4 Levels of Pigs In A Blanket: Amateur to Food Scientist

[cooking]

[upbeat music]

Hi, I'm Steven, and I'm a level one chef.

Hi, I'm Daniel, and I'm a level two chef.

Hi, I'm Danielle Alex, creator of Diversity Kitchen,

And I've been a professional chef for 15 years.

[upbeat music]

Today, we're making pigs in a blanket,

and because I'm a vegetarian, instead of pigs,

I'm going to use carrots.

Today, got a pigs in a blanket recipe that relies

on a lot of Spanish ingredients, some chorizo,

membrillo, really adds to the flavor

without adding too much work.

But my pigs in a blanket are a little different.

I'm using homemade puff pastry with sage

folded into the dough, and we're making breakfast sausage.

I find it's perfect for a brunch situation.

[whoosh]

[metallic clang]

[percussive music]

We're going to get the pigs ready.

But instead of pigs, I'm going to use carrots.

Now, we've got the pigs, the piggies.

In this case, chorizo, which is sort like a Spanish sausage.

So I chose breakfast sausage, country breakfast sausage.

I like to sear it.

Eh, eh, eh.

Because it just adds to the flavor.

So you have a nice caramelized color

and flavor to the sausage.

So I'm gonna take these, kinda cut 'em down to size,

I'm gonna cut 'em basically

into little like semi-circles,

and ultimately easier to wrap up

in their little blanket homes.

I'm going to add the maple syrup.

Now I owe people, an apology.

In a previous episode,

I think I besmirched the name of maple syrup.

Nobody likes maple syrup.

Maple syrup is good.

It's these.

Little piggies are now ready for their blankets.

I'm gonna add some soy sauce,

two cups of water.

Add some garlic powder, pinch of salt,

and then, adobo sauce.

And I don't have to worry about cooking them thorough,

obviously, because they're going to cook through

in the oven.

Nice golden brown, gonna put them on a new tray.

Alrighty. So pigs in a blanket.

I mean, they need the blanket.

So let's start with the, the blanket making, or the dough.

My first step to my dough is making the beurrage.

So whenever making puff pastry,

of course you need a lot of butter and flour.

And I just want to incorporate the flour

and the butter evenly.

So as you can see, the first part of the beurrage

everything is nice and smooth.

Now I'm just going to create a nice little square.

I just want to make sure that it's even.

Then I'm just going to wrap this and there we are.

Perfect, ready to go in the refrigerator and chill.

The first step in this process

is to get the blanket ready.

So I'm going to start by taking some yeast

and adding it to the warm water off the bat.

Just so it has time to bloom.

I'm gonna mix it up a little bit.

Just let it kind of sit, gestate there and do its thing.

First. We're going to open this.

[grunting]

[paper tearing]

Or we're going to use brute force.

I just finished my beurrage, which is the butter pat,

that's gonna go inside my dough.

Now I'm going to do the detrempe,

which is the dough part of the recipe.

The mixer is my friend today.

So I'm going to put my flour Got my bread flour.

in the mixer, and then

a little bit of salt. My salt.

I'm just going to give this a couple

of little pulses just to mix it all together.

[food processor whirring]

This has been sitting for a little bit.

You kind of already see there's

like a weird foamy thing going on.

So I'm going to throw this into the food processor.

And then I got a little bit of butter here.

Hey, this is puff pastry, right?

Butter's everywhere.

And now I have a touch of vinegar,

which adds to the flakiness of my dough,

and water, cold water.

I'm just going to add warm water slowly.

Look at that, you got like this dough ball.

So now we have our dough, let's do some mo'.

What do you do with this?

A-ha!

Because my goal was to kind of knead this out by hand

for like five, 10 minutes,

until it's nice and smooth and elastic.

And right now, it's just like incredibly sticky.

[chuckling]

But, you know, if you're gonna do it by hand,

you might as well go whole hog, no pun intended.

But now that it's there, I mean, come on.

[laughter]

Blanket looks good.

I'm going to set this in a bowl.

And I always cover it with plastic because the last thing

you want to do is to have a film, start to form

over the dough.

This sits overnight, like in a in a refrigerator overnight

you're going to chill it,

and then should be good to go.

And this my dough.

[laughter]

So now I've let my dough rest for about an hour

with my beurrage, my butter pat.

Dough's been sitting for like 24 hours.

