fancy corn dodgers

[mattybock]

Today I made my first ever batch of corn dodgers, and learned some lessons along the way.
I've no idea about the history of corn dodgers, and my only knowledge of them is a few lines from the bearded guy in "Little House on the Prairie" and from Rooster Cogburn.
The first was not totally crisp and a bit flavorless, so I added a heap of crushed red pepper to the batter yet to be used and some more salt, then fried until they were very hard, which took surprisingly long in the bacon grease.

What do you add to your carriables to make them suite your tastes? Also, is this what they are supposed to look like?

ps - that is a vintage skillet ca.1917, from either Wagner or Griswold, I have forgotten the name for now.

 

[Flint311]

Reason for edit: Tried to get photo to work. It didn't

 

[coloradoclyde]

[/img]

Well that was hard to fix....


You could bake them some to crisp them up. All that grease might come back to haunt you :wink:

 

[Blizzard of '93]

recipe for the batter?
I no longer 'trek' but would have packed these if I had them.

 

[satx78247]

IF Rooster Cogburn was a real person, as portrayed by The Duke, he would probably been carrying "hot water cornbread", which is simply cornmeal mixed with boiling water & salt, made into "patties" & fried in whatever grease was available to "Chin Lee".

That simple recipe for Hot Water Cornbread was commonplace early in AR, IT, LA, MO, MS & TX then, as it "traveled well" & is long-lasting W/O refrigeration.

yours, satx

 

[mattybock]

Here's my crude guide;
average it out to 300ml of meal giving your right about 10 dodgers. Put the meal in the cup and add your seasonings. One heaping teaspoon (the eating spoon, not the bakers measuring type - I always confuse them) of salt is necessary, for the flavor and for possible preservation. I add another heaping teaspoon of crushed red pepper for my own tastes.
Then start your bacon to frying. I mince a four slices of extra fat bacon up and fry them, using the bacon bits on a salad. The big red box of Chuck Wagon is the way to go - also great for stuffed peppers.

While the grease is hot, but no blazing, I scoop up a teaspoon of batter and then form it into a patty by hand. They're small, about the size of an oreo. I've found that if you just plop a spoonful of batter right into the grease, then they stick automatically and trying to free them results in a crumbled up mess. Laying them onto the grease keeps a layer of grease between the patty and the pan, but if that layer is pushed aside, they stick.

Fry for 2 minutes, just to firm up the patty, then rah a spatula under it, and flip, fry for a few minutes, then re-flip. It took me some 15 minutes for the patty to get fully hard and crisp. Water is stubborn to get out.

I have no idea how long they last, as I normally have 10 eaten in an hour. They're like big, crumbly fritos. If anyone has any different seasonings, texture experiences, etc, please share.

 

[George]

Those look good, Matty. Few things taste better to me than fried cornmeal.

What you are making is called hot water cornbread around here, and is very popular in my family.

Bake them in a dry pan instead of frying them with oil and you have hoe cakes. They work just great for bread while trekking.

For future reference, most people will like the taste of 1/2 teaspoon of salt for every 1 cup of either cornmeal or flour. That's a measuring 1/2 teaspoon, and is equal to 5 cc.

Spence

 

[Billnpatti]

I like your recipe but I like to add some minced onion to mine. You could use some onion powder and/or garlic powder but the minced fresh onion is better. I have tried making them using creamed corn as part of my liquid. Sure is good but canned corn is not HC. Personally, I don't care. Being strictly HC is just not my thing, but those who are constrained by being HC will have to forego that pleasure.

 

[Blizzard of '93]

A bit off topic - grated fresh corn was (is), sometimes added to 'cornbread' along with cream and eggs.
Needless to say those ingredients were scarce when packing.

 

[satx78247]

YEP. Further, in LA, TX & the Greater Southwest fresh or dried hot peppers were/ARE often minced/added to cornbread.

yours, satx

 

[Loyalist Dave]

IF Rooster Cogburn was a real person, as portrayed by The Duke, he would probably been carrying "hot water cornbread", which is simply cornmeal mixed with boiling water & salt, made into "patties" & fried in whatever grease was available to "Chin Lee".

The writer was probably referring to "corn dodgers" from a source like Horace Kephart, and his cookbook from the turn of the 20th century...

Corn Pone -
1 quart meal
1 tspn salt
1 pint warm (but not scalding) water
Stir together until light. Bake to a nice brown all around (about forty-five minutes) [in a Dutch oven].

Corn Dodgers -
Same as above, but mix to a stiff dough, and form into cylindrical dodgers four or five inches long and 1½ inches in diameter, by rolling between the hands. Have a frying pan very hot, grease it a little, and put dodgers on as you roll them out. As soon as they have browned, put them in oven and bake thoroughly.

I don't think the shape is that necessary, it's just browning the corn meal and water with some grease, then baking. Would up the calories but I don't know how long they'd last.

LD

 

[tenngun]

This sounds like what I called Johnny cakes or hoe cakes. Found in huimid ozark weather you can carry them about 4 or 5 days then you start seeing bits of mold. Dryer air might see them last longer. Make you a batch and remake ever 2 or 3 days. Mine were baked or roasted and not fried, don't know if that would effect it.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Yeah I think the difference is simply baking. :grin:

Sorta like the difference between a Gibson and a Martini...a Gibson is garnished with a cocktail onion instead of the green olive of a Martini is all....

LD