Breakfast Sausage Corn Dogs with Spiced Maple Syrup Dip

This past weekend, I co-hosted a baby shower for Amy, one of my closest friends who also happens to be an incredible event planner and designer.  The theme of the shower was Sweet and Savory, and the menu was filled with delectables that brought both sensations to the taste buds.  I asked Amy to choose from a long list of ideas and she had some special requests as well.  Months ago, she had brunch one of my favorite Portland restaurants - Screen Door.  It is Southern comfort food at its best.  One of their most popular items is a breakfast sausage corn dog, served dusted with powdered sugar and alongside a thick sorghum syrup.  Well, Amy texted me from the restaurant.  That dish pretty much blew her mind.  She asked me to try to recreate it for her shower.  Never one to miss an opportunity to fry something for someone I love, I immediately agreed.  The results were completely satisfying.  Tangy, sweet apricot breakfast sausages (from my favorite Seattle butcher shop, AJ Meats) dipped in a classic corn dog batter and served with dark maple syrup and a touch of spice.  I served them up in individual little votive holders with the syrup in the bottom.  Tres chic don't you think?

I know frying can be intimidating, but it doesn't need to be.  I promise you its simpler than you imagine and so, so satisfying.  You are guaranteed to please your guests and impress them a little bit too.   I recommend a wide deep pot and a couple tools - a spider utensil (though you don't need it for this particular recipe) and a deep fry/candy thermometer.  I find these helpful for other applications as well.

This same batter would be perfect for regular corn dogs as well, or cheesy hotdog (AJ Meats has some that will make you cry) corn dogs, or Brat corn dogs, or chicken dogs or pretty much any old thing you want to enrobe in crispy fried corn bread.

BREAKFAST SAUSAGE CORN DOGS WITH SPICED MAPLE SYRUP DIP 

This makes 16 individual appetizers, plan on 2 per guest.  You can also leave the sausage whole if you want a less cutesy portion.

8 apricot breakfast sausages (or whatever flavor you enjoy)
3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup cornmeal
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne

1 teaspoon sea salt
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
2 quarts of vegetable or other neutral oil, for frying
16 wooden skewers, about 8" long

1 cup maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (or more, to taste)
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Prep sausages:  Saute over medium high heat for 6 minutes, turning every 2 minutes, so they are nicely browned.  They will not be cooked through, but that will finish during the fry.  Allow to cool for 10 minutes and then cut in half crosswise, making two short pieces.  Skewer each through the center.

Maple syrup dip: Whisk together syrup and spices over low heat until just nicely warmed.  Don't allow to boil.

Batter & Frying:   Whisk together the dry ingredients.  Then add the egg and milk and whisk till well incorporated but not much more.  Pour oil into a wide deep pot.  It should come up about 2 inches on the sides.  Add less or more as needed.  Turn burner on high and bring up to 360 degrees, then turn to medium.   Now, you're ready to fry.  Dip your sausages into the corn batter, swirling and dipping to make a nice even coat.  Now drop into the hot oil very carefully, no more than 4 in the pan at any one time.  Use tongs to roll the corn dogs to the other side after a minute or so, and then every 30-60 seconds, to ensure an even brown crust.  Total cooking time is around 4 minutes.  Watch your oil temperature and adjust heat as needed to maintain as close to 360 degrees as possible.  Remove corn dogs and allow to cool for 3-4 minutes before serving.  You can keep them warm in a 200 degree oven while you making the rest, if you wish.

Serve with spiced maple syrup and prepare for moans and eye rolls of delight!
 

Spicy Wine Nuts

This is Rachel - Excited to share this recipe for spiced nuts with you just in time for Friday happy hour.  These spiced nuts go so incredibly well with wine.  From the first bite, I couldn't believe how much they improved the flavor experience of the inexpensive wine I was drinking.  If you're anything like us, you drink some cheap but good value wines on the regular days and save the nice bottles for special occasions.

