Suckling Piggies and Other Thingies

Saturday night was the culmination of 21 years of devout piggy worship. It took place at St. John restaurant in Smithfield. A Curtis family celebration is first and foremost about one thing... Food. You have to order the pig a month in advance, which my sister took upon herself to do. I should clarify that I come from a family of complete pork fanatics. From the sweet little piggies running around in a pen to the scrumptious meat, I can safely say the Curtis family love everything about pigs. We love pigs so much that we found a pet that is as close to a pig in appearance as possible (Agnes, an english bull terrier. We have often talked about which part of Agnes would taste the most delicious).

My sister Lucy instructed me to visit the St. John's website and help her choose the starters for the night. The menu on the restaurant's site was titled 'Feasting', a great start. We ended up choosing Roast bone marrow & parsley salad and Whole crab & mayonnaise. They brought the bone marrow and crab out on huge platters (why does food look infinitely yummier on a platter?). Before the meal I had in my mind an image of literally picking marrow from a cows bones... And that is exactly what we did. It turns out bone marrow spread on toast with a sprinkling of salt is quite the most delicious thing. The crab was equally yummy. It was served whole which meant a considerable amount of snapping and cracking and picking and, at one point, actually sucking crab flesh from a claw, the whole messy process making it even more tasty.
The suckling pig was then brought in to loud cheers and much drooling. It was when I thought how delicious the pig's head looked that I realised I really do have no qualms when it comes to eating pigs, however sweet they might be. The head was cut off and placed ceremoniously in front of my sister, far better than any birthday cake I've ever seen. No one seemed particularly surprised when Lucy started nibbling the ears as we sang happy birthday... The look of pride on my father's face was immense.

Unsurprisingly, a whole pig which has been roasting for 10 hours is completely delicious. Thank god for my supreme gift of a second 'pudding' stomach. A gift I know many of my friends are blessed with. After the pig had been demolished and swept away to be wrapped up into a mouthwatering doggy bag, the waitress brought in the puddings on yet more platters. Sticky toffee pudding and profiteroles. Too much? Almost. There was a considerable lull in conversation after a few minutes as people realised the extremity of what we had taken on. Bone marrow, crab, a whole pig and two puddings. Greediness is a trait which is prided in our family. Holding back is frowned upon. It is safe to say I am very proud to call myself a Curtis.

Chicken Pie (Flora Davidson)

1 chicken
720ml chicken stock
125ml cream
1 onion, sliced
1 carrot, sliced
100g smoked streaky bacon
50g butter
75g flour
packet of puff pastry
1 egg, beaten
salt and pepper

Poach chicken in 1 litre of water. Add carrot and onion and bring to the boil and then simmer for 45 minutes. Take the chicken off the bone and break it up into fork size pieces. Sweat onion and bacon until soft, then add flour and cook for 2 minutes. Gradually stir in 750ml of poaching liquid (stock) and simmer for 2 minutes. Stir in cream and season. Fold in chicken pieces and pour into pie dish. When cool, cover with puff pastry and glaze with the egg. Cook for 30 minutes until pastry is golden.

Sticky toffee pudding cupcakes with a salted caramel frosting (Kasia Kirkland)

The future of British baking, Miss Kasia Kirkland has kindly shared her original cupcake recipe. This particular batch is for a Macmillan cancer charity coffee morning.

180 g dates, pitted and chopped
1 tsp vanilla extract
180 g self-raising flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
80 g unsalted butter
150 g muscovado sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten

For the caramel
3 - 4 tbsp dulche de leche
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the buttercream
1 tsp vanilla extract
160 g butter
200 g icing sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC/fan170ºC/gas 4.

2. Place the paper cases into a 12 hole cupcake tin.

3. In a heatproof bowl, pour 180ml boiling water over the dates and leave to soak
for 20 minutes. with a fork, gently break up the dates and stir in the vanilla.

4. Sift the flour and bicarbonate of soda into a bowl and set aside. Cream together
the butter and sugar for a good 5 minutes until very light and fluffy. Add the eggs
gradually, beating between each addition, slipping in 1 tbsp flour about halfway
through to prevent curdling.
Lastly, fold in the remaining flour and then the date mixture.

