— A major celebration will be taking place Saturday, March 20 at Wiener and Still Champion, 802 Dempster St. in Evanston. It will be all about National Corn Dog Day.
No place is better suited to throw a National Corn Dog Day party, since Wiener and Still Champion has received national, and soon international acclaim for its freshly-made, hand-dipped corn dog, famously known as the Dippin’ Dog™. On the 20th, Dippin’ Dogs will a special, one-day-only price of $1.25. In addition, anyone ordering three Dippin’ Dogs will get a choice of any of the dozen or so dipping sauces. Additional sauces will be only 50¢ each. Says owner Gus Paschalis, “We’ve spent the last year developing all these sauces. We have more than just mustard or ketchup available – you can get a mild sauce, a garlic aioli, spicy mustard, curry ketchup, honey mustard, and even our own Argentine garlic and herb sauce. They each go well with a Dippin’ Dog, and each gives the dog its own unique personality.”
Wiener and Still Champion’s Dippin’ Dogs have been so successful that they’ve received a lot of notice, including many rave reviews from WGN radio personality Nick Digilio, and a feature segment on ABC7 news by Emmy-winning food reporter Steve Dolinsky.
Paschalis spent many months and man-hours developing his recipe for his Dippin Dogs. Befitting his background in food science and food product development, Paschalis tested a wide range of batters and sausages for the ultimate corndog. “The natural casing dogs that I serve at the restaurant [for anyone ordering a Chicago-style hot dog, or one of its many variants] didn't work. The batter didn’t stick to it and you really had to bite down hard on it.” So he did an extensive search for the right hot dog. After sampling many, he found a maker of encased meat that could provide a product that was perfect for being further encased in a sweet cornbread batter. Thus, the Dippin’ Dog was born.
Paschalis then enlisted the talents and tastes of many members of LTHForum.com, the noted Chicago-based culinary discussion website, as tasters. One taster said, ”The hot dog was the same in all trials and seems like the perfect choice. A bit garlicky with a fatty juiciness I really liked.”
But it was the batter that proved to be the real challenge. While Paschalis admitted there are commercial mixes available for corn dog batters, he wanted to better them and make his own proprietary batter. Testing recipes that ranged from the traditional to recipes based on Jamaican bread traditions, he finally settled – based on significant input from his tasting panel - on a specific mixture of cornmeal, flour and other ingredients that provided just the right crunch to surround the hot dog, without being overly bready or cake-like. “The great flavor of the sausage has to come through, with the corn flavor and texture as a crisp compliment,”
National Corndog Day coincides with the Saturday of the final 32 teams in NCAA basketball tournament, and has been described as the happiest confluence of basketball and meats on sticks that you'll ever have. It’s the only day all year that one can watch a quadruple-header of college basketball games from start to finish without having to change the channel. Therefore, to celebrate the excitement of the college basketball tournament, and have fun with friends, many people eat corn dogs. There’s much more information at www.corndogday.com, and of course at www.wienerandstillchampion.com
