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"Hot Dog'' Dainties
I POUND SMALL SMOKED SAUSAGES MUSTARD 4 CUPS FLOUR SALT 5 TEASPOONS BAKING POWDER 4 TEASPOONS LARD 2 CUPS MILK, OR WATER Brush each sausage with mustard. Sift flour, salt, and baking powder together. Work in lard and gently mix in enough milk for a smooth dough soft enough to be easily handled. Roll out 1/4 inch thick; cut into small squares; lay 1 sausage in each square and roll; fasten securely by pinching dough together. Place in a pan a little distance lay 1 sausage in each square and roll; fasten securely by apart and bake in quick oven until brown.
St. Louis is said to be the original home of hot dogs-and so is Coney Island, but what pioneer dog-fancier would St. Louis is said to be the original home of hot dogs-and recognize the darn things now, served in cellophane and recognize the darn things now, served in cellophane and who bark for them. There are even portable broilers for zippers at wiener roasts by our own Hyde Park aristocracy, hot dog parties that end with pie and coffee.
This is a baking-powder biscuit dough wrapped around cocktail sausages — pigs in blankets, in a period phrasing. The dough is the only part that needs attention; the sausages are already cooked.
- Quick ovenGenerally taken as somewhere around 400-425F. The dough is a biscuit dough and wants high heat so it sets and browns before the fat renders out; start checking at about 15 minutes.
- The lard measure looks lowFour teaspoons of fat to four cups of flour will give a dry, bready dough. Standard biscuit proportions of the period run closer to 4 to 8 tablespoons of lard per 4 cups of flour, and the original measure may well be a dropped abbreviation. Judge by feel: the flour should look like coarse meal before liquid goes in.
- Salt is unquantifiedNo amount is given. For 4 cups of flour, 1 to 2 teaspoons is the usual range; err low if the sausages are strongly cured.
- Milk quantity is a maximum, not a ruleTwo cups is listed but the instruction says "enough milk for a smooth dough soft enough to be easily handled." Add most of it, then the rest by spoonfuls.
- Smoked sausages are already cookedSmoked sausages are usually already cooked -- Small smoked links of this type are generally sold fully cooked, in which case the baking time is governed by the pastry; check the sausage you have. If you substitute raw breakfast sausage, brown it first is reaches 160F, or the dough will be done long before the meat is safe.
- Handle the dough cold and littleWork the lard in until it is pea-sized, mix only until the dough comes together, and roll once. Overworked biscuit dough turns tough and will shrink away from the sausage in the oven.
- SealingPinch the seam and both ends firmly and set them seam-side down. Fat escaping from an open seam will fry the underside and pull the wrapper open.
- YieldFour cups of flour makes a great deal of dough. One pound of small sausages will give anywhere from about 20 to 50 wrapped pieces depending on how small they are. Halve everything for an ordinary household batch.