Anyway, we've found some awesome value wine in our searches but that will be another blog post. When you enjoy the right snack with your house wine it can really make a huge difference and open up the flavors. You might forget that it isn't actually a special occasion.  If that happens though, it means it kind of is!

I always have a rendition of these nuts on hand and have a lot of fun playing with different spices in the basic recipe.  I made huge quantities at Christmas and gave them to friends with a bottle of wine.  They needed to experience the magical combination for themselves.  We consume a lot of these around our house.  So nice that its such an easy recipe too.

SPICY WINE NUTS

3 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons dried rosemary crumbled
1 1/2 teaspoon nice sea salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
2 cups raw walnuts or other favorite nut

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Melt the butter in a medium saucepan and stir in the spices.  Stir in the nuts and coat evenly.  Pour the mixture out onto a cookie sheet and roast in the center of the oven for about 10 minutes. Delicious served a bit warm.  And if you bring in some fancy medjool dates and dark chocolate to the party with your wine and nuts, you'll be loving life.

Salted or unsalted butter both work fine here.  If you have fresh rosemary you can use that, but use just 1 teaspoon.  The best rosemary I used for this was some fresh I had left on the counter to dry for about a week. It still smelled a bit fresh when crumbled. If you have smoked paprika but not cayenne, try that!  If the butter browns on the stove you can still work with it.  It will add a different complexity to the flavors. Taste and alter the amounts of things to how you prefer them.  If you use peanuts, they will cook faster so try about 7 minutes for them.  Hope you enjoy!

Some of the variations I have used...

Almonds with butter, garam masala, cayenne and sea salt

Peanuts with butter, piment d'espelette, thyme, sea salt and fresh ground pepper

Peanuts with browned butter, cayenne, sea salt and fresh ground pepper

Supper Thyme - Southern Style

What is Supper Thyme? Let me tell you. Supper Thyme is the most wonderful potluck you can imagine, where each guest brings the best from their culinary arsenal to compliment the meal. It is not haphazard. There is a specific theme and four or five courses. Two people are assigned to each and the normal formula is that a dish and paired drink is their responsibility. A theme is ESSENTIAL. This is similar in concept to the group of ladies I dine with quarterly, but it is really very different. That group is fixed - five ladies...the SAME ladies, every single time. Supper Thyme is a rotating band of wonderful food lovers, with each new dinner bringing some regulars and some newbies to the table. It happens sporadically, on average 5 times a year I'd say. We've done many wonderful themes, that you can check out here. To Supper Thyme you bring your very best. You research and test and you consult regularly with one another to ensure that the perfect meal is designed, or as close as you can get to it!

The Southern theme was probably the most discussed yet. Southern food is innately comfort food and there are so many elements of it that we wanted to experience. The issue was really narrowing it down to a reasonable amount of food that a reasonable human could eat in one evening. It didn't really make sense to do a lot of wine pairing with this meal, because cocktails and beers are more authentic to Southern meals, so we set up a fabulous bar and set out a couple recipes and people went to town. Fresh fruit old-fashioneds and whisky sours were the favorites.

It was a mind boggle. I am not 100% sure, but I am 95% sure that this was my favorite Supper Thyme yet. Here is the menu, with my comments.

~Cocktail Hour~

Fresh Fruit Old-Fashioneds

Crab Cakes Balls via Maryland

Spicy Pimento Cheese

Roasted Dates
wrapped in bacon and stuffed with Pecans

I wanted to pick one recipe from the evening to share with you and I chose the crab balls. The balls were so lusciously moist and filled with crab and the peppadew aioli a brilliant compliment. Really though, all the appetizers were amazing and the fresh fruit old-fashioned has turned me onto the possibilities of bourbon.

~First Course~ Plated

Sauteed Giant Shrimp
with country ham and andouille sausage

over the creamiest grits you've ever tasted in your life.

Oh Azie, these were so wonderful! There was much discussion over whether to have this course and would it be too much food and my oh my am I glad we did! These were the best grits I've ever eaten and the shrimp were perfectly spiced by the andouille sausage and smoky, salty ham. Delectable.

