Corndogs!!

So I was talking to a dear friend of mine today and mentioned that I would be making my mom's corndogs so that I could post the recipe tonight.  Her response was, "Did your mother cook anything healthy?"

I have to admit; many of mom's recipes are inherently unhealthy...but that's what makes them so tasty!!  And hey, carrot cookies.  Enough said!

My mom was great at frying food.  She knew just how to keep the oil at the right temperature so that the food would be golden and crispy without being overly greasy.  (She did, after all, get in on that whole 70's Fry Daddy era.)  I fry things very rarely, so I haven't acquired that skill completely yet; but these were still pretty tasty.  If you're especially good at keeping the oil a level temperature (or have a fancy, schmancy deep fryer to do it for you), these little sweethearts will be a no-brainer.  They just taste like summer and scream to be served with lemonade and homemade macaroni and cheese.

*Look for the mac and cheese recipe tomorrow.  It's one of my favorite comfort foods!*

For the corndogs, here's what you need to hunt and gather:

Cornmeal, flour, garlic salt, buttermilk, egg, honey, vegetable oil, hot dogs

Plus baking soda and baking powder.  My head wasn't totally screwed on right today.  Sorry.

In a dutch oven or fryer, begin heating your oil.  Your target temperature is 375.

While that's warming up, mix together the flour, cornmeal, garlic salt, baking powder, and baking soda.

Add the buttermilk, beaten egg, honey, and oil.  Give it all a good mix to combine.


Now, here's the mystical, magical, secret corndog trick (courtesy of Alton Brown):

Put your batter in a drinking glass.  It's so much easier-and neater-to batter your dogs up this way.  Even when the batter gets low, all you have to do is tilt the glass and give the hot dog a good roll.  I swear that man is my culinary hero.

When your oil is ready to go, pour a little more flour in a pie pan.  Rolling you hot dogs in the flour before you batter will help give the batter something more to stick on to so it won't slide off.  You've probably noticed my corndogs don't have sticks.  I find them annoying to deal with-both in the oil and to eat from.  Unless I'm purposely making them to take outside and eat, I'd rather just have my corndogs without all of the fuss.

Just make sure you give it a shake to get a light coating and not a thick layer.  These guys have just the right amount of coating.

Let your floured wieners take a dip in the batter.  By the way, just so you know, the original name of this recipe was "Batter Wieners".  I couldn't, in good conscience, call them that in my title.  But since you've made it this far, I thought you could handle it. 

Fry them 2 at a time in your fryer until golden brown and crispy.  Let them drain on a paper-towel covered plate and have a little taste of childhood.  Enjoy! :)


Corndogs

1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup honey
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil (plus oil for frying)
1 package hotdogs

Preheat oil (either stovetop in a dutch oven or in a deep fryer) to 375.  Combine cornmealk, flour, garlic salt, baking powder, and baking soda.  Mix in buttermilk, egg, honey and oil.  Roll hot dogs in extra flour then dip in batter.  Fry until golden brown and crispy.  Enjoy!