On our visit to Washington we spent some time visiting friends in Seattle, our old home town. We went to the Woodland Park Zoo with our son and saw the Animals. Gone are the fun yet inhumane days of feeding the animals fistfuls of peanuts. Also, suprisingly, gone are the days of fun human junk food at the zoo. I looked forward to elephant ears and hot sugar coated almonds. I built up the corn-dog experience to my son. When we arrived at the "food pavillion" (an open-air barn built to house those strange beasts: the humans) we found that our choices were limited and fairly healthy! Grain fed beef burgers with fresh tomatoes and lettus or low fat grilled chicken burgers and organic fries. It was yummy. I liked it... but a part of me mourns the loss of the deep fried zoo experience and the little children with cotton candy in their hair talking about the monkeys all the way home.
So... let's look back at the good stuff:
Cotton Candy
Elephant ear:
Corn Dogs:
complete with recipe (as seen in "Fair Foods"):
1 cup milk
2 medium eggs
1/4 cup oil
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/3 cups corn meal
2/3 cup flour
1 to 1-1/2 pounds hot dogs
flour for dusting (about 1/2 cup)
Hot Fat for Deep Frying
Popscicle sticks
In a large bowl combine the milk, eggs, oil, sugar and salt. Mix it very well. Sprinkle in the baking powder, corn meal and flour. Stir it all up to make a slightly thick batter.
Take your hot dogs and dry them off on paper towels. Dust the hot dogs with flour, coating them completely. The cornmeal batter won't stick to the hot dogs unless they are coated in flour. The batter just slides right off of the wieners naturally slick outsides. Shove popscicle sticks into the flour coated hot dogs. Set the hot dogs aside.
While all of this is going on, it's a good idea to get your hot fat to heating up. You want the temperature to be about 375°. Allow the fat to preheat so it is almost smoking by the time you are ready to add the corn dogs.
Now, to coat the floured hot dogs with batter you have two choices. You can swirl the hot dogs in the bowl of batter until they are coated, and then drop them into the hot fat. If this is a little difficult I know of an easier way. Scoop some of your corn meal batter into a narrow jar or cup which is as tall as your hot dogs are long. Fill the jar or cup about 3/4 of the way full. Dip your hot dog into the batter while you hold onto the stick. Swirl the hot dog to coat it evenly. Be careful or the batter will overflow. Raise the wiener above the cup and let any excess batter drip off. Quickly place the battered dog into the hot fat. The fat will bubble up and cook the outside of the batter, making the corndogs the exact same shape as the ones you buy at the store.
Only fry a few corn dogs at a time. If the corn dogs crowd each other they don't fry very well. I only fry 2 or 3 at a time. Turn the corn dogs when the bottom side is well browned. Use tongs to remove the cooked corn dogs from the fat. Allow them to drain on paper towels. Repeat the process, coating and frying a few at a time, until all of the corn dogs are cooked. Refill the narrow jar or cup with batter from your bowl as necessary. Continue until all the hot dogs are coated or until you no longer have enough batter to coat the hot dogs efficiently.
If you don't want to waste any unused batter, it can be dropped by small spoonfuls into the hot fat, and fried until brown. Serve these along side the corn dogs.
If desired, you can make small corn dogs by cutting hot dogs into thirds, or quarters. Poke a toothpick up into the end of the hot dogs. Coat and fry them as described above. Provide plenty of ketchup and mustard for dipping.
This recipe makes about 12 to 14 corn dogs
Corn Dogs:
complete with recipe (as seen in "Fair Foods"):1 cup milk
2 medium eggs
1/4 cup oil
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/3 cups corn meal
2/3 cup flour
1 to 1-1/2 pounds hot dogs
flour for dusting (about 1/2 cup)
Hot Fat for Deep Frying
Popscicle sticks
In a large bowl combine the milk, eggs, oil, sugar and salt. Mix it very well. Sprinkle in the baking powder, corn meal and flour. Stir it all up to make a slightly thick batter.
Take your hot dogs and dry them off on paper towels. Dust the hot dogs with flour, coating them completely. The cornmeal batter won't stick to the hot dogs unless they are coated in flour. The batter just slides right off of the wieners naturally slick outsides. Shove popscicle sticks into the flour coated hot dogs. Set the hot dogs aside.
While all of this is going on, it's a good idea to get your hot fat to heating up. You want the temperature to be about 375°. Allow the fat to preheat so it is almost smoking by the time you are ready to add the corn dogs.
Now, to coat the floured hot dogs with batter you have two choices. You can swirl the hot dogs in the bowl of batter until they are coated, and then drop them into the hot fat. If this is a little difficult I know of an easier way. Scoop some of your corn meal batter into a narrow jar or cup which is as tall as your hot dogs are long. Fill the jar or cup about 3/4 of the way full. Dip your hot dog into the batter while you hold onto the stick. Swirl the hot dog to coat it evenly. Be careful or the batter will overflow. Raise the wiener above the cup and let any excess batter drip off. Quickly place the battered dog into the hot fat. The fat will bubble up and cook the outside of the batter, making the corndogs the exact same shape as the ones you buy at the store.
Only fry a few corn dogs at a time. If the corn dogs crowd each other they don't fry very well. I only fry 2 or 3 at a time. Turn the corn dogs when the bottom side is well browned. Use tongs to remove the cooked corn dogs from the fat. Allow them to drain on paper towels. Repeat the process, coating and frying a few at a time, until all of the corn dogs are cooked. Refill the narrow jar or cup with batter from your bowl as necessary. Continue until all the hot dogs are coated or until you no longer have enough batter to coat the hot dogs efficiently.
If you don't want to waste any unused batter, it can be dropped by small spoonfuls into the hot fat, and fried until brown. Serve these along side the corn dogs.
If desired, you can make small corn dogs by cutting hot dogs into thirds, or quarters. Poke a toothpick up into the end of the hot dogs. Coat and fry them as described above. Provide plenty of ketchup and mustard for dipping.
This recipe makes about 12 to 14 corn dogs
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