Earlier this month Ed and I enjoyed a fabulous vacation to Lake Champlain (both the New York and Vermont sides) and Mont Tremblant in Quebec Province.  As is our tradition when at my parents’ vacation home, Rocky Shore on Lake Champlain, we enjoy Red Hot hot dogs from the local Village Meat Market in Willsboro, New York. We rarely eat hot dogs but when we do, the great ketchup debate always comes up. 

I decided to do a very unscientific survey, so I shared this post on Facebook:  “My once a year (vacation) hot dog – unique Red Hots from the Village Meat Market in Willsboro. Ed strongly believes that ketchup has no place on a hot dog – I strongly believe it does. What camp are you in?” 

Wow! This post might have garnered the most feedback ever for one of my Facebook posts and definitely the most divisive. I ran the survey for a week and here are the results – the winner is ‘No Ketchup’ with 64% (49) of the votes versus 36% or 27 votes for ‘Yes Ketchup’. I was curious if it could be an east coast/west coast thing. ‘No Ketchup’ had 47 east and 2 west – ‘Yes Ketchup’ had 21 east and 6 west. Not conclusive enough to blame my California upbringing! 

For those who know me, I like to be right. When it comes to ketchup on a hot dog, I am in the minority and I must concede that Ed is right (he so enjoys hearing this!). 

Interestingly, these little pigs in a blanket call for a mustard dipping sauce – not just one, but two mustards (Dijon and whole grain – Maille is my go to brand for both) – and no ketchup. This was fine with me and I wasn’t even tempted to go to the ketchup bottle. 

Credit goes to my sister, Dixie J, for both selecting and making this recipe.  We were thrilled to have Dixie and her college-aged daughter (our eldest niece), Mia K, visit us for Easter earlier this year. Lauren and Chris M invited us to share Easter dinner with them (so much fun!) and we brought this as an appetizer. I’m sure you’re not surprised to hear that people were milling around the oven waiting for them to come out and some even burned their mouths as they couldn’t wait for them to cool down. Needless to say, they were all devoured and very much enjoyed by all.

According to the write up that accompanies this recipe in Nigella Lawson’s Nigella Kitchen: Recipes from the Heart of the Home (2010), she had never had American pigs in a blanket until she attended a party in the Hamptons on Long Island, New York, years ago. She immediately fell in love with them. She followed the server around so she could get more and then contacted the caterer for the recipe. Nigella is from England where pigs in a blanket are bacon wrapped around hot dogs rather than puff pastry. Nigella refers to the  American version as ‘franks in blanks’ which I rather adore. 

Ed and Nigella have something in common – they both love pigs in a blanket. To this day, Ed says our wedding (back in 1995) wasn’t official as we didn’t serve pigs in a blanket.

I suppose there is a good lesson here – it’s important to have an open mind depending on the circumstances. Give me a traditional hot dog and I’ll ask for ketchup (plus mustard and relish) but give me one of these tasty bites, and mustard doesn’t need a condiment companion.

Pigs in a Blanket

 

Pigs in a Blanket
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Recipe type: Appetizer
Author:
Serves: 64
Ingredients
  • 1 package ready-rolled puff-pastry sheets (approximately 17.3 ounces which gives you 2 sheets, approximately 10 x 9-1/2 inches), thawed if frozen
  • 1 egg
  • 16 hot dogs (your choice)
  • ½ cup Dijon mustard
  • ½ cup whole grain mustard
  • 2 tablespoons sour cream
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 425˚F. Line a large cookie sheet (or two medium cookie sheets) with parchment paper and set aside.
  2. Roll out one of the rectangular puff-pastry sheets to make it just a little bit thinner, stretching the long side rather than the short side as you roll. Cut the rectangle into quarters, then cut each rectangle in half lengthwise, to give 8 small pastry strips in total. You may need to roll each strip of pastry a little more to make sure it wraps snugly around your hot dog. The ends of the hot dogs should be exposed.
  3. Beat the egg in a small bowl and paint each pastry section with the egg wash.
  4. Sit a hot dog horizontally on the left-hand side of one of the pieces of pastry and roll it up until it just seals. Repeat with the remaining 7 small pastry strips. Then roll out the second sheet and repeat. You will have 64 ‘pigs’ when you’re done.
  5. Cut each rolled frank into 4 small pieces, pressing the pastry back around the hot dog if it comes loose. Place on the prepared cookie sheet with the sealed bit down to prevent it springing open.
  6. Glaze (paint) the pigs in blankets with the egg wash.
  7. Transfer to the oven and cook for 15 to 20 minutes. The pastry should have puffed up a little and turned golden.
  8. Meanwhile, mix the wholegrain mustard, Dijon mustard and sour cream in a small bowl.
  9. Transfer the cooked pigs in a blanket to a platter. Serve warm with the dipping sauce.
Notes
* The hot dogs in their pastry can be assembled 1 day in advance. Put cut-up pigs in a blanket on the prepared cookie sheet(s) but do not glaze the outside. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed. Store egg wash in a covered container in the refrigerator. Store the prepared dipping sauce in a covered container in the refrigerator. Glaze before baking per the recipe instructions.
* You may have extra mustard dipping sauce. If you do, try it on sandwiches. It will keep for a few weeks refrigerated.
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Source:  Variation on a recipe from Nigella Lawson’s Nigella Kitchen: Recipes from the Heart of the Home (2010)