This month’s Food ‘n Flix movie, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, inspired these rosemary garlic crescent rolls. Thanks to Amy from Amy’s Cooking Adventures for hosting this month!
So I have to confess – I’d never seen this movie before this month. Mostly my frame of reference for Steve Martin is his banjo music (don’t judge). Side note – his performance with the Steep Canyon Rangers as the opening act for Emmylou Harris was amazing! I’ve seen a few of his movies here and there through the years. But the combination of Steve Martin and John Candy just wasn’t that appealing to me. Still, Food ‘n Flix movies always provide great inspiration for food, so I thought I’d give it a try.
The movie plot is that an uptight business guy (Steve Martin) gets sucked into the over-the-top world of disaster that is John Candy’s character. Lots of loud humor and lots of catastrophes and then everyone becomes friends at the end. The food references mostly occur in diners. One scene really stood out to me though – Neal (Steve Martin) is desperate to rent a car. Edie McClurg is the obstructive rental car agent. She’s first seen on the phone, talking about Thanksgiving dinner. She mentions ambrosia salad, cranberries, and crescent rolls.
The crescent rolls sparked a full out search on Pinterest for what makes a crescent roll a crescent roll. When I finally figured out that the crescent roll has to do with the shape of the roll, I decided I needed to add home-made crescent rolls to our holiday menu.
My rosemary garlic crescent rolls are buttery, flaky, and full of rosemary and garlic. I froze half the rolls to accompany soups for lunch in December. We’ve nibbled on the remaining rolls – using them as a pre-turkey appetizer, as bread for turkey club sandwiches, and as an easy side for turkey chili. I appreciated the baking inspiration, even if I wasn’t a huge fan of the movie.
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup warm water
- 2 1/4 teaspoons active yeast
- 1 1/3 cup warm milk
- 5 tablespoons softened butter
- 1 egg
- 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 4 1/2 cups flour
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped rosemary
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
- 1 egg white
Instructions
- Combine the warm water and yeast in a large bowl. Let sit for a few minutes to ensure that the yeast is active and gets bubbly. Add the warm milk, softened butter, and egg and mix. Add the flour, rosemary, garlic and salt and combine so that the butter is well incorporated.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for 6 - 8 minutes, adding a little bit of flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking.
- Put the dough in a large bowl and cover with plastic wrap or a clean dish towel. Set aside in a warm spot for 1 1/2 - 2 hours or until the dough is doubled in size.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Roll the dough into a circle 15 inches across. Cut the dough into sixteen pieces (as you would a pizza or pie). Take each piece and roll into a crescent roll by starting by the wide end and ending at the skinny end, tucking it under. Place each roll on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Leave a little space between each. Cover with a clean dishtowel and set aside to rise for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees 20 minutes before the hour is up.
- Combine the egg white with a tablespoon of water and beat until frothy. Brush the egg white over each roll. Bake for 20 minutes or until the rolls are golden brown.
- Makes 16. Enjoy!
