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| Dinner is served! |
It's easy to get stuck in routines especially in the kitchen, at least for me. I typically eat the same dishes week to week, although I do mix it up here and there. If you've read this blog before you'd know I'm the type of person that once they find something they like they stick to it, this goes for food as much as anything else. But lately I've been wanting to mix it up by making a dishes I've never made before, although I've eaten them plenty of times. This is where the corn dogs come in.
As it was my first time making these I quickly learned by trial and error how to get the best corn dog we could with the tools we had on hand. By this I mean I don't own a deep fryer so I was frying the corn dogs in a pan which lead them to not exactly look like the prettiest corn dogs, but they sure were tasty and in my book that's all that matters.
** Pour your batter into a tall glass to dip your dogs in! Makes it much easier and the dogs won't break as the batter is pretty thick and you will end up with a broken hot dog if you try dipping it into your mixing bowl. (Learned this the hard way)
** If you have a deep fryer...USE it!! It'll make your life much easier!! If not then...
** Make sure your oil is very hot before you put the battered dogs in it will ensure your batter will stick better to the hot dog!! I learned the hard way that if your oil isn't hot enough, the batter won't stick to the hot dog as well which will cause the batter to kind of pancake out once you put the battered dog in the oil...this leads to the corn dog being "naked" on one side with all of the batter on the other side. I tried many different methods including spooning more batter on the naked side of the dog which didn't work as well, and I tried rolling the dogs in the batter when I dropped them in the pan, but super hot oil seems to be key to a successful corn dog, that and the tip below...
** The batter will also stick better to the hot dog if you use tongs. Now how to use the tongs is once you put the battered dog in the hot pan you want to use the tongs to kind of squeeze the batter so it will stick to the hot dog, hold it for a few seconds so the batter has a chance to cook and set around the hot dog.
** I found that if I cut the hot dogs in 1/2 I had better results as far as the batter really enveloping the entire hot dog. So you may want to try cutting the hot dogs in 1/2, like I said I had better results this way and plus I kind of like mini corn dogs better than just the regular ol' size corn dog.
** Clean up any spilled batter ASAP! I made the mistake of waiting until the next morning to clean up and the batter did not want to come off of the counter or the mixing bowl. It'll save you a headache to just clean up and get it over with right after eating rather than having to fight your counter or bowl later on.
Healthy Modification: As promised I will try to add any modifications I can think of in order to make any recipe I post somewhat "healthier." To be honest there was really only one modification I could think of that could possibly make this recipe healthier and that would be to bake the corn dogs rather than fry them. I'm not sure if this recipe would be good for baking, but ya never know until you try I guess.
My Verdict: Loved the homemade corn dogs!! The batter was really tasty full of a nice sweet corn flavor that didn't go overboard. Really good batter! I also really liked this recipe as it can be used to make Hush Puppies ! Not only were the corn dogs tasty but they were super easy to make! The recipe was simple and requires ingredients that most of us have on hand. I served French fries alongside the corn dogs, always a classic choice that didn't disappoint. I typically make French fries the old fashion way (when we do eat them) but I knew the stove top was going to be busy enough with the corn dogs so we opted to just buy a bag of frozen French fries. I threw them in the oven just before I started mixing up the batter which meant they were ready just as the last corn dog was done frying. (I'm a tyrant when it comes to timing things out just right so I was pretty happy about this one)
On another note...Did you know another name for a corn dog is a "Dippy Dog"?! Yeah me either!! I guess the Aussies refer to corn dogs as dippy dogs. Hence the reason for the name of this blog :D Learn something new everyday I guess!
Here's what I did...
Delicious Dippy Dogs
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 5 mins or so
Serves: 8
Whatcha Need
* 8 Hot dogs
* 1 1/2 C. Flour
* 1 t. Salt
* 3/4 C. Cornmeal
* 4 T. Sugar
* 1 t. Baking powder
* 2 Eggs
* 3/4 C. Milk
* 8 T.? Veggie Oil
* Wooden skewers
Method
-Mix all dry ingredients
-Add wet ingredients (minus veggie oil!!)
-Mix until smooth
-Heat up your oil in a large frying pan
-As your oil is warming up prepare your hot dogs with the skewers
-Dip your skewered hot dogs into your batter (See note below before doing this step!!)
-Place battered dogs into hot fry pan, fry about 5 mins or until golden brown
Tips I have for this recipe
** I used white corn meal instead of the typical yellow corn meal (which is what this recipe called for). The biggest difference between the white and yellow corn meal (besides the obvious) is that the white corn meal is sweeter than the yellow corn meal so our corn dogs were just a touch sweeter than your average corn dog. But the sweetness definitely didn't overpower the corn taste so I think you should be good either way.
