Happy Saturday! I have family visiting this weekend, so we've been out and about to the Houston Museum of Natural Science, among other places. If you're ever in the area and get to visit, you should. It's so fun for families, and the paleontology exhibit is amazing! It's one of my favorite places to go in Houston.
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| Seriously, how cool is this guy? |
Another famous Houston attraction--the Rodeo--is also in full swing right now, so here's another recipe in honor of that! This is a shorter post than many of mine (as I mentioned, I have family in town, so they're my priority this weekend) but I wanted to share this recipe and also give you all a heads-up that I have a little giveaway in the works, details to be announced soon! Stay tuned!
Anyway...you know how during the rodeo and the state fair everyone fries absolutely everything? Well, today I'm bringing you my contribution to America's unhealthy (yet understandable) obsession with delicious fried foods.
Fried chili. Doesn't that just sound amazing? Seriously, don't you want to jump into the picture and just devour that goodness?
While I wouldn't recommend eating this as your main course (although it would be amazing and I promise I won't tell if you do), this makes a fantastic appetizer.
You do need a deep fat fryer to make this recipe. This really won't work to fry in a skillet.
To make fried chili, you can start with pretty much any chili recipe, as long as it's not too soupy. If you're looking for a great new chili recipe, check out my husband's amazing
Secret Ingredient Brisket Chili. It is
to die for; I'm still surprised he let me share the recipe!
On to the recipe at hand!
You will need:
Cooked chili (refrigerated several hours or overnight so it's good and cold)
2 pkgs Jiffy cornbread mix (plus ingredients to make cornbread)
Oil for frying
Heat the oil in your deep fat fryer.
While your oil is heating, mix up the cornbread batter according to the package directions and set it aside.
Scoop the chili into meatball-sized balls. Make sure it doesn't get too warm; you may even want to put it back in the fridge in between batches.
Dip the chili balls in the cornbread batter, covering them as much as possible. This is a messy process. Actually, the whole thing is kind of a messy process, but that makes it fun, right?
Place the cornbread-covered balls in a single layer in the frying basket.
They won't be perfect, and that's okay. It's not easy to cover something like chili in batter.
*Carefully* submerge the fry basket into the hot oil. If you have kids, it's a really good idea to make sure they are out of the kitchen by this point, as the oil sometimes splatters. I know that's common sense, but it bears repeating!
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| Yum, look at that sizzle! |
When the cornbread has turned golden brown, lift the fry basket out of the oil. Hold it over the fryer for a second to let the excess oil drain off.
These should cook fairly quickly. If it seems to be taking too long, or your chili starts falling apart, your oil may not be hot enough.
Place in a dish in a single layer to cool. It would be a good idea to put them on a paper towel to absorb extra grease.
Serve as promptly as possible. As it can take a little while to fry up the entire batch, the first ones may need reheated. It is best to do this in the oven, as they can get soggy in the microwave.
Garnish with a little cheese, and serve with sour cream for dipping.
If you try this recipe, let me know how it turns out! What is your favorite fried food, or what is the strangest one you have tried?
Linking up with
Treasure Box Tuesday,
Turn-It-Up Tuesday, the
Wednesday Roundup,
Worthwhile Wednesday,
Wine'd Down Wednesday,
Full Plate Thursday, and
Foodie Friday.
