Prize Pig Recipes

WHOLE ROAST SUCKLING PIG

Steps:

• Heat oven to 300 degrees. Prepare the pig: Wash it, including the cavity, under cold running water, and towel-dry thoroughly, the way you would dry a small child after a bath - ears, armpits, chest cavity, face, legs, backs of knees.
• Sometimes there are imperfections remaining after the slaughtering and processing of the animal. Use dish towels or sturdy paper towels to rub away any dark spots on the ears, any little bit of remaining bristles around the mouth. Like that yellow, papery flaking skin you sometimes find on chickens, which can be peeled off to reveal tender, fresh skin underneath, a similar bit of crud can remain on pigs' chins and under their belly flaps. Clean this little cutie as if you were detailing your car! The purple U.S.D.A. stamp, however, is indelible. But not inedible.
• Bard the pig with all 20 garlic cloves, making deep incisions all over with a thin filleting knife and shoving the cloves into each pocket; include the cheeks and the neck and the rump and the thighs and the loin down the back and the front shoulders, all areas of the small creature that have enough flesh to be able to receive a clove of garlic. (Sometimes I find I have to slice the larger cloves of garlic in half to get them to slide into the incision.)
• Rub the entire pig in oil exactly as you would apply suntan oil to a sunbathing goddess of another era, when people still were ignorant of the harmful effects of the sun. Massage and rub and get the whole creature slick and glistening. I do this directly in a very large roasting pan.
• Wash and dry your hands. Take large pinches of kosher salt, and raising your arm high above the pig, rain down the salt in an even, light dusting all over. You can start with the pig on its back and get the cavity and the crotch, and then turn it over and get the back and the head and flanks. Or vice versa. But in the end, the whole animal is salted evenly and lightly, snout to tail.
• Arrange the pig in the roasting pan, spine up, rear legs tucked under, with feet pointing toward its ears and its two front legs out ahead in front. Sometimes the pig needs a sharp, sturdy, confident chiropractic crack on its arching spine, just to settle it in comfortably to the roasting pan, so it won't list to one side or topple over.
• Put the potato deep into its mouth, and place in the oven, on the bottom rack, and roast slowly for about 4 to 5 hours, depending on the size of your pig. (Plan 15 minutes of roasting time per pound of pig; if you have a 20-pounder, then you'd need about 5 hours total cooking time.) Add a little water to the roasting pan along the way if you see the juices are in danger of scorching, and loosely tent the animal with aluminum foil in vulnerable spots - ears, snout, arc of back - if you see them burning. For the last half-hour, raise the oven temperature to 450 degrees, and cook until the skin gets crisp and even blistered, checking every 10 minutes.
• Tap on it with your knuckle to hear a kind of hollow sound, letting you know the skin has inflated and separated from the interior flesh; observe splitting of the skin at knuckles - all good signs the pig is done. Or use a meat thermometer inserted deep in the neck; the pig is ready at 160 degrees. Let rest 45 minutes before serving.
• Remove the potato, and replace it with the apple. Transfer the pig to a large platter; nestle big bouquets of herbs around the pig as garnish. Save pan juices, and use for napping over the pulled meat when serving.

CUBAN-STYLE ROAST PIG

Steps:

• Place pig skin side down on a large work surface. Strain one recipe of the mojo into a bowl, reserving solids. Transfer liquid to a large syringe and inject the mojo into the meat of the pig every 3 to 4 inches, taking care not to push syringe down so far that it punctures the skin on the underside of the meat. Sprinkle the interior and exterior of the pig with adobo criollo and rub all over; rub reserved solids from mojo over rib cage. Cover and let marinate, chilled, overnight.
• Bring pig to room temperature. Lock the pig into the wire rack of the Caja China by using the S-hooks. Place locked pig in the Caja China on top of the drip pan, skin side down. Insert a meat thermometer with a cable attachment into the thickest rear section of the pig.
• Place ash pan and grid tray on top of the Caja China. Fill the bottoms of two large chimney starters with crumpled newspaper. Starting with16 pounds of charcoal briquettes (not instant), fill the tops of the chimney starters with some of the 16 pounds of charcoal. Place a chimney starter on each end of the grid tray; light the newspaper in each chimney starter. Flames will sweep up through the chimney, igniting charcoal. When charcoal is red-hot, after 15 to 20 minutes, dump out charcoal from starters and add remaining charcoal to total 16 pounds; spread evenly across grid tray. After 1 hour of cooking, evenly add 8 pounds charcoal. Repeat process every hour until pig reaches 185 to 187 degrees, about 3 1/2 hours.
• When pig has reached 185 to 187 degrees, two people wearing protective gloves should raise the grid tray and carefully shake ashes off the coals and into ash pan. Carefully place the grid tray on the long handles. Two people should then lift the ash pan with ashes and safely dispose of them, adding water to ensure they do not cause a fire.
• Using protective gloves, carefully turn pig skin side up and return to the Caja China. With a knife, carefully make cross cuts into skin between each grid of the rack, taking care not to cut into the meat. Return ash pan and grid tray with hot coals to the Caja China and cook, until skin is crisp, 30 to 45 minutes more.
• Heat remaining recipe mojo and transfer to a serving bowl. Remove ash pan and grid tray from Caja China. Lift wire rack containing pig out of the Caja China. Detach S-hooks and remove top rack. Serve meat on rolls topped with warm mojo and chopped onions, if desired.

PRIZE PIG

Steps:

• Line sheet pan with parchment paper, lay bacon on top. Place in oven while preheats to 400 F and bake for a total of 20 minutes. Blot grease from bacon with paper towels. Dice.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and baking soda. Add the butter and use a pastry blender to cut the butter until pea size.
• Use a wooden spoon to stir in the 2 eggs until combined. Stir in 1 ½ cups of the buttermilk until the dough comes together into a sticky mass. If not sticky enough add more buttermilk, 1 tbsp at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the diced bacon, cheeses and chives until well incorporated, do not over mix. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to overnight.
• Scrape the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Press dough into large round roughly 14 inches across.
• Line baking sheet with parchment. Use a 3 ½ inch biscuit cutter to out 20 rounds. Transfer biscuits to lined pan, arranging them so they all are touching.
• In a small dish, whisk the remaining 1 egg and 1 tbsp buttermilk. Brush mixture over biscuits. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 400 F.
• Bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Let cool slightly in the pan on a rack.