~Main Course~ Family-Style

Double Dipped Buttermilk Fried Chicken

Collard Greens
cooked with ham hocks

Blue Cheese Coleslaw

Southern Bread Basket:
Jalepeno cheddar cornbread, Country Bisquits
with honey butter

Okay, it was my job to make the fried chicken. Fried chicken is no easy matter. I tested a couple recipes earlier that day and determined a few key things. Don't add a bunch of smoky spices like paprika and cayenne to the chicken. It takes away from the pure flavor. Salt, pepper, garlic powder and dried thyme ended up being perfect. Another important thing is double-dipping for maximum crust. I mean, isn't that REALLY why we eat fried chicken? So, soaked in buttermilk for 24 hours, then dredged in the seasoned flour, then buttermilk again, then flour, then rest for 5 minutes and into 360 degree oil. 3 minutes per side and then 25 minutes in the oven. I am telling you, I was very proud of that chicken. Which made me feel better when the blue cheese coleslaw was totally a waste of space. Fortunately, the collard greens were amazing as were the breads. Seriously, my friends Beth and Tim killed it on the baking. I have never seen such tall, fluffy biscuits come out of a home kitchen.

~ Dessert ~
Served much, much later, standing around the kitchen

Rhubarb Peach Cobbler
with Buttermilk crust, topped with Buttermilk ice cream
garnished with Grilled Bourbon Peach & Bourbon Drizzle

Ah me, it is too much. An incredible meal and then THIS! It was so perfectly golden, with the proper ratio of topping to fruit that is crucial to a good cobbler. The rhubarb and peach were a perfect combination. Tart and sweet mingling together in a symphony of...okay, I'm losing it. Breathe, Julie, Breathe. This was Amy's first attempt at homemade ice cream and the flavor was perfect. The sweet tangy buttermilk came right through. The grilled peach and bourbon drizzle took this to another planet. Stop Julie, you're doing it again! Point being, I really liked this dessert.

So, back to that recipe I promised you. This is in Rachel's own words.

Crab Cakes Balls via Maryland
This recipe is inspired by my Mother-in-law Donna's crab cake recipe. I modified it to make it into crab cake balls which make a very special appetizer. For the record, it's more economical to buy the already shelled crab meat believe it or not. The monger at Central Market convinced me.

1 pound fresh jumbo lump crabmeat (splurge)

1 3/4 cups panko

4 large eggs beaten

2 Tbl olive oil (plus a bit more to coat the cookie sheet the balls are baked on)

1 Tbl butter

1/2 sweet onion finely chopped

2 large garlic cloves finely minced

3 Tbl mayo

1 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard

1 Tbl Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp hot sauce of choice (Iguana habenero)

1 tsp Old Bay seasoning

3/4 cup finely processed parsley

1 tsp fresh chives

Kosher salt

Fresh ground pepper

Process the onion and garlic together until very fine. Then, saute the onion and garlic in olive oil and butter until it gets caramelized and brownish. Break up the crab meat into smaller pieces that will mix well. Big chunks will not work well in a ball. Add to bowl. Add crab meat to bowl. Add all other ingredients to bowl and mix or fold together gently until everything is well combined. Do not over mix. Once combined, use a tablespoon measure to scoop out amount to mold into balls. Gently roll crab batter into ball and place on lightly olive oiled cookie sheet. Should make about 40 balls.

The balls need to set for at least a few hours to firm up before they are baked. This is a great recipe to make the day ahead and let them rest. Cover with plastic wrap.

Bake in middle of oven at 400 degree for 25 minutes.

Peppadew Pepper Aioli

1/2 cup olive oil mayo (more if you want the aioli thicker)

Juice of half a lemon

1 Tbl fresh chives

1/4 cup fresh italian parsley

about 5-7 peppadew peppers with juice (found in olive bars in finer grocers)

1 Tbl hot sauce of choice (Iguana habanero sauce)

Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Blend all aioli ingredients together in a blender. Serve with warm crab cake balls.

Don't forget the toothpicks. And chives with parsley make a lovely garnish. Enjoy!