::Corn Dogs::

"Everybody loves them but no one ever thinks to make them. That's reason enough right there." -Alton Brown

Since my family knows my love for cooking, I got this Food Network recipe book for my birthday a couple of years ago from my Dad & Stepmom. This recipe is from Alton Brown (from the Food Network show Good Eats), as you can obviously see from the quote above. Anyways, when I saw the picture of these in the cookbook and then saw the ingredients, I knew immediately that I had to make these. Since then, this is my second time making them and they have been a hit. Most of you know how much my husband can eat, and if not, it's A.L.O.T. So, I had made these for supper and he ate three of them and then since it was just the two of us I had batter left over. I was going to be making dinner for the guys (5 of them) the next day so I asked Jamyson if everybody would like them; what he would say next shows that they are good. "Do we have enough hot dogs? Cause we will probably need about 4 for each of them...so thats 20 of them?" Needless to say, they didn't eat 4 each, because I served other stuff. Most importantly, they all liked them!

For all the Mothers & Fathers out there; I would venture to guess that this would be fun for the kids to help with (and I don't mean the hot oil). Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this recipe as much as I do.

PS: You will see when you read the recipe, but, there are ingredients like cayenne pepper and jalapenos in this recipe...the kids will still like them, they aren't spicy.

Corn Dogs

1 gallon peanut oil (I just used vegetable oil & I usually set the burner to the middle (medium) setting to heat up the oil and then to test when it is ready I hold a toothpick in the oil and if it bubbles right away that means it's ready)

1 cup yellow corn meal

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 large jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely minced (about 2 tablespoons)

(I have done it both ways, fresh and from the jar, both ways is fine)

1 8.5-ounce can cream-style corn

1/3 cup grated onion

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

4 tablesppons cornstarch, for dredging

8 beef hot dogs

Wooden chopsticks from your local Chinese restaurant, not separated

(I used skewer sticks and broke them in half)

1. Pour oil into a deep-fryer or large heavy pot and heat to 375 degrees.

2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the cornmeal, flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cayenne pepper. In a separate bowl, combine the jalapeno, corn, onion, and buttermilk. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients all at once and stir ONLY enough times to bring the batter together; there SHOULD be LUMPS. Set batter aside and allow to rest for 10 minutes.

3. Scatter the cornstarch in a dry pie pan. Roll each hot dog in the corn starch and tap well to remove any excess.

4. Transfer enough batter to almost fill a large drinking glass. Refill the glass as needed. Skewer each hot dog on a pair of chopsticks and quickly dip in and out of the batter in the drinking glass. Immediately and carefully place each hot dog into the oil and cook until coating is golden brown, about 4 to 5 minutes. With tongs, remove to cooling rack and allow to drain for 3 to 5 minutes.

Tip: Use as little cornstarch as possible, but coat each dog thinly to help the breading stay where you want it.
Tip #2: Don't cook more than a few dogs at once; crowding the pan lowers the temperature of the oil, which makes for greasy dogs.

The recipe book where I retrieved the Corn Dog recipe by Alton Brown who has the cooking show Good Eats.

If there wouldn't have been a picture to accompany this recipe, not sure I would have made them (sad!). I am such a picture person when it comes to recipes!

Some ingredients.

Dry ingredients of the batter.

Wet ingredients.

Are you looking at these wondering why they are so pink? These are my favorite hot dogs. They are Cloverdale, ALL BEEF hot dogs. Try them sometime, you can get a huge pack at Sam's Club for $9.99 (at least when I got them that is how much they were).

Hot dogs #2.

On the skewers.

Dredged in cornstarch.

This isn't a good picture but shows the batter in the glass and ready for dipping.

All ready to eat! Note: the corn dog way in the back. The breading is very thin. Each time I have made this recipe I have added more cornmeal then it calls for; about 1/2 cup. Anyways, if you make these make it exactly as the recipe says, using the 1 cup. When you make the first one dip it in the batter and then fry it and see what you think. Maybe you don't want alot of batter anyways, but if you want it to be thick (like my husband likes the breading to be) then just add a little more until you think it's okay. I hope I didn't scare you off from making these by saying that; by adding more it does not alter the taste at all. And if you add more or less then the 1/2 cup that I said, thats totally fine, it varies!

Fun Fact: The corn dog was invented for the Texas State Fair in 1942 and became an immediate favorite at state fairs, amusement parks, and pretty much anywhere people wanted their food served breaded, fried, and on a stick.