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Sunday Brunch: Summer Shack Corn Dogs

Posted by Ed Levine, May 25, 2008 at 11:00 AM

I know serving corn dogs for brunch is a bit of a stretch, but I think I can get away with it on Memorial Day weekend, which in many parts of the country is the start of the corn dog season. This recipe is adapted from Jasper White's The Summer Shack Cookbook. White is the founding father of the serious contemporary Boston chef scene. His restaurant Jasper's in many ways defined chef-driven dining in Beantown. Jasper's closed many years ago, and after a stint as Legal Seafoods' corporate chef, White returned to the restaurant wars with the incredibly cool Summer Shack in Cambridge. What's really cool is that he actually serves these incredibly delicious corn dogs there.

Summer Shack Corn Dogs

- makes 10 corn dogs -

Ingredients

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1 heaping teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon finely minced scallion or onion
1 large egg, beaten
1/2 cup whole milk
10 beef hot dogs, preferably natural casing dogs (1 1/2 to 2 ounces)
4 cups canola oil
Yellow or deli mustard and dill pickle spears
10 heavy 8-inch wooden skewers

Procedure

1. To make the batter: Combine the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, sugar, salt, and pepper in a large mixing bowl (a deep narrow bowl if you have one) and whisk well.

2. Combine the scallion, egg, and milk in a small bowl and whisk well. Gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Do not overmix. Cover the batter and allow it to rest at room temperature for 25 minutes.

3. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Line a baking sheet with paper towels. Heat 2 inches of oil to 350 degrees in a large deep skillet (at least 12 inches in diameter).

4. While the oil is heating, skewer each hot dog lengthwise, stopping about 1 inch from the top. When the oil is hot dip a hot dog into the batter, using the stick to twirl the dog and coat it evenly; make sure the bottom end of the hot dog is sealed, but try not to get too much batter on the stick. Remove the dog from the batter and twirl it once to let excess batter drip back into the bowl, then holding the stick end, lower the corn dog into the oil, keeping it suspended about 5 seconds before letting go (this will prevent the corn dog from sticking to the bottom of the pan). Dip 2 or 3 more hot dogs and add to the pan (do not fry more than 3 or 4 dogs at a time). Turn the dogs occasionally with tongs to make sure they cook evenly, and fry until the corn coating is a deep rich brown, 4 to 5 minutes. Lift them out of the oil one at at a time with a Chinese wire-mesh skimmer and transfer to the lined baking sheet, and then into the oven. Dip and fry the remaining dogs, making sure to let the oil come back to 350 degrees between batches, using a candy thermometer. (As you get near the end of the batter, you may need to spoon it over the dogs to coat them evenly.)

5. Serve the corn dogs hot with your favorite mustard and dill pickle spears or hot dog relish.

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Tags: corn dogs, deep-fried, fair food, hot dogs

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