I actually took it out of the fridge.

It's been resting for like an hour,

just to like, kind of get up to room temp.

So let's start creating our puff pastry.

Gonna roll this out into a nice rectangle.

You want to make sure that it's as even as possible.

So you're making those perfect layers

of butter, dough, butter, dough.

It's gotta be folded.

It's gotta be, you know,

it's gotta be a perfect blanket for the piggies.

Cause they've, they've been, they've come so far.

You can't rob them of a, of a nice sleep.

Gosh.

Our dough looks pretty good.

Now I can add my butter.

And then I'm going to take,

pretty much the ends of this here.

You just want to make sure that the dough is covering all

of the butter so it doesn't stick and become a mess.

So I'm going to roll this out

and get this ready for our first turn.

Gonna to do one like this, and another like this.

And doesn't that look beautiful?

We'll go ahead and wrap this in plastic once again.

And I'm going to let this chill for a few hours.

First we have this long piece of dough.

We're going to take this and stretch it out.

Oh wow.

All righty, so now I'm taking out my puff pastry.

I've already done that tri-fold,

where I, you know, fold the dough onto itself.

I've done that three other times.

And in between each process,

I put it back into the refrigerator,

and I let it chill for at least two hours until it's firm.

Now for my last and final turn,

I am going to add these little sage leaves

nicely onto the dough, and then fold that over.

So I've kind of got two layers of sage in between my dough.

Now that I have my Sage in there,

I'm going to actually wrap this and let this rest.

All right.

So, I'm gonna roll this out till it's like,

maybe on a quarter of an inch

to like a third of an inch thick.

So you'll notice here as the dough

gets thinner and thinner,

that you can really start to see more of these leaves

come through the dough

Mm, Stress eating.

So this is all set up.

I'm going to cut this into strips.

So I'll take a sausage, and here I can see roughly,

like how large, how the length of the sausage.

So I'll measure.

And doing this with a nice long knife

just helps ensure a better and a cleaner cut.

So when it's all said and done,

got a little strip like that, see perfect.

Now that our blanket is ready and the pigs are ready,

it's time to put them together,

and then put them in the oven,

and put them in my stomach.

And then put, all right, that's all the puts I got.

[chuckles]

First off, we've got some Manchego cheese here.

Now Manchego is phenomenal, right?

It's like this Spanish cheese.

It's got this really robust, nutty flavor.

I'm just going to cut the rind off of this,

and then shred it.

And that is going to be layered onto the dough.

Next is this guy, membrillo.

This is like really really sweet.

It's quince paste from like the quince fruit.

So you can just thinly slice this.

And this is also going to line the blanket.

So when we tuck everything in, b'dom choo!

It tastes great.

And let's get ready

with our egg wash. And make an egg wash.

An egg wash is simple.

It's just cracked egg with a touch of water.

Give this a light whisk.

Let's put these piggies to bed.

So I'm literally just going to start adding.

Our pig, AKA my carrot, and roll it up.

So that is nice and safe.

So the membrillo, right here, this is like a pillow.

I'm gonna go at the head of the bed,

a little bit of Manchego cheese.

This is like the fitted sheet.

You know, like the fitted sheet that you put on it?

I hate myself!

All righty, so first one in.

Gonna take it like this, and then I'm going to roll it.

I'm going to cut it to about there.

Do not close your eyes and cut things.

I'm going to add

a touch of egg wash Of egg wash

just to seal it shut.

And this kind of just helps with the binding,

like helps everything stick together.

And then the piggy it's right at the head of the bed.

I'm gonna wrap it in.

And then I'll go ahead and put it with the fold down

on my baking sheet.

You can not have this for date night.

That will be your first and last date.

If this was on date night, he made you what?

Uh-uh, tell me you didn't see him again!

If you really want to punch more flavor into this,

you can actually add pimenton along the top.

It's like smoked paprika.

It's like boost the flavor a little bit

add to the smokiness of the chorizo.

If I had to pair a wine with this

it would be a very strong wine.

[laughter]

I'm actually out of membrillo, which works perfectly,

because I think me trying to eat any more

of these would just be piggish.

So b'dom choo!

There it is again!

Ooh!

Okay!

[chuckles]

The last thing that little piggies in a blanket need

is like a bedtime story.

So are all of our pigs are wrapped in a blanket.

