Hello again foodie friends! Normally, I wouldn't share this kind of post. Normally, I would hide it away in the depths of mind to never speak of it again. However, I'm gonna give a shot at being honest and sharing with you the horror that was my attempt at making corn dogs.
I should have known this wasn't something I was up to. I should have known that I couldn't do it. I've never been good at frying things in a pan. I just thought, "I need a good corn dog in my life."
There have been two things leading me to making corn dogs as of late. The first (and most convincing reason) is that I went to Oregon Jamboree a few weeks ago with some friends, and I got one of the "jumbo" corn dogs, and I was disappointed. The batter was...okay, but the dog itself was AWFUL. I needed to be vindicated. The second reason I've been wanting to make them is because of my grandmother's passing. Making corn dogs with her as a kid (okay, so we only really got to dip the dog) was always fun. I'm really missing her, so I thought, "hey, let's do it."
To be honest the setup wasn't awful. I had made the batter overnight with a mixture of Jiffy Cornmeal (I swear by it!), milk, flour, sugar, and seasonings. Then I decided to go big by using brats and stuffing them with pepper jack cheese. The picture below demonstrates that I was well on my way to success.
I was dipping and putting it in the hot oil and then things went wrong. At first it was just kind of making a bubble with the dough, then it started coming of the dog and lifting up. I panicked and pulled it out. The crust (okay, at this point I should tell you I'm not sure what to call the corn in the corn dog) was cooked all the way through, but it was barely on the brat anymore.
So I started my second one and it did the same exact thing! "HUMPH!" I was getting so frustrated, and when I get frustrated I get sweaty. It was just all kinds of awful. But I persevered! I was going to make you guys a recipe worth doing. I made the third one, and although the oil made the breading a little burnt, I had managed to keep it together, so I knew I was doing good...or so I thought. This is where the real trouble began.
I was cooking the fourth dog when it got a little too smoky and the smoke detector went off. The problem is now that we live in an apartment and not in the privacy of our own home (where it's okay if the smoke detector goes off), I panicked again! In fact, I believe I was in true survival mode. I ran to the smoke detector, but I didn't know how to turn it off...of course. So I think it's still sort of hanging off, but I did get it to stop screeching at me. But wait...
What about that corn dog I had been making when the alarm went off? Oh yeah, it's still in the hot oil burning, burning, burning. This was the straw that broke the camel's back. I literally said, "I can't take it anymore!" I took a picture of the corn dogs, and knew that I'd share this story with you. I hope you've enjoyed.
ps. I did at least taste the cornbread and it was delish! I might come back to this someday to share a success story.
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