CRAB CORN DOGS
with OLD BAY AIOLI
MAKES 24 APPETIZERS 6 TO 8 SERVINGS
One bite of a corn dog, and I am instantly transported back to the circuses and fairs of my childhood in Rhode Island. I really wanted to make an upscale version, so I brainstormed with my fellow New Englander, chef Ryan Angulo. We couldn’t resist giving our local favorite, crab cakes, the corn dog treatment. The Old Bay aioli is an easy dip, but I also love to serve them with the Corn Vinaigrette here.
OLD BAY AIOLI
¾ cup House Aioli (here)
2 teaspoons Old Bay seasoning
¼ teaspoon hot pepper sauce, such as Tabasco
CRAB CAKES
½ cup House Aioli (here)
4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter, at very soft room temperature
1 pound lump crabmeat, picked over for cartilage
½ cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs), processed in a food processor until very fine
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh chives
¾ teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
¼ teaspoon hot pepper sauce, such as Tabasco
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
BATTER
½ cup (70 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon sugar
¾ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1½ cups buttermilk
1 cup fine yellow cornmeal
1 large egg, beaten to blend
Vegetable oil, for deep-frying
Special Equipment: 24 bamboo party skewers
1. To make the Old Bay aioli: Whisk all of the ingredients together in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 4 hours. Remove from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before serving.
2. To make the crab cakes: Whisk the house aioli and butter together until smooth. Add the crabmeat, panko, chives, Old Bay, hot pepper sauce, salt, and pepper and fold together until combined. Cover and refrigerate until firm enough to shape, at least 1 hour or up to 4 hours.
3. Line a large baking sheet with parchment or waxed paper. Using wet hands, for each crab cake, shape about 2 tablespoons of the crab mixture into an oval about 1½ inches long. Transfer to the lined baking sheet and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Refrigerate to firm slightly, at least 1 hour or up to 4 hours.
4. To make the batter: About 20 minutes before deep-frying, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together in a small bowl; set aside. Whisk 1 cup of the buttermilk with the cornmeal in a large bowl. Let stand until thickened, about 15 minutes. Whisk in the remaining ½ cup buttermilk and the egg. Add the flour mixture and stir to combine.
5. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 200°F. Line an 18-by-13-inch half-sheet pan with a wire rack. Pour enough oil to come 2 inches up the sides of a large deep saucepan and heat over high heat until it registers 350°F on a deep-frying thermometer. Set up the cornmeal batter and crab “dogs” near the oil.
6. Working in batches of about 6 corn dogs, being sure not to crowd them in the oil, dip a crab dog in the batter and coat, smearing the batter in a thin layer with your fingers. Lift the crab dog out of the batter, and scrape it gently against the bowl edges to remove excess batter. Immediately transfer the crab dog to the oil and deep-fry until golden brown, 1½ to 2½ minutes. You will be able to tell which crab dogs are done first by their color. (A few notes here: The batter layer should not be thick, and your fingers will get coated with batter when coating the dogs. You might want to fry a test crab dog to estimate the proper amount of batter. If the batter is thick, the crab dog will be too puffy.) Using a wire spider or slotted spoon, transfer the crab dogs to the wire rack and keep warm in the oven while frying the remaining dogs.
7. Spear a cocktail skewer into one end of each crab dog. Serve the crab dogs immediately, with the aioli for dipping.