Corn Dodgers—Not-So-Fine Fare at the Barely-Better-Than-Roadkill Grill

Aaron and I were invited to a spur of the moment Christmas party last week.  Out of character for me, I was actually pretty excited to go.  It had been a rough week with trying to create some Facebook ads for the books.  Working with Facebook and technology is torture enough, and having to throw in a little self-promotion with the ads put me over the edge.  So I was looking forward to getting out.

I don't know if we had more than a dozen people there. I spent most of my time visiting with Sharon who has reached that delightful age where she says what she wants to say and does what she wants to do.  Somehow the topic of conversation turned to my books, of which she has a few.  And we talked about the more disappointing recipes, and me wondering whether I'm doing a disservice by including them.  And she assured me that she appreciates having them included because people need to know what doesn't work, as well as having the good stuff.  So you can thank Sharon for these Corn Dodgers.  

After making the sourdough crumpets, and being sorely disappointed, I was still wanting a little something more satisfying to eat.  And it was about dinnertime, so a little bread to accompany the taco soup seemed like a good idea.  Corn Dodgers came highly recommended by a survivalist blogger.  I should have read a little closer before commencing on this endeavor.  He promoted it as being plainer food that we should all get used to eating to be ready to face future physical and mental challenges. 

I’ll keep my sugar (in general, not necessarily this recipe), thank you very much.

I followed their recipe exactly, the first time.  It was quickly apparent (and a quick check with Google Lady confirmed it) that they had too much cornmeal in here.  Everywhere else it’s a 1:2 ratio of cornmeal to water/milk.  I used powdered milk mixed in with the cornmeal and omitted the brown sugar, since these were for dinner.  And I also used bacon grease, hoping it would make them taste better.  The author mentioned that these were prepared as trail food among the pioneers crossing the plains and that they used whatever they had on hand, but that this was the basic recipe.  He also shared another recipe with yogurt, eggs, and butter.  That one might taste better, and I will probably give it a try.  Someday.  My stomach’s been assaulted enough for today.

Corn Dodgers

1 cup cornmeal

½ cup powdered milk

1 tablespoon bacon fat or coconut oil

¼ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon brown sugar, optional

2 cups water

½ teaspoon baking powder

Preheat a cast iron skillet over medium heat.

Bring the water almost to a boil in a saucepan.  Stir the powdered milk and salt into the cornmeal.  Gradually stir the cornmeal mixture into the water.  Immediately reduce heat.  Stir in the brown sugar, if desired.  Stir frequently to prevent sticking. 

When completely cooked, remove from heat and let rest 5 minutes.  Stir in the baking powder. 

Add bacon grease to the preheated skillet.  Drop spoonfuls of dough into the grease.  Cook 10 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned.  Turn carefully with a spatula. 

Family reviews:  Well, I’m glad I didn’t serve these to the kids.  Aaron and I hoped that we could find something redeeming about these.  The best we could do was that the dogs liked them better than the crumpets.  We decided that sprinkling some salt on helped, but not enough.  We also hoped that a little shredded pepper jack cheese would help.  It didn’t.  Will they be on the menu at the BBTR Grill down the street?  Probably.  It’s apparently what pioneers with limited supplies made for their families.  Most people, if they store anything, limit it to the bare essentials. Corn Dodgers made with brown sugar alone, or with eggs, milk, or yogurt and cheese may taste a lot better.  I think most modern Americans will not be pleased with this basic pioneer recipe.

Links to related posts:

Sourdough Crumpets (Barely Better Than Roadkill)

Taco Soup  https://prepschooldaily.blogspot.com/2023/02/sos-mix-and-soups.html