Croissant Dogs: Just Fancied Up Pigs-in-a-Blanket #AllGirlsBlogParty #Sponsored

 This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of author Emily Layden and publisher St. Martin's Press. I received a complimentary book for the purpose of review, but all opinions are honest and they are my own. No additional compensation for this post was provided; this page may contain affiliate links.

This week I am thrilled to be taking part in a virtual book release party for All Girls by Emily Layden* hosted by The Book Club Cookbook. I received an advance copy to enjoy and be inspired into the kitchen to create a dish.

You can see the party page! You may also search for the hashtag #AllGirlsBlogParty on social media to find the posts. But to make it easy, I'm also linking to my fellow bloggers; I will add their direct posts once everyone is live. Please take a look...

The #AllGirlsBlogParty Bloggers

The Book Blondie: Sweet and Spicy Nut Recipe
Bookapotamus: Apple Ginger Mini Pies
The Bookend Diner: Apple Cider Doughnuts
Culinary Adventures with Camilla: Just Fancied Up Pigs-in-a-Blanket
A Day in the Life on the Farm: College Bound Tuna Mac
Eliot's Eats: Gourmet Breakfast Sandwich
A Hat for Every Read: Spinach, Onion and Cheese Croissant Roll-ups
Kahakai Kitchen: "Lord of the Fries" Avocado Fries with Garlic-Sriracha Aioli
Living My Best Book Life
My Novel Menagerie: Spinach and Artichoke Baked Mac and Cheese
The Book Club Cookbook: Apple Cider Doughnuts

On the Page

All Girls has a captivating start as Lauren Triplett arrives to her new all girls boarding school. Atwater Academy is purported to be a safe place for budding feminists to hone their intellect and critical thinking. Along the way, she and her family see signs along the ride that announces there is a rapist on staff at her new academy. That was an intriguing start. Though as a parent, I don't think I would leave my child at a new school with so many unanswered questions surrounding an allegation such as that. But, okay, let's move on.

Though the premise is interesting, the execution of the novel is just clunky. There are too many points of view told in the third person; it might have been less challenging if the chapters were told in the first person perspective. Still, this was difficult to keep the names and back stories straight. My interest waned and, by the end, I was skimming just to finish.

Despite the promising start, the meandering plot and mode of narration was mentally fatiguing. I will still take a look at any subsequent books because Layden writes well. However, this book just didn't work for me.

On the Plate

There was actually quite a bit of food in the book, especially since one of the characters has an eating disorder, so it was more a laundry list of things she didn't eat. And, as a boarding school, the dining hall is the setting for more than a few scenes and interactions between the characters.

This recipe was inspired by two different scenes in the book - the Fall Fest with its "high-end artisan food trucks that served things like bahn mi tacos and grilled cheese with smoked Gouda and caramelized onions" (pg. 109) and the Prom where Karla gushes about the avocado fries with aioli and Priya snaps, "'You know that aioli is just a fancy word for mayonnaise, right?'" (pg.  252).

So, those two merged in my mind to make Croissant Dogs: Just Fancied Up Pigs-in-a-Blanket. I made my homemade puff pastry or croissant dough and wrapped them around some uncured, grass-fed all-beef hot dogs. I can't even explain how excited my trio was. 

Ingredients makes a dozen

• 200 grams sourdough starter
• 500 grams flour plus more for rolling
• 60 grams organic granulated sugar
• 2 eggs for the dough plus 1 egg for baking
• 160 grams warm water
• 2 sticks butter, cold
• 12 hot dogs
• mustard and ketchup for serving
• Also needed: rolling pin, waxed paper, baking sheet, silicone brush for the egg wash

Procedure

Place all of the ingredients (but only 2 eggs!) through the warm water in a large mixing bowl. Use a wooden spoon to blend until a shaggy dough forms. Turn the dough out onto a floured workspace and knead until smooth and well-combined, approximately 4 to 5 minutes.

Place the dough in a covered container and refrigerate for at 4 hours or overnight. Once you're ready to make the croissant dogs, remove the dough from the fridge and let stand at room temperature while you prepare the butter.

Flour a piece of wax paper and pound each stick of butter into rectangle on that paper. Some people use a ruler and make it very precise. I am less precise. Wrap the pounded butter and chill.

When you're ready, sprinkle a piece of parchment paper with flour and place dough on top. Roll the dough into a rectangle roughly 12"x 20". Remember, I'm less than precise, but it was around that size.

Remove one rectangle of butter from the fridge and lay it in the middle of the dough. Fold the corners of the dough in to form an envelope. It should look like this...

Using the rolling pin, roll it out to 12" x 20" again. Place the second rectangle of butter on the dough and make another envelope. Then roll it out to the 12" x 20" rectangle, but this time, fold one third of the dough over the other third, like folding a letter. 

Now you have to turn the dough. Turning the dough, by rolling and folding, creates very thin layers of butter and dough. This recipe needs to be turned 4 times for each sheet of butter. If the butter pushes through a layer of dough, rub it with a little flour. If the butter seems to be melting, chill the dough between each turn. Keep the parchment, the rolling pin, and the surface of the pastry well-floured.

To turn: Rotate the package of dough and butter so that the narrower, open end is facing you, like the pages of a book. Roll the dough out to a rectangle and fold the top third down and the bottom third up, again like a letter. Rotate the dough 90 degrees so that the open end is again facing you. Repeat. Roll the dough out to a rectangle and fold the top third down and the bottom third up. That's 2 turns. Repeat two more times. Do that again with the second butter sheet.

Finally roll out the dough to approximately 1/4" thick. Then slice the dough into twelve long rectangles. Wrap the dough around the hot dogs, trying to cover as much of the dog as possible -  so a slight angle of the dough helps.

Place the dogs on a baking sheets. Beat the last egg and brush the beaten eggs over the dough. Let rise for 30 minutes at room temperature while the oven heats. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Place the croissant dogs in the oven and immediately turn the heat down to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes.

The croissant dough should be browned and flaky and the dogs warmed all the way through.

Serve immediately with ketchup and mustard or your favorite dipping sauce. Enjoy!

Many Thanks...

To the Publisher, St. Martin's Press, on Twitter

To Emily Layden on the web, on Instagram

To the Book Club Cookbook on Facebook, on Twitter, on Instagram, on Pinterest

*This blog currently has a partnership with Amazon.com in their affiliate program, which gives me a small percentage of sales if you buy a product through a link on my blog. It doesn't cost you anything more. If you are uncomfortable with this, feel free to go directly to Amazon.com and search for the item of your choice.

I have also added this to #FoodieReads.

Click to see what everyone else read in February 2021: here.