** I read this specific tip after I had already made my corn dogs (the first time around), I tried it with my 2nd batch and as you can see from the picture below it helped tremendously! That is to dust a little flour onto your hot dogs before dipping them into the batter as it will cause the batter to stick better. (Makes sense)
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 5 mins or so
Serves: 8
Whatcha Need
* 8 Hot dogs
* 1 1/2 C. Flour
* 1 t. Salt
* 3/4 C. Cornmeal
* 4 T. Sugar
* 1 t. Baking powder
* 2 Eggs
* 3/4 C. Milk
* 8 T.? Veggie Oil
* Wooden skewers
 |
| Ingredient station |
-Mix all dry ingredients
-Add wet ingredients (minus veggie oil!!)
-Mix until smooth
-Heat up your oil in a large frying pan
-As your oil is warming up prepare your hot dogs with the skewers
-Dip your skewered hot dogs into your batter (See note below before doing this step!!)
-Place battered dogs into hot fry pan, fry about 5 mins or until golden brown
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| Ready for the dogs! |
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| Ready to be "corned up" |
Tips I have for this recipe
** I used white corn meal instead of the typical yellow corn meal (which is what this recipe called for). The biggest difference between the white and yellow corn meal (besides the obvious) is that the white corn meal is sweeter than the yellow corn meal so our corn dogs were just a touch sweeter than your average corn dog. But the sweetness definitely didn't overpower the corn taste so I think you should be good either way.
** I read this specific tip after I had already made my corn dogs (the first time around), I tried it with my 2nd batch and as you can see from the picture below it helped tremendously! That is to dust a little flour onto your hot dogs before dipping them into the batter as it will cause the batter to stick better. (Makes sense)
** Pour your batter into a tall glass to dip your dogs in! Makes it much easier and the dogs won't break as the batter is pretty thick and you will end up with a broken hot dog if you try dipping it into your mixing bowl. (Learned this the hard way)
** If you have a deep fryer...USE it!! It'll make your life much easier!! If not then...
** Make sure your oil is very hot before you put the battered dogs in it will ensure your batter will stick better to the hot dog!! I learned the hard way that if your oil isn't hot enough, the batter won't stick to the hot dog as well which will cause the batter to kind of pancake out once you put the battered dog in the oil...this leads to the corn dog being "naked" on one side with all of the batter on the other side. I tried many different methods including spooning more batter on the naked side of the dog which didn't work as well, and I tried rolling the dogs in the batter when I dropped them in the pan, but super hot oil seems to be key to a successful corn dog, that and the tip below...
 |
| First few I made before learning the tong trick! |
** The batter will also stick better to the hot dog if you use tongs. Now how to use the tongs is once you put the battered dog in the hot pan you want to use the tongs to kind of squeeze the batter so it will stick to the hot dog, hold it for a few seconds so the batter has a chance to cook and set around the hot dog.
| Squeezing the batter against the dog to help it stick |
** I found that if I cut the hot dogs in 1/2 I had better results as far as the batter really enveloping the entire hot dog. So you may want to try cutting the hot dogs in 1/2, like I said I had better results this way and plus I kind of like mini corn dogs better than just the regular ol' size corn dog.
Healthy Modification: As promised I will try to add any modifications I can think of in order to make any recipe I post somewhat "healthier." To be honest there was really only one modification I could think of that could possibly make this recipe healthier and that would be to bake the corn dogs rather than fry them. I'm not sure if this recipe would be good for baking, but ya never know until you try I guess.
My Verdict: Loved the homemade corn dogs!! The batter was really tasty full of a nice sweet corn flavor that didn't go overboard. Really good batter! I also really liked this recipe as it can be used to make Hush Puppies ! Not only were the corn dogs tasty but they were super easy to make! The recipe was simple and requires ingredients that most of us have on hand. I served French fries alongside the corn dogs, always a classic choice that didn't disappoint. I typically make French fries the old fashion way (when we do eat them) but I knew the stove top was going to be busy enough with the corn dogs so we opted to just buy a bag of frozen French fries. I threw them in the oven just before I started mixing up the batter which meant they were ready just as the last corn dog was done frying. (I'm a tyrant when it comes to timing things out just right so I was pretty happy about this one)
Until next time friends...Cheers!!
P.S. We are looking for some foodies out there who have some recipes they'd like to share for future food features!! See our Contact page for more info!! :)
