frozen! I had planned to take it out of its plastic vacuum packing but all I did was run a little water on it and put it back in the fridge. After running water on the packaging I could see it a little better and I noticed that the eyeballs are still in it! Yuck! I can't deal with a pig with eyes. This means one thing. As soon as it's thawed, I will be performing a porcine eyeball-ectomy! Stay tuned.
Friday Afternoon
Well, it thawed out enough to remove from the heavy plastic wrap. I rinsed it off though it barely fit in the kitchen sink. It was pretty clean right out of the bag, but I wanted to make sure it was a very clean little piggy.
Eyes
I have not removed the eyes yet. If you would like to see what it looks like with eyes, click here, otherwise scroll down.
Ladies and gentleman, meet your dinner!
It's about two feet long from snout to tail. It came trussed up just like this.
They say the cheeks are the best part! Oink, oink.
Roll me over! It was completely gutted. I was a bit surprised that the breast bone was left intact but I think it will make it easier to stuff. Check out that cute little tail!
I'm going to stuff it with onions, garlic, oranges, scallions and some herbs. I'll rub it with salt and pepper and maybe some mild dried herbs from Savory Spice Shop.
Saturday, 1:15 PM
The piggy is stuffed, trussed and almost ready to go on the rotisserie. I stuffed it with chunked onion, garlic, scallions, orange, fresh ginger, some sage and thyme, a little rosemary and salt. I sprayed the outside with "Baker's Joy" dusted it with salt and sprinkled it all over with Pike's Peak Butcher's Rub from Savory Spice.
Here's what went in the cavity.
Here is my truss job. Gotta keep that stuff from falling out, right? I also tied the spine to the rotisserie to keep it from sagging is it spins and cooks.
Almost ready to go
It looked like the little piggy legs were sticking out too far. I was afraid the would drag in the drip pan, so I tied them up closer to the little piggy's body. I'm going to wait until 3:00 to put it on. I'm guessing it will take around three hours.
Got it on the rotisserie at 3:30. Isn't it beautiful?!
Now all that's left is the waiting...
I know New Year's was last week but we're celebrating tonight!
After about an hour the little guy was getting a tan!
Here is the happy chef.
Another hour and it was starting to look porky and juicy.
And yet after another hour, the skin was starting to look delectable. I removed the drip tray and started the lower burners to help it along. Check out the video:
Alas! I put the BBQ cover down and then got distracted. In the wink of an eye, I burnt the skin to beyond a crisp. I guess that places me firmly in the "complete idiot" category.
All was not lost, however. Though the skin did take some fiery abuse, the interior was nicely done. We all had plenty to eat and plenty to drink!
The best part of the evening was spending it with our good friends Skip, Josie, Kelly, Jan, Greg and John.
What is John wearing, you ask? Why that's piggy protection! No need to worry about flying pig parts with that outfit!
Another great gathering! Bring on 2017!
Happy New Year!