You can see the sage in the puff pastry,

and now I'm going to brush all of them with the egg wash.

Over the top to give you,

like this nice golden brown crust.

I'm going to sprinkle a little bit more

of the Manchego cheese on there just for,

you know just a little pizzazz.

Hit 'em with the old razzle-dazzle.

And sprinkled them with Sesame seeds.

And then topped with a little more pimenton,

just to give it like a smoky little punch,

and they'll be good.

They'll be good.

You put them to rest.

All righty, so I think those look pretty fun.

So let's go ahead and chill these.

I'm gonna, sh, whisper this next part.

[whispers] I'm going to put these in the refrigerator

for like 15 minutes.

And then I'm going to pop them in an oven

at 375 degrees 375 degrees

At 400 degrees.

For about 20, 25 minutes.

For like 23 to 27 minutes.

For 10 to 15 minutes.

[whispers] All right, shh, let's do this.

While our pigs in the blanket are in the oven,

we're going to go ahead and get started on our sauce.

So I'm going to go ahead and take a little bit

of the sausage out of the casing,

and then kind of chop it up too.

First things first,

I'm going to start with balsamic vinegar,

my water, I'm gonna put all the liquids in first,

and Coco aminos.

Already, Coco aminos and balsamic,

sort of have like this sweet, tangy, salty

flavor profile to them.

So I have some pitted dates

that I'm just going to rip in half,

and throw these in there.

These are kind of tough.

So the whole point of adding them into the pot

and sort of heating everything up

is just to soften them a little bit,

so there's no chunks when I go to blend it.

Next up tomato paste,

a little bit of Dijon mustard, Dijon mustard.

Scrape it into the bowl and give it a little bit of zest.

Ooh, Hmm!

Then there's some spices to finish everything off.

So we got garlic powder, onion powder, some salt,

then a little bit of pepper.

But the goal is not to cook, really.

The goal is just to let everything

stew together and soften.

All righty, so now we're going to do the real sauce.

So I'm going to start off by making a roux,

butter and flour.

You just want to melt it quickly.

Add our flour.

For my liquid, I'm going to add some chicken stock.

I usually make some at home,

and just keep some in the freezer.

And the whole milk.

Then I'm going to continue to bring this up

and stir it until it starts to thicken.

Then we're going to add our maple syrup.

This is an homage to maple syrup.

I'm really sorry about what I said previously.

I'm not that man anymore.

Some garlic powder.

And then we're going to add some water just to cut it,

and then we're going to mix it up.

I think this is a good consistency

Making this sauce is literally just as simple

as transferring this into the blender.

All that's left to do is blend this.

[blender whirring]

At this point, now that you have

nice little bubbles there,

I'm gonna go ahead and add the sausage back in.

I'm also going to add some

fresh cracked black pepper in it, salt.

Now I'm going to finish it with my Dijon,

and my whole grain mustard.

So that's where you kind of go from country gravy to,

I guess something a little more French.

[chuckles]

I have to do the taste test.

Ooh, oooh!

Ah!

And this is my sauce.

The sauce is done.

Ooh, it's got a kick to it.

Aaah!

That octave was better in my head.

So now that they're baked, fresh out the oven, golden brown.

They look gorgeous, if I do say so myself.

But I think all that's left is to plate these,

and then just shove them one by one into my face hole.

Wonderful, so we made it, we're going to plate.

So I'm going to put my sauce

in the middle. Put that in the middle.

And then I'll put a few around,

and you see the egg wash gave it nice color.

Little Sesame seeds on top, jazz it up.

And these are my carrot filled pigs in a blanket

[percussive hit]

Pigs in a blanket, a little bit of Spanish flair.

[percussive hit]

And here are my pigs in a blanket.

[percussive hit]

[playful music]

And now it's time for the taste tests.

Oh, smells so good.

All right, cheers.

Mm.

Oh wow.

That is good.

I had my doubts.

So good.

That's a win, 100% win.

This is so good.

I retract my previous statement.

If you serve this on a first date

there will be many more in your future.

[percussive hit]

Pigs in a blanket is a quintessential dish

from the United States,

that can be a versatile snack or dinner.

There are so many options.

Let's see how each of our three chefs made theirs.

[percussive hit]

Steven used a carrot as his pig

which is a nice plant forward substitution.

These carrots have already been peeled.

Baby carrots are extruded

from large carrots with special machinery.

