The corn(y) dog holds a unique spot in the canon of local food traditions. Unlike its contemporaries — brisket tacos, Fritos, frozen margaritas, etc. — said battered and fried hot dog wasn’t born here in Dallas (not that I would admit that outside city limits). It was, however, perfected here*, and that’s just a straight up scientific fact. Go ahead, try arguing with science.
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What’s more, you can’t get a reliably good one (sorry, everyplace that sells corn dogs normally), save for a certain 3 weeks a year.
I had initially intended to do this during the State Fair. Then I realized how insanely dumb of an idea that was — no one’s gonna make corn dogs at home while the fair is going on. Me included.
And make no mistake: Fletcher’s quality, these are not. Not even close. Call it a humble homage and a suitable backup for those 344 days of the year when the best is on extended staycation.
Corn Dogs
(makes eight)
Ingredients:
8 jumbo beef franks
1 cup yellow corn meal
1 cup all purpose flour, plus extra for dredging dogs
1 cup plain yogurt
2 eggs beaten
2 tbsp honey
2 tsp salt
tsp baking powder
water, as needed
oil for frying ( I used 2 qt)
6 inch-ish skewers
Instructions
1. In a heavy pot or dutch oven, preheat oil to about 350 degrees (med-high on my stove)
2. Combine corn meal, flour, salt and baking powder in a bowl, followed by the yogurt, beaten eggs and honey. Stir all together until you have a very thick batter, milkshake-like in consistency and mostly free of big lumps. Add some water, a tbsp at a time (I used 3), until you have a smoother, pancake batter-like consistency that thoroughly coats the back of your spoon.
3. Pour your batter mixture into a tall skinny beer glass, about 6″ high (you’ll add more batter into the glass as you use it up). This way you can dunk your dogs in the batter upright. Trust me, rolling them around horizontally won’t coat them evenly. It’ll just lead to ugly corn dogs and a lot of cursing.
4. Insert skewers into the franks, and, working in batches of two, first dredge them in flour, then dunk them into the batter, making sure to thoroughly coat them. Fry about four minutes each, until golden.* *
5. Enjoy and remember that the end of September isn’t too far off. Oh, and definitely hit the gym tomorrow.
*Including giving it the much more pleasing moniker of “corny” dog.
**You can do this a day ahead if you’re having a party or tailgating. Simply warm and crisp them up by dropping them in 350 degree oil for about a minute.
