corn dog

What is essential is invisible to the eye.  

I read that from The Little Prince.  I am sure he was not talking about corn dogs, but I believe the same is true for corn dogs.  No matter how great the batter, the meat is really the meat.  

I bought spicy Italian sausages.  They were looking a bit square--literally after I got them out of the chiller, but after they had warmed up, it was apparent that they were quite well rounded.  Not unlike some people. 

who are you calling chicken?

I was a bit nervous about the sticks.  While I didn't want the puny ones that may break or seem like it would break.  The ones I got were quite dangerous.  I mean, I seriously was reminded of stakes hammered into vampire hearts in some old movies.

not a toy

The length and width was perfect for the stubbly sausages that I got.

ready for wardrobe

The dough?  Oh the dough.  I hope it would turn out well worth the drama.

golden ribbon

I enjoy working with dough--but this was extra extra fun!

I wrapped the strip all around the sausage, tucking and stretching and pinching where I need to.  

"what are you all looking at?"

After I had wrapped all six, I had some extra dough, so I decided to put a little extra on the corn dogs too!

It was the perfect time to use my brand new cookie cutters!

pimped

Now, I anticipated that the details would make the corn dogs cuter, but I didn't expect them to look as cute as they did coming out of the oven.

Really.

REALLY.

BEAR with me

The contrast of the animals made me gasp.  Maybe I even clapped a little ;)

bunny Wabbit

 

the gang

How did it look inside?

Well...

Tada!!!!

not bad at all

Of all the things I've baked, I think this one is really the one I was most happy about the end result.

where's the party?

corn muffin

So I am posting the corn muffin photos first, only because there are less of them than that of the corn dogs.

everything yellow--so far.

I love that the first few ingredients thrown together were all yellow-ish.  It made my Sunday morning, if plausible--even brighter :)

I got the recipe online that promised to yield what is being sold at a chicken place--one I would frequent only for the corn muffins.  The chicken was pretty good, but it was never really the attraction for me.  I remember buying half a dozen to go last year, only to have eaten two even before I got home.

This was the real reason I bought the corn meal.

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Mixing everything was easy enough, but the batter was so sticky that I had trouble keeping the side of the cups clean.  

I mitigated the situation by wiping the rims but I could only do so much--as a result my muffins were orbited by burnt brown batter.

muffin olympics

The verdict?

It did come out similar to the ones sold at the chicken place, only these had a richer texture--moist.  It still had the grainy feel without being dry.  It also was more buttery.

I loved how these turned out! :)

I'd be mindful next time though when I bake because I anticipate that these would benefit with a little more salt on days that I need something savoury.

same time next week? :)

I'm knead-y

I had finally found a grocery that carries corn meal! 

One would be surprised on just how many didn't.

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My original plan was to make corn muffins--and that will happen, I know.  My craving got in the way. On Friday I couldn't stop thinking of corn dogs.    

I have not seen any store selling it where I live--that seems strange.  MAYBE it's because I never really looked.

I got myself some Italian sausages, sturdy sticks, wholemeal flour and I was ready to make some serious yellow dough.

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I was happily mixing, talking, laughing and kneading--excited of what the end product would become.

The dough seemed to feel different, like it needed more liquid.  More kneading.

 Then it felt like it needed more flour.  More kneading.

Then I thought I should give it a rest.

I put it aside to rise. 

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One hour later,  I came back to check.

OH MY GOD.

It was as if time stood still.  NOTHING happened to my dough.  It looked exactly like it did when I left it.  If only, it looked dry.

I googled my way to a workable solution.

I read that it may be due to the temperature so I placed the dough in warm-er place.  Waited 15 minutes.  Nothing.

I read that you can potentially steam the dough.  I did.  Waited 15 minutes.  Nothing.

I read that I could revive it by adding yeast dissolved in liquid and more flour.  I did.  Believe me when I say that all this time I felt like a doctor pumping someone's chest waiting for a break on the flat line.  Kneading.

I did that.  Nothing.

Not happy.

I was really frustrated, but I had to remind myself that things like this happen and there is a lesson to be learnt here.

That did not stop me from throwing away the dough though.  I did find out later on that I could use this dough for crackers.  Too late.  Too stubborn.    I hate that I threw it away because I really don't like wasting food.  It is wrong.  I was wrong.

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It was late, but I was determined.

I whipped out another batch, this time careful not to add too much liquid or flour and kneading only for a couple of minutes.

I read that over kneading makes stubborn dough.  A dough can only take so much pressure  :)

And what do you know?  My lovely dough rose!

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I love happy endings.