corn dogs

my earlier post about lemonade, i mentioned corn dogs....well, this is the recipe. i don't make this often, less than once a year, but when we do have it, it's a bit of fun. it's much nicer than battered savs which are frankfurts dipped in regular batter like that use for the fish in fish and chips beacuse the batter isn't as greasy; just make sure your oil is hot so the batter seals and cooks rather than absorbs the oil, which happens when it isn't the right temperature.
an alternative we also like is cheese dipped in the batter instead of the frankfurt. very junky, but the grittiness of the cornmeal is what tempts miss k - ahhhh....less than once a year.....

2 cups plain flour
3/4 cup corn meal
1/2 cup sugar
1 3/4 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 3/4 cups milk
1 egg, slightly beaten
10 regular sized frankfurts, or 20 cocoktail frankfurts
vegetable oil for deep frying

preheat oil 240 degrees celcius.
combine the flour, corn meal, sugar, salt and bicarbonate of soda in a large bowl.
combine the milk and egg with the dry ingredients and mix with an electric mixer until batter is smooth.
dry the frankfurts with a paper towel.
when the oil is hot, tilt the bowl of batter so that you can completely coat each frankfurt with the batter.
place the battered frankfurt in the hot oil and cook for 5-6 minutes or until coating is golden brown, turning them so they cook evenly.

another variation

i just realised that there was something else which we like to make with the my basic bread dough - hong kong style frankfurt rolls. if you haven't had them before, they are like a hot dog, but frankfurt is baked inside, rather than added after the bread has been baked. it doesn't have any nutritive value, but is quite conforting to eat, like a regular hot dog. if you don't like hot dogs, chances are that you probably won't like this. miss k likes them for lunch on those days when i'm not bothered to go to the shops to buy a loaf of bread for her sandwiches for school and would rather make my own bread.

to make these frankfurt rolls, get yourself a piece of dough the size of a small tennis ball and wrap it around half a frankfurt (or use cocktail frankfurts) and pop it into a grease loaf tin. a loaf tin looks like this:


once you've filled the pan with the frankfurt rolls, set it aside in a warm place for an one or so, so the dough can rise.
preheat your oven to 180 degrees celcius and pop the risen rolls in the oven for 20 minutes to bake.
when golden and ready, remove the rolls from the pan and place them on a wire rack so they don't go soggy in the pan.