5. Spoon into the cupcake cases and bake for 15-20 minutes (the tops should spring
back when pressed with a finger). Remove and leave to cool.

6. Mix the dulce de leche with the salt and vanilla.

7. For the buttercream Cream the butter and icing sugar for at least 5 minutes with
an electric mixer and add the caramel or the dulce de leche.

8. Put the buttercream into the piping bag fitted with the star nozzle and pipe it
on to the cakes, or spread it on with a palette knife.

Spiced chickpea salad with mango yoghurt

This is a recipe from Mary Gwynn's new cookbook (aka my mum!). I made this for lunch today and it is bloody delicious. It requires no cooking and improves in flavour as it sits.

Serves 2-3

1 medium red onion, finely chopped
400g can chickpeas, drained
1 carrot, diced
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp garam masala
juice of 1 lemon
2 tbsp chopped fresh mint (parsley or coriander also go nicely)
2 tbsp mango chutney
4 tbsp natural yoghurt
salt and pepper

Mix the onion, chickpeas and carrot together in a bowl. Add the spices, lemon juice, mint and seasoning. Spoon into a serving bowl. Mix together the mango chutney and yoghurt and drizzle the dressing over the salad.

Serve with naan bread or pitta. The lovely Adie Towers served it as an accompaniment to a chicken curry and it went perfectly.

Tuna, Cannellini bean and White onion salad

Serves 2/3

400g tin of cannellini beans
200g of tinned tuna
1/2 white onion, finely chopped
2 hard boiled eggs, cut into 6 segments
small handful of flat lead parsley, roughly chopped
cherry tomatoes

Dressing:
Extra virgin olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
salt + pepper

Drain the cannellini beans and rinse them. Mix the tuna, beans, chopped onion, eggs, tomatoes and chopped parsley in a bowl. Pour the dressing over.

Serve with bread.

Victoria Sponge (Kate Towers)

3 eggs
7oz Caster Sugar
7oz Self-raising flour
70z butter
1 teaspoon of baking powder
A good slosh of milk
Zest of 1 lemon
300ml whipped cream
Strawberry jam
Strawberries
Icing sugar

2 x 18cm (7in) sponge cake tin

Preheat the oven to 180C. Butter the tins and line the base of each with greaseproof paper. Cream the butter and gradually add the sugar. Beat until soft and light and quite pale in colour. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition. Sieve the flour and baking powder. Add the lemon zest. Mix all together lightly and add the milk to moisten. Divide the mixture evenly between the 2 tins. Bake for 20 minutes, they should be golden with a slight wobble. Turn out and allow to cool. Sandwich together with the jam and whipped cream. Cut the strawberries into quarters and place on top, lightly sprinkling with icing sugar.

SERVE WITH TEA.

Hummus with ground lamb and pinenuts

Serves 4

200g chickpeas
6 tablespoons of olive oil
1/2 large Spanish onion, very finely diced
1/3 teaspoon ground cinnamon
juice of 1emon
2-3 garlic cloves, crushed to a paste with salt
3-4 tablespoons of tahini paste
170g lamb, minced
2 tablespoons of pinenuts, lightly toasted
1 medium bunch of flat leaf parsley, leaves picked from the stalks
a sprinkling of paprika
sea salt and black pepper

Heat half the olive oil over a low to medium heat and fry the onion, stirring occasionally, until golden and sweet. Remove and add the ground cinnamon.
To make the hummus, drain the chickpeas, keeping aside the cooking liquid, and blend in a food processor with a little cooking liquid to help the chickpeas on their way. When smooth add the garlic, lemon juice, tahini and the rest of the olive oil. Add salt, pepper and some more liquid if necessary. Taste for seasoning and spread the hummus on to a plate so it is ready to receive the lamb.
Place a frying pan over a high heat and when it is hot add the caramelised onion and its oil followed by the lamb. Use the back of a fork to break up the lamb as it sizzles and season with salt and pepper. When the lamb begins to crisp, add the pinenuts and transfer immediately to the hummus. Serve with the parsley leaves and paprika sprinkled on top. Serve with warm flatbread or pitta bread.