Venison Corn Dog Recipe

I haven’t ever seen a venison corn dog recipe made before, so I had to try it. I mean, who doesn’t love corn dogs? Corn dogs are a staple in almost any kid’s diet, and you’re hard pressed to find an adult that would say no to a good fried wiener either. But, how do you take a corn dog to the next level? Make it from venison! If you’re feeling really ambitious, you could make your own homemade hot dogs from wild game meat. But, you most likely don’t want to make those, so you can stick with bratwursts or other sausage options you have in your freezer. I used mule deer bratwursts, and they worked great! Feel free to try using any wieners you have on hand, and if you have to you can resort to your classic hot dogs.

So, without further ado, here’s the quick and easy venison corn dog recipe, with enough  mentions of “wiener” to make any 10 year old giggle.

VENISON CORN DOG RECIPE INGREDIENTS

For the Venison Corn Dogs:

• 4-6 venison bratwursts (or hot dogs if you don’t have any)
• 1/4 cup corn starch (for dusting the wieners)
• 1 qt peanut or vegetable oil, for frying
• Bamboo skewers or other cooking sticks – leftover chopsticks work great too!
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1 cup flour
• 2 tbsp. brown sugar (or less if you want to keep your sugar consumption to a minimum)
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. pepper
• 1 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp. cumin
• 1/2 cup finely diced Anaheim pepper (or another pepper of choice – jalapenos work great too!)
• 1 egg
• 1-2 cups milk

 

VENISON CORN DOG RECIPE DIRECTIONS

1. PRE-COOK THE WIENERS: Most bratwursts are much too thick to properly cook in the time it takes to fry a corn dog, so you should cook them first.  This does a few things – it ensures you don’t have raw centers or overcooked corn bread, builds flavor by cooking the casing, and helps to break down the casing so it’s extra easy to bite through. So, toss the brats in a pan and fry them until cooked through, or put them on the grill. This is also a great way to use leftover brats if you manage to have any that have already been cooked.

2. PREP THE WIENERS:  The most important thing to measure is the diameter of your frying receptacle. The total length of your corn dog + skewer needs to fit inside the oil pan so it can lay flat and float while cooking. Trim your skewers to length, and stick them almost all the way through the wieners. Once prepped, pat them dry with a paper towel and then dust the wieners with corn starch, making sure to knock any excess corn starch off.

3. DICE YOUR PEPPERS:  Core your peppers and remove the seeds, then finely dice the pepper and set aside. You can now pre-heat your oil to 350ºF

4. MAKE THE BATTER:  In a large bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients. Make sure any lumps from the brown sugar are broken up and evenly mixed through the dry ingredients. Then add the egg, diced peppers, and first cup of milk. Mix thoroughly, and add additional milk to make the batter the consistency of pancake batter.

5. DIP ‘EM:  The trick to evenly coating your wieners in the batter is to fill a tall cup with the batter, then dunk the skewered wieners into the glass. Pull up and let the excess batter drip off, then immediately move over to your pre-heated oil.

6. FRY ‘EM:  Take your freshly dunked wieners and drop them into the hot oil, taking care not to splatter oil as you lower them into the oil. It takes some practice to gauge how much batter to keep on the wieners and not make a huge mess, but you should figure it out after the second or third time. Fry for 3-4 minutes, or until golden brown and delicious looking.

7. EAT ‘EM:  You’re done! Pat the finished venison corn dogs dry, and serve them up with your preferred condiment of ketchup, mustard, or both. Finish it off with a pile of chips or other sides, and you’re  good to go!

When you make it (and I know you will) be sure to tag #livewildeatwild so we can see your handiwork!