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I only discovered when I moved to England that to most people, pigs-in-a-blanket refers to mini hot dogs or sausages wrapped in either pastry or bacon. Piggies (as my mom calls them) to my family, and pretty much all of Old Forge, PA, are little parcels of cabbage stuffed with a mixture of ground pork, beef, rice, and herbs, baked in a light tomato sauce. They’re not the prettiest things to look at, and although easy to make, it’s quite a time-consuming process. However, they are incredibly comforting and delicious, and they freeze very well, so set aside a Sunday afternoon and you’ll be rewarded with a freezerful of tasty, healthy and budget-friendly dinners.
I can’t make any claims to the authenticity of this recipe – I’ve been to Texas once, and that was a layover at the Houston airport – but according to my research, a proper Texas chili is meat and chili peppers, spices and maybe a little bit of tomato sauce. There are no beans, and using fresh ingredients such as real onions and garlic is frowned upon (most recipes I’ve seen advocate the use of onion powder and garlic powder).
Actually, the only time I’ve ever had a Texas chili was at Garlic and Shots, a bar in Soho that was established by two brothers from Sweden. Again, no guarantees of authenticity there. I don’t know if the Olsson brothers have ever been anywhere near Texas, but they make a damn good chili – wonderful spicy shredded beef, with very little sauce to speak of.
My research indicates that you can use many different textures of meat – some recipes call for cubed, some for the usual minced or ground beef. The BBQ Pit Boys on YouTube use their shredded beef brisket and mince which looks incredible, but a tiny flat in east London isn’t the place to try out smoking beef, so I’ve had to improvise. Also, a chili is meant to use up leftover meat, so I’ve done this with stewing pork as well as beef and I think I actually prefer it with the pork. It’s even cheaper to make too.
I rarely see this done in the UK but it’s one of those midweek American looks-weird-tastes-great dinner staples. I’ve seen cheffy types doing “updated” versions with lots of posho ingredients but that totally misses the point of meatloaf (though I admit Emeril’s version does look really good). The trendy American-style diner chain The Diner has it on the menu, but the portions are kind of small and it’s actually a bit expensive (unfortunately the case with most of their dishes, very tasty, but pricey and on the small side).
Anyway, meatloaf is supposed to be cheap, plentiful and easy enough for a mom to throw together while keeping her three children from pummeling the crap out of each other. And it’s never going to look pretty even if it’s presented small and tall on a trellis of chives and julienned spring onions.
