Corn Fritters

I attended a potluck last weekend and decided to try a new recipe to take as my contribution.  My friend was making jambalaya, so I opted to try my hand at corn fritters.  I found a recipe, which I immediately strayed from, and this is what I came up with.

Ingredients: 1 box Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix, 1 egg, 1/2 cup sour cream, 1/3 cup milk, 3/4 cup corn kernels
Fried in Vegetable oil

So the recipe I found called for stone ground corn meal, but I've been a user of Jiffy corn muffin mix my whole life, and I couldn't find stone ground corn meal at the grocery store.  To the box of corn muffin mix I added the egg, milk, and sour cream and mixed well. 

I then added the corn kernels, thawed from the freezer bag they were in, and let sit in the mix for at least 15 minutes before frying. 

At this point I filled a skilled with vegetable oil, about 1/2 to 3/4 inch deep.  I heated the oil on medium heat, and by the time my batter sat for about fifteen minutes, the oil was hot enough to sizzle when I added a dollop of batter.  Now frying is tricky because oil that is too hot will burn your fritters, but oil that is too cold won't cook them through and they'll fall apart when they hit the oil. So heat the oil on medium and adjust when you start adding the fritters, hotter or cooler depending on how fast they are browning. 

Using an ice cream scoop, melon baller, cookie dropper, or spoon, drop balls of the cornmeal mix into the hot oil.  Let fry about a minute and a half on one side, then turn over and go for a minute and a half on the other.

You'll notice the golden brown indicates it is cooked on the outside, but to ensure a fully cooked interior, you can cook for another 1 to 3 minutes turning over every so often.  But really the best way to test how long you need to fry them is to to cut one open and try it for yourself.

Once properly fried, place on a wire rack over a cookie sheet to drain the oil and later on paper towels to sop up any extra oil.  You can eat these on their own, or serve with a salsa or sauce of your choosing.