Ever have a dusty box of ____ in the cupboard and look at the expiration date and think "yikes, how did I let that get so old?"
That happens to me a lot, I have good intentions of using said dusty box soon, and yet all it does it sits there for a year or more.
Said box in question is the corn bread mix from Trader Joe's.
I remember buying two boxes of the cornbread, knowing one box will be used to make corn bread muffins JUST so I can make another batch of my sweet & spicy bacon jam.
And the second box, just sat on the shelf for the longest time, it got moved from one cupboard to another in hopes I'll remember to use it to make something.
Last weekend I finally came up with a use for it: will it will deep fry?
Yeah, let's deep fry it! (tell me your brain works this way too?).
And yes, it does deep fry, very well in fact.
One bowl easy too.
Just mix, add some cheese, dip hot dogs or mini hot dogs in batter, and deep fry.
It fries up nice and light. The batter is a little bit of a challenge to work with to coat hot dogs, but once you have the hang of it, it gets easier.
Of course if you are still weary of deep frying then make baked corn dogs!
Just pour the batter in a flat pan or brownie pan, top with a few lines of hot dogs and bake!
I made baked corn dogs ages ago, so please ignore the bad photos--it's a really old post, but a great recipe.
So easy to assemble.
Use the Trader Joe's Cornbread Mix.
Mix, add cheese if desired.
Then dip hot dogs.
You can coat the dogs one of two ways: using a small ice cream scoop.
And this will give round corn dogs or fritters.
Or you can just coat them using your fingers.
And this will give you thinner, longer corn dogs.
Of course if you had skewers then that would also work, but alas I didn't.
I served these with corn relish dipping sauce. Any excuse to eat corn relish!
mini corn & cheese dogs (one bowl easy!)
print recipe
trader joes cornbread mix (you could try another brand, but I don't know if it will deep fry)
1/2 - 1 cup grated cheddar cheese (use as much or as little as you like)
couple dashes of pepper
mini hot dogs (about 10-15) (or use tofu dogs!)
vegetable oil for deep frying
Mix all the ingredients in a bowl.
Using a small ice cream scoop or your hands, coat the hot dogs in batter and fry in the oil.
They fry up pretty fast so keep an eye on them, and make sure to turn them over once during frying.
Let cool and drain on brown paper or wire racks with sheet on bottom.
They really don't need to be salted when they come out of the fryer.
Use whatever dipping sauces you like; I loved using corn relish.
One box made about 12-15 mini corn dogs.
Of course you could try baking these if you're uneasy about deep frying.
Since I have not done this, I would use a brownie pan or bigger.
Place the cornbread mix in greased pan, then place hot dogs (large or small) on top of batter.
Then bake at 350 degrees for?? 15-30 minutes (or whatever the directions on the box said??)
5/14/13
mini corn & cheese dogs (one bowl easy!)
6/21/12
friday links
I made these bacon-cheese hot dogs for dinner saturday night.
Did you know they hold super powers with your spouse ? (neither did I).
They do!
If you make these cheesy hot dogs (cheesy in a good way) your spouse automatically does the lawn and all the other odds & ends that have been on the "honey-do" list for ages.
Magical I tell you.
bacon & cheese hot dogs
print recipe
Around the web:
Learn a little about the history of the espresso machine.
Eating onions in salads? Soak them in water for about 10 minutes to take the edge off. 
Salad in a jar. I love this new trend. Do you?
I saw this on Pinterest and had to share it with you.
Will you look at that cute little butt?
And the wee paws?
Do you get bored with egg salad? Try these ways to kick it up a notch (or 8).
This recipe for Korean BBQ has been very popular in the food blogging world. (from TheKitchn)
Carrot cake cookies from serious eats.
Strawberry shortcake cupcakes! (from serious eats).
This is Post Ranch Inn in Big Sur California. Who's ready to go? Maybe they'll want me to come out and do an interview? You need to see the rooms with the view. Unreal.
Coconut-palm sugar ice cream.
12 different ways to kick up your basic lemonade (from serious eats).
Photos of diner foods and the waitresses who serve them.
Mango lassi popsicle from theblackpeppercorn.com
Ice cream 101 from Saveur.com Very helpful tips & tricks from Jeni of Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams. (she would know right?).
Chinese Pepper Steak. (from serious eats).
Dark chocolate-cherry fudge. I'm not much of a fudge fan, BUT these really looked and sounded good. (from serious eats).
Paleo fans?
Paleo pumpkin ice cream with chocolate & almond butter swirl. Heavenly.
Great website for all things Paleo recipes.
Important life lessons we learned from children's books. (from flavorwire).
