Home-made baked corn dogs

Yes, you read right, BAKED CORN DOGS. Ok, so the baked version of something fried always has its compromise BUT a picky 6 year old eater proclaimed her love for these yummies, so.... need I say more?

These corn dogs are more on the corn-muffin-covered side, but they are quite good nonetheless, and they are really quick to make too. I actually made them in the toaster oven because they were small enough to fit in the small baking pan.

After consulting a few recipes online, I decided to try this one and added a couple of things I saw from the others. If you don't have lollipop sticks, use popsicle sticks or skewers.

Home-made baked corn dogs
(serves 2 adults and 2 kids)

• 1 cup fine cornmeal
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 Tbsp. dark brown sugar
• 1 ½ tsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. baking soda
• ½ tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. mustard powder
• 1 ¼ cup buttermilk (or just milk)
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 2 tsp. olive oil
• 5 chicken wieners, cut in half
• flour for dusting
• water for wetting hands

Heat oven to 400 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, sift together the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda salt and mustard powder, and make a well in the center. In another bowl, whisk together the milk, the egg and the oil until well combined. Add to the well in the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.

Insert a stick into each of the hot dog half. Dip each hot dog into the flour, then shake of excess with one hand. Wet the other hand, grab some batter and spread it out in your hand into a somewhat square or rectangle, and place the hotdog right in the middle, turning to cover.

Place on the prepared bake sheet. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until puffed and golden brown.

Serve with mustard and ketchup. If your kids end up not liking these, well, at least you'll know in your heart, that you once tried to make them healthy corn dogs.

Also, you can make this into a vegan version, by replacing the egg with egg substitute, wieners with soydogs, and milk with almond milk.  Enjoy!!!! :)

Grilled corn on the cob and "mo hanh" (scallion oil)

Every part of the world has its own version of corn on the cob. Boiled. Grilled. Roasted. Then slathered with: butter & salt, or mayo, chili & lime, or "mo hanh", in this case. "Mo hanh" means "scallion oil" and it's exactly just that:

• 1 bunch of scallion, washed & chopped. Cooked in a couple of tbsp of oil for a few minutes over medium low heat.Add a pinch or two of salt.
  

This is one of the night street food in Ho Chi Minh city amongst the sea of delicious treats. When the grilling starts, you can't miss it. It smells awesome! The corn lady would usually be sitting on a tiny stool on the sidewalk in front of her little clay oven full of red burning coal, turning & fanning away at the ears of corn neatly lined up on the metal rack . Next to her, there would always be a small saucepan filled with the fatty, scalliony, salty goodness, ready to be brushed onto a freshly grilled hot sweet ear of corn.

...*drool*...

Mozzarella, sopressata, olive cornbread muffins

This is definitely one of those things that you have to make to store in the freezer for those grab-and-run moments, or just to fill your bf's freezer when he's away for school. All you need to do is dab the frozen ones with a bit of water on the surface, and pop in the microwave to reheat for about 45 seconds or a minute and voila!

They're seriously yummy. Make sure you bake an extra batch or two just in case... you never know who might pop in to visit...

I found the recipe at beautiful Food Mayhem. The original recipe called for butter, chorizo, Manchego cheese, green olive and cream style corn. I switched it up with a few things that I had in the fridge.

Mozzarella, sopressata, olive cornbread muffins
(adapted from Chorizo Manchego Olive Corn Muffins here) makes 24 muffins

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 4 eggs
• 1 can of corn
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 1/4 cup chopped black olives
• 1/2 cup chopped sopressata (or any dry/cooked sausage that you prefer)
• 1 cup shredded mozarella
• a small bunch of fresh coriander, or parsley, roughly chopped.
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup yellow cornmeal
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350F. Use silicon muffin cups if you have, if not line your muffin tins.

Beat olive oil and eggs together in a large bowl, one egg at a time. Then throw in the corn, olives, sausage, cheese and herb. Mix well.

In another bowl, mix together the rest of the ingredients. Then stir the dry ingredients into the wet mixture until everything is well moistened.

Fill muffin cups and bake for 22-25 minutes. Test with a toothpick, if it comes out dry, it's done!