I thought something fried would be nice to eat while watching the Super Bowl a couple of weeks ago. I looked through the refrigerator and saw a kielbasa, actually a Hillshire Farms smoked chicken sausage, but either way… My first thought? Corn dog bites! It seemed to make sense. Finger food, snack food, event food, it’s perfect. This recipe is quick to throw together and not fussy at all. Here’s how to do it.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup flour
- 2/3 cup corn meal
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 2 tablespoon oil
- Dash salt
- 3/4 cup milk — more if necessary
- 2 tablespoons corn starch
- oil for frying
Equipment:
- 1 gallon zip top bag
- Cast iron skillet or a deep fryer
Instructions:
Slice the kielbasa into roughly 1/2 inch thick slices.
Put the corn starch in the zip top bag. Add the kielbasa and shake until evenly coated.
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together all the remaining dry ingredients and the honey. Add the milk while stirring. When the batter is smooth, yet still quite thick, stop and let it sit for a few minutes. Now is a good time to preheat your frying oil to 350 degrees.
Pull a half dozen or so pieces of kielbasa from the corn starch and shake off the excess. Drop them into the batter and cover. A fork works pretty well for this task.
Drop the battered kielbasa pieces into the hot oil one at a time. Let them fry until they turn golden brown on the bottom and sides. Flip them over to finish cooking. It takes 1 1/2 to 2 minutes total before they are done. Remove them to a wire rack to drain. Continue with the rest of the kielbasa.
Eat these while they’re still hot. Dip them in mustard, ketchup, barbecue sauce, ranch dressing, or just drizzle them with some more honey.
Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda’s
- I started out using a spider to turn them over in the oil. After a couple of batches, I switched to a pair of tongs. That seemed to work better.
- You could add some herbs or spices to the batter to kick it up a bit. Be careful with the herbs because too much may burn in the oil.
- Add some corn to the batter to give it a bit more texture.
- Try using other types of sausage to make these more adult friendly — Maybe some spicy Cajun sausage or some bratwurst. Just make sure whatever sausage you use has been precooked before dunking in the batter.
