Pigs in Blankets
"I cant wait to see what you do for pigs in blankets. I take it your not doing that kind of thing"
Oh I'm doing it alright, I'm doing it. Chipolatas wrapped in bacon ? Not a chance I'm missing out on that action.
Of course I tampered with the traditional menu somewhat.
This recipe has taken me a while to do. I originally wanted to do a chipolata terrine but the terrines I had were either too small or too big. So I opted instead to do a Ballotine of sorts. I also wanted a vehicle to use up the leftover turkey legs and this would be perfect.
First thing I did was to make the sausage mixture. I used the sausage meat from a traditional chipolata sausage and mixed it with chopped water chestnuts, dried cranberries, extra sage, exrta thyme and a little brandy for luck( its turning out that I'm using a lot of brandy in this menu, for which I am 100% unapologetic).
I seasoned this mixture up and flattened it out into a big rectangle, to which I added some of the turkey leg meat in a line through the middle.
Next I laid out the bacon side by side and flattened it out with the heal of my hand. I rolled the sausage mixture up over the turkey into a "sausage" shape and then rolled it up in the bacon.
It then took a piece of cling film big enough to wrap the bacon/sausage/thing up in several times and tightly rolled it making sure there are as few air pockets as possible. Then whilst holding the two ends I rolled it on itself so as to tighten up the shape.
Now you could put this in a bain marie in an oven at 150oC for an hour or so (or lower for longer), or if you have a water bath like I do you can put it in at 65oC for 2 hours. Whatever you do once you have cooked it you need to get it back in the fridge for a good few hours, if not a day.
What has happened is the fats and juices in the ballotine have run around each other when cooking, mixing together like a fatty, flavourful disco party. When you cool it down these fats rest and congeal and give it structure. So the longer you leave it the more you will be able to play around with it later.
Once its cooled it needs to be pan fried (at a low heat for a reasonable time, start with the join to seal it) to develop the flavour in the bacon and then sliced as thinly as you want it. If it's cold in the middle you might want to oven cook it for a few minutes or cool it down and serve it cold.
I seasoned the slice with Togarashi and salt and presented it on a crostini brushed with sage oil.
This may be a hassle to do but its much more appealing that wrapping a chipolata in bacon and really easy to work with as a canapé.
Only one this time, two still to go.
I'm working on something to do with egg nog, but I'm not 100% sure I've ever had egg nog.
Comments