Old Fashioned Corn Dogs

Old Fashioned Carnival Corn Dogs

1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 egg
1 cup milk
1 quart vegetable oil
16 hot dogs
16 wooden skewers

In a deep pan, Heat the oil to 350F.

In a bowl, mix cornmeal, flour, salt, pepper, sugar and baking powder – don’t over mix. In a second bowl, beat the egg, and then add in the milk.  Add to the cornmeal mixture.

Soak the skewers for about 10 minutes in hot water. Insert these into the hot dogs. Dip into the batter and immediately place in the hot oil. Cook about 7-10 minutes. Set aside to drain, and continue cooking until all the hot dogs have been fried. To keep warm, put these in a warm oven – 275F.

Notes:

Use good hot dogs – the type you really like. I like Nathans brand myself.

Add 1 tsp. cayenne pepper to the batter mix. or Add 2 jalapeño peppers (finely chopped) to batter.

The temp and cooking time vary – some recipes I?’ve seen have it set at 360 for 6-8 minutes, or 375 for 4-5 minutes. Try different temps and what works best for you.

These freeze well. Once cooled, store in a plastic bag. To re-heat, heat the oven to 400F, and cook for 10 minutes, or until hot. These don’t microwave well – they get soggy.

Alton suggests, when making his recipe, to put the batter into a tall glass, and dipping the hot dogs into that. It does work, and is a bit less messy.