I am not a Southerner. I am not a born-and-bred Alabama fan. I grew up in the Midwest and found myself in graduate school in Tuscaloosa. Suddenly I was deciphering accents, being called a Northerner, dodging pickup trucks, rolling tide, etc. etc. etc. Four years later, I have (mostly) embraced my football fate—after all, I married a die-hard Crimson Tide fan. If you can’t beat ’em…
In Tuscaloosa, Game Day is a holiday. All bets are off—stores are closed, roads are shut down, and you can’t find cheap beer on campus. To celebrate, I decided to make some homemade pigs in a blanket. When I was a kid, we would cut up hot dogs and wrap them in triangles of Pillsbury crescent rolls. Trans-fat city. This recipe is still unhealthy—don’t be fooled. It’s the blanket that I have improved upon, not the sausage. I used a modification on a drop biscuit recipe that is flour, salt, milk, and vegetable oil.
The dough is rather sticky, which means you are guaranteed some ugly piggies. Use a spoon to help cover the sausages with dough, and simply resign yourself to the fact that each one will look different. Like a snowflake. A snowflake you can eat dipped in ketchup. ROLL TIDE. IN A ROLL.
Roll Tide in a Roll: Homemade Pigs in a Blanket
Makes about 30
Adapted from Mom’s Drop Biscuits
Ingredients
1 package miniature hot dogs
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk (can substitute regular milk)
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
Ketchup and mustard (or bbq sauce, or nacho cheese. It’s Game Day!)
Directions
Whisk together flour through salt in a medium-sized bowl. Pour in liquid ingredients and mix just until moistened throughout. Scoop a heaping teaspoon’s worth of dough. Using your fingers, wrap the dough around a miniature hot dog and place onto a greased cookie sheet. Repeat until all are wrapped.
Bake in a preheated 425-degree oven for 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve hot with ketchup and mustard.