They're usually wet in bags when you buy them

to protect them from losing beta carotene

which gives them their orange color.

Beta carotene reacts more with air than with water,

so the water protects the color

and keeps them fresh.

It looks like meat though, from a distance.

If you squint, turn your head to the side,

and use your imagination.

Daniel used chorizo, a pork-based cured sausage

that is seasoned with paprika and peppers

that give it its red color.

I think if you wanna ramp up your pigs in a blanket game,

Using something like this, that's heavily seasoned,

and has a great flavor profile already

is a great way to go.

It's slightly spicy too.

Easy, perfect, mm-wah.

Danielle also used breakfast fresh sausage links,

Fresh sausage is made from ground or chopped meat

with no meat byproducts,

like the heart, kidney, or liver of the animal.

It contains water,

but not more than 3% of the total ingredients,

and must be less than 50% fat by weight.

But the flavor is so good.

[percussive hit]

Steven used canned crescent dough.

This dough relies on chemical leaveners

like glucono-delta-lactone,

that remain inactive while in the package,

but become acidic when heated.

This acidity interacts with the baking soda

in the dough and creates pockets of carbon dioxide,

and causes the dough to rise.

Steven's dough is a convenience product

that's standardized, so that it tastes the same each time.

So it's on the bland side.

No, and that is a myth.

It's also one dimensional when it comes to texture.

It's simply soft from the outside to the inside.

Oh, Lordy, Lord!

Daniel made a basic yeast dough

raised with active dry yeast.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which has been dried

and made porous so that it rehydrated easily.

It needs to be proofed for a few minutes.

You'll see it bubbling and fizzing.

So, you know the yeast is active.

He proofed his dough overnight,

which allowed the yeast to produce carbon dioxide,

which leavened the dough when it was baked.

and allowed for some flavor compounds to form.

As the result of proteolysis.

Danielle has more flavor development

than Steven, because he fermented his dough.

While the yeast is standardized,

The process includes the addition

of natural lactic acid bacteria that add more complexity

to his dough.

It will also crisp very nicely once it's baked.

Which is my favorite part.

Danielle made the most extravagant blanket

for her pigs, puff pastry.

She made a beurrage,

where she mixes a small amount of flour,

and lots of softened butter together,

and then chilled it.

Next, Danielle made a dough called the detrempe.

It's a moderately firm dough,

and acts as a base for starting to fold her layers.

Danielle also added some vinegar, which is acidic.

So there are a lot of questions

whether vinegar acid really makes a dough flaky or not.

The acid allows a small amount of gluten developed

to become more flexible and stretchable,

which is important when she starts rolling, folding,

and turning her dough.

There's lots of butter in puff pastry.

Butter has enough water in it to turn to steam,

which lifts the sheets of flour mixture,

when the puff is baked at a high temperature,

like 375 to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

The butter also coats

the flour mixture, preventing hydration.

So you end up with minimal gluten development,

and a tender, flaky crust.

Butter makes everything better.

She did four turns total,

which makes many layers of cold dough and cold butter,

making this ultra flaky once it's baked.

Honestly, I say homemade puff pastry is always

worth the effort.

[percussive hit]

Steven helped enhance his baby carrots by seasoning them

with sweet and salty ingredients.

His sauce was simple and tasty,

because the sweet maple syrup

balanced the spicy and salty Dijon mustard

Compliments to the chef.

Oh, that's me, compliments to me!

Daniel used coconut aminos in his sauce.

Aminos is short for amino acids,

which are the building blocks of all proteins.

Coconut aminos are derived

from fermented sap from a coconut palm tree.

They add a savory quality to Daniel's dipping sauce.

Nice.

Danielle carried the pork theme straight through

to her sausage based sauce.

She added flour to butter to make a roux,

then added chicken stock and milk, which were thickened

as the starch in the flour gelatinized.

Gelatinization occurs when molecular bonds

in moistened flour are heated.

They vibrate, and break allowing water

to enter the starch granule, disrupt the structure,

and become thick.

She added the sausage,

and a dash of Dijon mustard, and voila!

Level three pigs in a blanket with decadent sausage sauce.

Why not?

If it works, don't, don't stop!

There are so many ways to make pigs in a blanket,

and you don't even have to use pork.

Next time you're making this rolled treat,

we hope you'll take some of these tips

from our three impressive chefs.

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