Hertfordshire have been busy again over the weekend providing quality hog roast catering in Hertfordshire and the surrounding area.
On Friday 7th September we delivered one of out Titan hog roast machines to Zac who had a DIY hog roast in Great Missenden. He has a little experience in carving and decided he was going to cook and chef a hog roast for his sister’s 21st Birthday bash.
A DIY hog roast is a very simple and cost effective solution to your catering needs, especially if you are on a budget.
We simply deliver the machine and hog if you are not supplying your own meat, at a convenient time. We give a thorough demonstration of the safe and correct operation of our machine and explain the process of how to cook the hog. It really is simple and to date, we have never had a phone call on the day asking for help….. Of course we are on hand to give advice if needed.
More often than not, we can actually start the cooking process for you as well and then leave you to enjoy your day while the aroma of the slowly cooking hog fills your garden with the tantalising smell of the juicy succulent pork.
There are actually two ways to cook the hog; either in a hog tray which is generally referred as a hog roast or as a spit roast when the pig is racked on a pole.
Both ways of cooking produce the most flavoursome, mouth watering pork with crunchy crackling and it is a debate amongst hog roast chefs, which method is best.
When you decide on a hog roast, we will try and steer you to a hog tray method as it is fail safe. You simply place the hog in the tray and it will slowly cook for six hours… If you decide on the spit roast method, there are a couple of potential hazards as the pig is racked on a pole and rotates as it cooks. Some times the legs can slip from the triangle leg supports and may need cutting off as they can catch on the side of the machine. This is rare but means that the hog does need to be monitored during the day.
We picked the machine up on Monday afternoon and it was returned in a nice clean condition which is all we ask. Zac commented on how simple the whole process was and was wowed and amazed by the crunchiest golden crackling from our top quality out door bred and reared English hog, which is supplied by Godden butchers in Chesham.
We also catered for a 50th Birthday party in Staines Middlesex. Our chef John and assistant Amanda catered for about 80 hungry guests and provided a mouth watering feast of pork rolls with apple sauce and sage and onion stuffing and of course a mountain of crunchy crispy crackling which was a big hit with the crowd. We also laid on an array of freshly prepared salads and new potatoes with mint which compliment the hog roast very well.
Our chef’s Jason and Josie were in action at Denham water ski centre which is located between Rickmansworth and Uxbridge and again provided our hog roast menu 3 which consists of delicious pork rolls with stuffing and Bramley apple sauce with salads and new potatoes in mint. They said the day was amazing and it was nice to relax for an hour or two while the hog was cooking and watch people water ski during the afternoon.
Mean while Karen, Allen, Greg and myself were catering for the Wedding of Lyn and Mike in a marquee in a field opposite their home in Lathbury near Newport Pagnell.
It was a lovely day… the marquee was decorated beautifully and Lyn looked amazing in her dress.
We could hear the church bells clang as their ceremony came to an end and as the guests and happily married couple walked from the church to the garden they were greeted by our team of experienced waitresses to serve them Pimms and canapés.
The guests were wowed by our honey glazed sausages which are tossed in sesame seeds and we had guests asking for the recipe. Believe it or not that’s all it is… sausages, honey and sesame seeds served nice and warm with cocktail sticks. Very simple but as with a lot of catering, it is the simple recipes that usually are the big hitters. Our chefs are a dab hand at the presentation side of things and simple ideas that look good are usually best. Our other canapés were our smoked salmon on home made dill scones with a sour cream and horse radish sauce, Home made parmesan short breads with roasted cherry tomatoes, feta and a black olive, king prawns on a skewer with a crunchy mange tout with a lemon mayonnaise and chilli dip and finally wild mush room Bouchees with thyme and crème fraiche…. They are all simple, colourful and absolutely de…lic…ous !!
The hog roast was devoured and requests for more of the golden mouth watering crackling was directed to the chefs. Eventually we could offer no more of the scrumptious meat feast and this was then followed by some tasty desserts of torte au citron and strawberry and passion fruit meringues. Teas, coffees, biscuits and mints were served from the buffet station and we sliced and presented the wedding cake on silver platters for guests to help them selves.
If the guests were not completely filled by now, we also provided a bacon baps for an evening supper to help soak up the alcohol.
The whole day was a huge success and it was a pleasure to be part of Lyn and Mike’s wedding.
We received a lovely thank you email this morning which you can see on our testimonials page.
For a change we actually had Sunday off this week…. we had decided we were due one day off from a very busy summer and had arranged to go whippet racing in Ashridge which is located between ringshall and Berkhamsted and introduce our own whippet to the sport.
Unfortunately the meeting was not on, so we went for a long walk through the estate and then fell asleep by the cafe after enjoying a lovely home made cream scone and a cuppa tea.
This coming week is another busy one for Spitting Pig Hertfordshire with eight functions including a wedding in Moor Park, and a wedding in Potten End, a BBQ in Kimpton and a couple of hog roasts in Kings Langley and in North London.
We are also providing a hog and lamb roast for 700 guests from Tesco at De Vere Theobalds in Enfield and a lamb roast in Clapham, South West London.
Will keep you posted on how these all go in next weeks Spitting Pig Hertfordshire blog.