Christmas Tradition ~ Pigs in the Blanket
The Daily Meditation is below this post!
Pigs in the Blankets or SAUCIJZENBROODJES as they are known in Dutch, have been a Christmas tradition in my family for generations. I can remember as a little girl, coming in from playing outside in the snow with my cousins, to my Grandma's blissfully warm kitchen with the smell of freshly made Pigs in the Blankets permeating the air! What a treat to sit down around the kitchen table with a bit of that wonderful goodness! Years later, I can remember how disappointed I was the first time someone handed me an "American" pig in the blanket and it was just a hot dog wrapped in biscuit dough! For me, nothing beats the real thing! In the recent past, when we used to hold a large Christmas Caroling Party every year, we made a double batch of these and they were always a favorite of everyones and one of the first things to be eaten up!
The recipe has evolved over the years. My Grandmother made them with all pork sausage. As times have changed, the amount of pork sausage has decreased and the amount of lean ground meat has increased and now many family members make them with either lean ground beef or even ground turkey! Each family also seems to change the spices to suit their own preferences. It seems that not too many people make the bread dough anymore either (other than me!) and so using frozen bread or roll dough has made the process simpler for some.
I photographed the making of Pigs in the Blankets this year for posterity and so that the coming generations will still know how to make them! I thought I'd share the recipe with you!
First make the bread dough. My recipe comes from the "More with Less" Cookbook by Doris Janzen Longacre. I've been using it for decades and find it to be a great white bread recipe. Note that you will probably only need three loaves worth of dough, so you can either make a loaf of bread or some rolls in addition to the Pigs in the Blankets!
While the bread is rising, you can mix the meat!
In a large mixing bowl, combine:
Divide bread dough into four balls. Divide each ball into thirds as they are needed.
With hands, roll one third of ball into a long thin roll
and then roll with rolling pin into long flat rectangle about 3" wide and 3/8" thick.
Form meat into a long thin roll about ½" in diameter down center of dough.
Brush edges of dough with water. (I usually use my fingers dipped in a small bowl of water to do this.)
Bring edges of dough together around meat and pinch to seal.
Cut into 1 1/2" to 2" segments
and place seam side down, 1" apart on a cookie sheet with sides.
Cover and let rise for ½ hour in a warm place.
Brush tops with:
Bake at 350 F for 20 minutes. (use the middle rack)
Using a pastry brush, brush drippings from bottom of pan onto tops of Pigs in the Blankets.
Bake another 5 to 10 minutes or until nicely browned.
Note: if they don’t seem to brown in this amount of time, increase temp to 375 degrees F.
Remove to plates. Serve warm.
This usually makes about 2 1/2 pans full for me, enough for a family plus a few leftovers to warm up later!
An alternate version:
Pigs in the Blankets or SAUCIJZENBROODJES as they are known in Dutch, have been a Christmas tradition in my family for generations. I can remember as a little girl, coming in from playing outside in the snow with my cousins, to my Grandma's blissfully warm kitchen with the smell of freshly made Pigs in the Blankets permeating the air! What a treat to sit down around the kitchen table with a bit of that wonderful goodness! Years later, I can remember how disappointed I was the first time someone handed me an "American" pig in the blanket and it was just a hot dog wrapped in biscuit dough! For me, nothing beats the real thing! In the recent past, when we used to hold a large Christmas Caroling Party every year, we made a double batch of these and they were always a favorite of everyones and one of the first things to be eaten up!
The recipe has evolved over the years. My Grandmother made them with all pork sausage. As times have changed, the amount of pork sausage has decreased and the amount of lean ground meat has increased and now many family members make them with either lean ground beef or even ground turkey! Each family also seems to change the spices to suit their own preferences. It seems that not too many people make the bread dough anymore either (other than me!) and so using frozen bread or roll dough has made the process simpler for some.
I photographed the making of Pigs in the Blankets this year for posterity and so that the coming generations will still know how to make them! I thought I'd share the recipe with you!
First make the bread dough. My recipe comes from the "More with Less" Cookbook by Doris Janzen Longacre. I've been using it for decades and find it to be a great white bread recipe. Note that you will probably only need three loaves worth of dough, so you can either make a loaf of bread or some rolls in addition to the Pigs in the Blankets!
WHITE BREAD
Oven: 350 degrees F
30 to 35 minutes
Dissolve
2 pkg. dry yeast in
½ c. warm water
1 ½ tsp sugar
Combine in large mixer bowl:
½ c. sugar
1 TBLS salt
1/4 c. lard or shortening
3 c. warm water
yeast mixture
Add:
5 c. flour
Beat with electric mixer 3 minutes.
Stir in by hand:
6 c. flour
Turn onto floured board and knead 5 minutes. Place in greased bowl, turning once, cover and let rise ½ hour. Punch down, turn over and let rise again until double. While the bread is rising, you can mix the meat!
In a large mixing bowl, combine:
2 lbs. ground beef
1 lb. pork sausage
1 tsp. Salt
½ tsp. Pepper
1 tsp. Cinnamon
1 tsp. Nutmeg
1/4 tsp. Cloves
Mix well using hands to evenly mix spices throughout meat.Divide bread dough into four balls. Divide each ball into thirds as they are needed.
With hands, roll one third of ball into a long thin roll
and then roll with rolling pin into long flat rectangle about 3" wide and 3/8" thick.
Form meat into a long thin roll about ½" in diameter down center of dough.
Brush edges of dough with water. (I usually use my fingers dipped in a small bowl of water to do this.)
Bring edges of dough together around meat and pinch to seal.
Cut into 1 1/2" to 2" segments
and place seam side down, 1" apart on a cookie sheet with sides.
Cover and let rise for ½ hour in a warm place.
Brush tops with:
1/4 c. milk
Bake at 350 F for 20 minutes. (use the middle rack)
Using a pastry brush, brush drippings from bottom of pan onto tops of Pigs in the Blankets.
Bake another 5 to 10 minutes or until nicely browned.
Note: if they don’t seem to brown in this amount of time, increase temp to 375 degrees F.
Remove to plates. Serve warm.
This usually makes about 2 1/2 pans full for me, enough for a family plus a few leftovers to warm up later!
An alternate version:
Use:
3 – 4 loaves “Rhodes” frozen bread, thawed and raised as on label.
Eliminate Nutmeg (but keep other spices) and instead add:
1/4 tsp. Ground ginger
½ tsp. Poultry seasoning
Happy Baking! I'd love to know what family traditions you have that have been passed down through the generations!
Happy Baking! I'd love to know what family traditions you have that have been passed down through the generations!
Comments
Julie C