Posted 11:34 pm Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Send to Kindle
Side dishes for whole, smoked pig play supporting roll but necessary
Side dishes to accompany a whole suckling pig are like extras in a movie. They may be important, but they’re not going to get much notice beside the star of the show. All eyes will be on the pig.
But like any pork main dish, sides such as potato salad and greens always pair well. I served turnip greens (cooked with the bone from a pulled pork roast made the week prior, and frozen for the purpose). I served baby lima beans with bacon bits.
But the most popular items were the piglet rolls I made from crescent roll dough the night before.
They’re easy. Take a refrigerated roll of crescent dough — we won’t use any brand names here, but you know the slightly terrifying dough-man with the chef hat that scarred my childhood.
Unroll the dough carefully. You want the triangles, in as triangular form as possible. The flatted dough is perforated, but not that well. You may find yourself using a butter knife. That’s okay.
Now, take a single triangle, and look at the longest side. We know from geography class that side is called the “hypothesis.” Lift it up, and flip about half an inch of it under. You’ve just given your little piggy back legs. Bunch up the sides of it, to form a little rump. Don’t worry, you’ll add a tail later.
Now, look at the top of the triangle. Again, we know from school this is called something, as well. But that was a long time ago, wasn’t it?
Lift and scrunch the dough, toward the rear, to make the head, leaving about an inch and a half for the snout. Pinch the dough at either side of the head for ears. Next, using that butter knife, trim the final half-inch of dough from the top to form a squared-off snout.
But like any pork main dish, sides such as potato salad and greens always pair well. I served turnip greens (cooked with the bone from a pulled pork roast made the week prior, and frozen for the purpose). I served baby lima beans with bacon bits.
But the most popular items were the piglet rolls I made from crescent roll dough the night before.
They’re easy. Take a refrigerated roll of crescent dough — we won’t use any brand names here, but you know the slightly terrifying dough-man with the chef hat that scarred my childhood.
Unroll the dough carefully. You want the triangles, in as triangular form as possible. The flatted dough is perforated, but not that well. You may find yourself using a butter knife. That’s okay.
Now, take a single triangle, and look at the longest side. We know from geography class that side is called the “hypothesis.” Lift it up, and flip about half an inch of it under. You’ve just given your little piggy back legs. Bunch up the sides of it, to form a little rump. Don’t worry, you’ll add a tail later.
Now, look at the top of the triangle. Again, we know from school this is called something, as well. But that was a long time ago, wasn’t it?
Lift and scrunch the dough, toward the rear, to make the head, leaving about an inch and a half for the snout. Pinch the dough at either side of the head for ears. Next, using that butter knife, trim the final half-inch of dough from the top to form a squared-off snout.
That bit of dough you have left? Roll it up, and use it for the tail. If you’re good, you can even give it a little twist.
As for eyes, I pondered this a while. I could have used peppercorns (right shape, right color), but they wouldn’t have been pleasant to bite. Confectionary sprinkles? Wrong in too many ways.
I decided on red pepper flakes. Just one flake per eye (I used tweezers to stick them in place). Not enough to affect the flavor, and just dark enough to indicate eyes.
Bake according to the package directions.
And when you serve up the pig, surround it with these little babies. It can’t be as disturbing as that little dough-guy, so happy about being baked.
As for eyes, I pondered this a while. I could have used peppercorns (right shape, right color), but they wouldn’t have been pleasant to bite. Confectionary sprinkles? Wrong in too many ways.
I decided on red pepper flakes. Just one flake per eye (I used tweezers to stick them in place). Not enough to affect the flavor, and just dark enough to indicate eyes.
Bake according to the package directions.
And when you serve up the pig, surround it with these little babies. It can’t be as disturbing as that little dough-guy, so happy about being baked.
