Culinary Alchemy: Fear is the Mind Killer, Bacon is the Diet Killer

I must apologize for the two month hiatus from updating my blog. Between work and the holidays, things have been a little crazy. But it is a new year and a new month and it's time to make some changes now that a little balance has returned to my life.

So to kick things off with a bang or rather a "banger" of sorts… I present the ULTIMATE diet killer… The Bacon Wrapped Corn Dog.

Yes, that’s right folks!! For bacon is the incarnation of all that is good in the world. Yes, it is bad for you, but it is also delicious. This siren of the porcine persuasion... Singing… Calling… Luring all those on dietary restrictions, for one reason or another, to hurl ourselves upon the rocks of dietary ruin with reckless abandon. But also, just like king Midas of ancient Greek mythology… all bacon touches turns into gold… well, at least flavor-wise.

Warning: You will need to gather a few things, of which I found myself sorely lacking. Since I was out of skewers (which I thought I had) I used fondue forks instead…
I also found, at the last minute, that a Fry Daddy is not quite deep enough for doing this… so I was forced to abandon the actual stick upon frying.

Ingredient-wise you will need…….

1 lb of bacon (thin sliced; not thick or center cut as it wont be long enough)
12 to 14 Beef hot dogs (I used Hebrew National – Yes, quite sacrilegious, I know)
Tooth picks
14 skewers or fondue forks
Corn batter (recipe follows)

Wrap 1 piece of bacon, around each hot dog, in an overlapping spiral.
Secure each end with a toothpick (Just in case)

Fry hot dogs in a sauté pan until bacon is crisp.
Remove and drain on paper towels.
Reserve the bacon drippings for your batter.

Now the Batter:
1 cup Bread Flour
2/3 cup Medium Grind Cornmeal
1/4 cup Granulated Sugar
1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Kosher Salt
1/2 tsp Chipotle or Ancho Chili Powder
2 TB Bacon Drippings from the sauté pan
1 Egg, beaten
1 1/4 cups Buttermilk

Whisk the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, chili powder and salt in a medium bowl.
Make a well in the center, and add the egg and buttermilk, whisking until smoothly blended.
Stir in melted bacon drippings

Pour some of the batter into a tall glass, about 2/3 – 3/4 full.
Pat Bacon wrapped hot dogs to remove as much oil from them as possible, or the batter will not stick.
Insert skewer or fondue fork into the end of each dog.
Dip the hot dogs in the batter, shaking off the excess.

Insert into deep fryer, preferably vertically, but this may not be possible, as I found my fry daddy was not quite deep enough, and had to pull out the fondue fork in order to fry them.

(Sorry I didn’t take a picture, but I was dealing with hot oil, and it is dangerous, so I was concentrating.)

Fry each one in the hot oil until they are Golden Brown.
Drain on paper towels .