Posted on: Wednesday, April 6, 2005
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FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Pigs fit well in blanket or trough
By Wanda A. Adams
Advertiser Food Editor
Sachi Mounkes e-mailed from Albuquerque, N.M., with a recipe for pigs in the blanket for Pat Maemori. Mounkes got this recipe from Sister Joseph Marie at St. Anthony School in Wailuku, Maui, in homemaking class in 1954. (May I just say that I stand in awe of the organizational skills of anyone who can put their fingers unerringly on a recipe that's almost as old as I am?)
• Pigs in Blankets: Mix 2 cups sifted flour and 1 teaspoon salt in a bowl. Cut in 2/3 cup shortening (i.e., Crisco or other solid vegetable shortening). Take one-third of this mixture and add to it 1/4 cup cold water in a separate bowl; mix and return wet mixture to shortening-flour mixture. Stir with fork until dough holds together. Roll out pastry on floured board and cut into 4-inch-by-3-inch strips. Roll a raw all-beef hot dog in each strip and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in a pre-heated 400-degree oven until pastry is golden brown. Makes one dozen.
• Per serving: 360 calories, 27 g total fat, 10 g saturated fat, 30 mg cholesterol, 820 mg sodium, 17 g carbohydrate, 1 g dietary fiber, 2 g sugar, 9 g protein
• • • Then Roxanne M. Matsuyama, the baker at Lanakila Elementary, sent in the school's recipe for Pigs in a Trough.
This is a yeast bread version in which the dogs are not individually wrapped but are laid on the dough and the dough allowed to rise around them so that they're enwrapped but partly exposed. The "pigs" are cut apart before serving. Matsuyama also adds an interesting final touch: The buns are brushed with garlic butter just as they come hot from the oven. This one might make a good quick way to do hot dogs for a crowd, as for a children's birthday party. It makes 36 pieces.
A few tips: You can make this by hand, mixing the dough, then kneading it well on a flat, floured surface, but it's easier in an electric mixer with a dough hook. To create a warm place for rising, turn the oven on to 150 degrees for 10 minutes while you are starting to make the dough. Set a timer so you won't forget to turn off the oven. Keep oven door shut and it will still be warm enough to encourage the dough to rise when your pan of pigs is ready. You'll have to remove the pan to preheat the oven for baking. If you're serving children, make garlic butter using garlic powder and soft butter; fresh garlic would be a little overpowering to them.
• Pigs in a Trough: Into the bowl of an electric mixer, pour 5 cups warm water and 3/4 cup sugar; stir and sprinkle in 7 1/2 teaspoons fast-acting dry yeast. Allow this to proof (begin to foam and form small bubbles), then add 1 1/4 pounds bread flour, 1 1/4 cup powdered milk, 1 teaspoon salt and 4 teaspoons oil. Mix 5 minutes using dough hook. Press into a greased, rimmed jelly roll pan. Lay out 36 hot dogs in four rows of nine each. Allow dough to rise around dogs in a warm place 20 to 30 minutes. Heat oven to 325 degrees (300 degrees if you have a convection oven) and bake 10 to 15 minutes, until browned. Brush with garlic butter while still hot; cut apart and serve. Makes 36 pieces. • Per piece (not including garlic butter): 270 calories, 17 g fat, 7 g saturated fat, 30 mg cholesterol, 710 mg sodium, 18 g carbohydrates, 0.5 g fiber, 7 g sugar, 10 g protein
