Pig Roast

Years ago I read about the Caja China box and how you could roast a whole pig in less than four hours.  Totally intrigued me and so with the ease of one click, I bought the box.

For many, seeing the whole head to tail in living color is well basically gross but I could care less.  And so we roasted a whole pig again on Saturday bringing together a mix of people ranging from 14 to 50.  By the time the crowd left there wasn't a crumb left of anything in the house.

Pig1
The pig needs to be butterflied and beheaded.  I did that myself last time but this time I just asked the butcher to do the honors.  You place the pig between two trays held together by four S hooks.  Set it in the box, skin side down.

Pig3:charcoal
45 lbs of charcoal is used over the course of 3.5 hours for a 30 lb pig.

Pigdone
Once the pig is cooked through, you flip the pig to get the skin crispy.  I lathered it up in bbq sauce and sent it back to the box.

Pigskin3
And voila, perfectly cooked.  Delicious.  Really an entirely different eating experience.  Thinking of doing a lamb by summers end before we pack it up.

S;aw

Went for an Asian slant.  Pardon the pictures as my Asian slant had tequila involved.  Cole slaw.

For 45 people:

2 heads red cabbage – sliced and chopped

2 heads Napa cabbage – sliced and chopped

2 bags carrots – sliced and grated

Heat the following ingredients in a sauce pan and then let cool.

3 T. grated ginger

3 T. sesame oil

1/2 cup soy sauce

6 T. rice vinegar

3 T. sugar

3 T. lime juice

Once this mixture had cooled, I whisked mayonnaise in it (maybe 3/4 cup).  The sauce was still relatively thin but the mayo help the cole slaw stick together.  A little kosher salt for taste after mixing the slaw.  Really good.


Tomatoes
Red and yellow tomatoes covered with chives and a light vinaigrette;  5 T. rice wine vinegar, 2 T. sesame oil, 1 T. sugar, pinch of kosher salt.  Mix together and dribbled over the tomatoes.  I also sprinkled sesame seeds over the top of the tomatoes.  Think 4 large tomatoes for 10 people and then you are set.  That is mint in the middle.  Strictly for decor.


Corn slathered with a mixture of butter, cumin, cardoman, cinnamon and a hint of lime.  I grilled the corn for ease and cut each ear in half before putting them on the grill.  I could never replicate this as for it was a complete work in motion being doctored as I mixed the ingredients.

Cookies
Lemon mousse and chocolate chip cookies for dessert.  Lemon mousse recipe coming in another blog post.  It is delicious!  

Comments (Archived):

  1. Sunchowder

    Gorgeous Joanne! Amanda Hesser just posted something about Caja China box too 🙂 You look very happy in your photo.

    1. Gotham Gal

      Thanks Wendy. Will check out Amandas post. She was at the roast!

      1. amandahesser

        I tweeted about it — and just saw this post, so tweeted about this post, too! Love the Caja China. Thanks again, Joanne, for a super fun dinner.

        1. Gotham Gal

          My pleasure. So glad you came!

  2. Ryan Drew

    The pig looks delicious! Did you apply any seasoning before cooking?

    1. Gotham Gal

      I did. You don’t have to but I rubbed it down with a mix of cumin, paprika, salt, pepper and sugar.

  3. rachel

    kosher and delicious! i love it!!

    1. Gotham Gal

      Yes. The joke of the night is the rabbi came earlier in the day to give his blessing.

  4. ellen

    The last pig roast we went to was on a spit. It was cooked by our greek friends. This one certainly looked interesting.

    1. Gotham Gal

      The Greeks know how to do it!

  5. peter morgan

    wow, that looks fantastic. wish i’d been there.@chasingcinnamon

  6. Perry Perkins

    Just FYI…La Caja China just released a cookbook, “La Caja China Cooking” – http://www.lacajachina.com/

    1. Gotham Gal

      ooh. Will pick up. Thanks for the info