Episode 22: Corndog Poppers.
Hotdogs are great, right? What's better? Frying them in cornmeal batter.
Here's what you'll need:
- Hotdogs
- Cornmeal mix
- Wheat flour
- Egg
- Milk
- Salt
- Pepper
- Cooking Oil
Prep your poppers.
First, in a small stockpot, heat about an inch of your preferred flavor of cooking oil over a medium-high heat. It will be hot enough to use when you can flick a drop of water into it and it immediately boils away.
Anytime you are dealing with a large quantity of oil, you run the risk of having some make contact with your heat source--and then--a grease-fire. In the event of a grease-fire, make sure you put it out by pouring a generous amount of salt or baking soda onto the base of the flames. They also make special fire-extinguishers for grease-fires. DO NOT try to use water (or other liquids) to put the fire out--that will just spread it around! Of course, this assumes that the fire is still small enough to manage safely. If it is large enough to threaten your well-being, get out of the building and contact professional fire-fighters.
Once your oil is heating, go ahead and cut your hotdogs into bite-sized pieces. Then begin the batter. Most cornmeal mixes have flour in them, but, even if the one you are using already does, I recommend that you add a little more, so that you get a slightly smoother texture to your cornmeal-coating. Most cornmeal mixes also have a rising agent in them, but if the one you are using does not, add a little baking soda. Add some salt, pepper, an egg, and enough milk to provide a thick, but smooth batter. Blend until there are no lumps.
Fry those dogs!
Coat the pieces of hotdog in batter, then gently lift them out of the batter on a fork (to provide drainage), and
gently lay them into the hot oil. If you are concerned about getting spattered, wear an oven mitt! At any rate,
do not just drop your hotdog pieces in! Not only will you splash hot oil everywhere, you will also probably lose some of your batter!
Once the poppers are golden and crisp-ish on the outside, remove them from the oil (preferably with tongs) and drain them on paper towels. Then, turn your stove off and
let your oil cool before disposing of it!
Back to the poppers: plate 'em and serve 'em!
That's it, this week! Until next time, good gaming, y'all!