Instagram books. Make your Instagram photos into a book.
I LOVE this maxi dress (from chanceco.com). So cute.
Candy colored photos of carnival in Paris.
Creme de Menthe chunk cookies (from passthesushi.com).
scoutingNY.com is sharing their key west road trip. Unique finds along the road; a bit of history too.
Miso-tahini dressing (from thekitchn.com).
Hot dog relish foodporn. I love this. (from seriouseats.com).
The winners of the "Taste of Home: My Caribbean Cooking" are #16 'whynot' and #34 Crystal. (I haven't heard from 'whynot', PLEASE email me!).
Summer Reads: (just click on image for more info)
Have a great weekend!
5/31/11
chicago dog err sausage
Summer is here. And wow was it hot and humid in the northeast. Here on cape cod we were slammed with extreme weather very fast. Our spring meant we literally went from electric blankets to A/C in a matter of days. Wild. When it gets too hot to cook inside I like to go outside and grill. Did anyone cook this weekend? Lately we've been eating a lot of ice cream for lunch and dinner; humidity when it gets to 100% and a dew point of 70 or higher literally zaps your appetite. But I did manage to sneak in these Chicago dogs. OK they aren't the authentic Chicago Dog but its kind of close. I first saw this recipe over at my buddy Nick's site: macheesemo. I tend to make a lot of what he makes. He's got good taste and easy to follow recipes. I need to know how he stays so thin though....
kielbasa, Italian sausage or beef franks, grilled with nice crispy char
mayonnaise
grainy mustard
pickles, sliced
tomatoes, sliced
white onions, diced
sweet pepper relish
celery salt
buttered & grilled hot dog rolls
grill up your sausages
butter and grill up your hot buns
layer the buns in this order:
mayonnaise, mustard, pickles, tomatoes, white onions, sweet pepper relish, and then a sprinkling of celery salt.
Serve with baked beans. Enjoy.
5/28/10
hot dog w/ the works
Ever crave a chicago dog? I do, every night. Kidding.
So many variations on the Chicago dog.
This one is created with 'things I have on hand'.
Grilled hot dog filled with baked beans (you can use chili too), coleslaw, red onions, cheddar cheese and a pickle. That's like almost-chicago style? Wish I could take credit for the onions rings, I can't, they are from a bag.
But it's a good brand of frozen onions rings, by Alexia brand. Really good when you're in a hurry and don't want to make from scratch.
11/5/08
baked cheesy corn dogs
Nothing fancy this time around, but definitely something very tasty and SUPER easy!
I saw this recipe at the Big Red Kitchen and instantly had to try it. Ohhh was it good.
The batter is so welcoming to a whole host of add in's: heat, veggies, spices, cheese, etc..
I even made a another batch of corn dogs using veggie hot dogs--so good!
I mean corn dogs with their own rolls baked on--who doesn't love that?
Takes 5-7 minutes to whip up?
Have to love instant comfort food assembly.
baked cheesy corn dogs
adapted from big red kitchen
print recipe
3 cups yellow self-rising corn meal mix
3 eggs
1/4 cup oil
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup of shredded colby jack (or any kind of cheddar)
A couple pinches of cayenne pepper (add as much or as little or none)
7 hot dogs
Preheat oven to 425°.
In a stand mixer, mix all of the ingredients minus the hot dogs together.
No need to overmix the batter, lumps are good!
Once the mix is smooth, pour into a well-greased 9x13 inch baking dish.
Place the hot dogs in the batter so that the dogs are placed 3 inches apart.
I did 5 vertically/close to the bottom, then 2 horizontally across the top. (see picture).
Bake for 22-25 minutes or until corn bread is cooked through.
Let cool slightly, then with a sharp knife cut around each hot dog insuring each dog is surrounded by corn bread.
Serve with favorite condiments.
cook notes: The original recipe called for using 10 hot dogs, I don’t know how they got them in there, but you can experiment. Be really careful how you place the hot dogs in the batter as you want a 2-inch border around each dog.
I added the heat cheese to this and it was awesome.
Next time I make these I’m adding some chopped jalapenos to it.
And if you want to make mini appetizers try using those little smokies for this. I’m sure it would be awesome.
Since some of you asked: my baked beans are nothing more than a large can of Bush's Baked Beans (boston or molasses flavor) with 1/2 cup of brown sugar, couple dashes of heat, 1 tb of molasses, 1 tb of ketchup, salt & pepper, and 1/2 cup of thick cut cooked bacon, chopped into big chunks. Mix all together in a casserole dish, reheat in oven at 400 degrees until bubbly.
