Mini Corn-Dogs and other things

This post has nothing to do with potato chips. Nothing at all.

The reason this picture is here, is I wanted to bring to your attention, the New flavor of Lays potato chips ( do they even have Lays on the East coast and in the south?).... Tangy Carolina BBQ.

They were "buy 1, get 1 free", so I did. And as I did, I was wondering..... if any brand name anywhere markets a "Nevada" thing.
I mean food wise. We are not famous for much when it comes to food. I googled state foods and Nevada came up famous for "Basque" Food, which is fine if anyone else in the United States knew what Basque food was.

I'm not even so sure that people in Southern Nevada know what Basque food is.
Basque food is:
Basque food is the native cuisine of the ethnic group that resides in the Pyrenees. Due to their location, spanning northeastern Spain and southwestern France, their cooking is richly infused with Spanish and French influences. In typical Basque dishes, you will find hearty meats, tomato sauces and hints of sweet or spicy red pepper, all served family-style.

By the way, Guy Fieri is doing a Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives at Louis' Basque Corner in Reno!

Louis' does not have a webpage, and I'm not sure of the air date, but Guy came to Reno and did 3 restaurants.
Louis' Basque Corner
301 East 4th Street
Reno, NV 89512
(775) 323-7203

but go here for a Great Winnemucca Basque experience.  I mean if you are ever in Winnemucca and want to try Basque food, go here, to the Martin Hotel.

I got off track......
Nevada is not really famous for our cuisine, are we? We'll never have our own flavor on a bag of potato chips.

Tonight I am making homemade "mini corn-dogs" and not just any homemade, mine corn-dogs, but Blue Cheese and bacon mini corn-dogs.

I found the recipe on line. (please, if it is your recipe, let me know, as I want to give credit where credit is due, but somehow the "credits" got left off this page I printed from the inter-net) I do know that she (or he...I'm  bad about assigning gender to old stereotypes.... women foodies blog, men don't, that's my first thought, but it's not always right, nor should it be)

okay then, where was I? oh, I do know "said other cook" whom I got the recipe from, got it out of Better Homes and Gardens magazine, June, 2009.
So there ya go...I don't have to worry about credit anymore.

I had no idea if these are any good or not , but "said cook" says it is a "bucket list" recipe, one we must eat before we die!

This is probably more of an appetizer, but I wanted to make it tonight for supper, so I turned it into a main dish. Corn dogs!
Corn-dogs remind me of carnival food... the best corn-dog I ever had was at a carnival, dipped in the batter and deep fried in front of my eyes.... it had puffy, golden, crisp crust around a juicy hot dog. They were called pronto pups.  I loved Pronto Pups.  I've never, ever had a corn-dog as good as those.

But...what do you serve as a side dish to corn-dogs? I mean to the Handy-Man. It's he and I tonight. No grandchildren, or friends. If we had grandkids, I'd make French fries, but for just the two of us,
I chose potato salad and baked beans. I know they are picnic food and not carnival food (oohh, I'm thinking caramel apples for dessert?!),   but it's kinda close... in a way.
Those were two of my favorite things growing up...carnivals (not so anymore) and picnics (still love them, just don't have anyplace to go)

I bet you are wondering about this photo....

I'm not doing a whole tutorial about my meal, but
this is the kind of baked bean my mom always ALWAYS bought. She then doctored them up.

My mom made a sweet baked bean and then she stuck them in the fridge and we ate them cold the next day at our picnic, along with cold fried chicken and homemade chocolate cake. My parents were huge picnic people.

So, B and M beans is what I grew up with, so....

WAIT A MINUTE. B&M. Really? BM?   oh my gosh... I can never use these again. I will be thinking of a BM the entire time!!! (I raised 3 boys and can not for the life of me, get their sophomoric sense of humor to leave me)   No wonder B&M beans are disappearing from grocery market shelves! I was going to say how hard they are to find nowadays, here in Nevada. Now I know why.
okay, so take these beans or any baked beans. And doctor them up any way you like.
We don't actually eat beans from the can without some doctoring. Do you?

Where as my mom makes a sweet baked bean, I make a BBQ bean to go with my stuff.
The Handy-man's friend John, LOVES my beans...he is so happy when I make them.
Little does he know all I do is open the can and pour a blob of purchased BBQ sauce in it, add some bacon and onion and ...that's it. It's almost embarrassing to admit that.
But if I'm must making a fast meal, that's what I do.

I have been a collector of potato salad recipes for years. I can't find my "ONE", if you know what I mean, so I make everyone else's. I have never met a potato I didn't like.
Tonight, I take my way of doing potato salad from my friend Tomi (seen with a koala bear below). She makes the simplest one I know of... potatoes, hard boiled eggs, salt, pepper, mayo and mustard.
Yum.  
I know it's not the greatest photo....it's from a scan, but I just love her, so I had to insert her in here somehow.   I have quite a few recipes of Tomi's that I make.  Thanks Tomi!!


Now for the main dish ... if you can actually call mini corn-dogs a dish.

I had a couple of problems with these little corn-dogs. One, was that the batter, at first, was very, very thick. so, thick that it was doughy inside. I added some milk until the batter was more of a dipping consistency and that worked better.
I think my oil should have been a bit hotter, as these were a bit greasy.

Try dipping a hot dog in this batter!!!


The second batch I cooked (with the thinner batter) turned out much better--taste wise.

Believe me, they didn't look pretty. BUT they did taste good. The batter, being thinner, cooked all the way thru the second time around and was crispy and crunchy and good.  They might look like pancakes on a stick, but they did taste good.  I think they still need some practice rounds before I serve them to people.   The Handyman isn't a "people"... he is a Tester.  It's his job to test things for me.

Again, they are not pretty, and need a little more tweeking and polish before making a company appearance, but here I am showing you my, "not so pretty attempt".   And of course they really aren't a main dish, but would be perfect for an appetizer. With some nice crisp veggies on a crudités tray...... mmmmm.

Also, these would be fine leaving out the blue cheese and just slathering mustard all over them.
It I had them more "fine-tuned", they would make good SuperBowl Food.  But, I'm not quite ready.....


BLUE CHEESE AND BACON MINI CORN-DOGS
1 cup all purpose flour
2/3 cup yellow cornmeal
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon shortening
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup blue cheese
1 egg
3 slices bacon, crisp-cooked and finely crumbled
6 beef franks, jumbo, cut in half crosswise
skewers

BLUE CHEESE DIP
2/3 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sour cream
2 oz blue cheese, crumbled
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/8 tsp black pepper


Corn dog directions
In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, corn meal, baking powder, dry mustard, and salt.
Cut in shortening until mixture resembles fine crumbs.
In a blender, combine milk, blue cheese and egg, blend until almost smooth.
Add egg mixture to flour mixture along with the crumbled bacon, mix well.
Heat 1 inch of oil in a heavy 10-inch skillet (I used an electric frying pan) to 350 degrees.
Insert skewers into end of franks. spoon batter over franks. Batter will be thick.
Place coated franks, 2 or 3 at a time on their sides in hot oil.
Turn franks with tongs after about 10 seconds to prevent batter from sliding off.
Cook for 2-3 minutes more or until golden brown, turning to cook evenly.
Remove and drain on a baking sheet lined with paper towels.
Keep warm in a 200 degree oven while frying the remaining franks.
Serve warm with Blue Cheese Dip.



Blue Cheese Dip directions
In a medium bowl, combine mayo, sour cream, blue cheese, worsh sauce and pepper.
Cover and chill until ready to use.