So. We're all painfully aware that football is over.
But for me, that certainly doesn't mean weekends should be without rich, fun, and tasty treats. And since the introduction of the cast iron dutch oven to my kitchen, I have been hankering to fry something.

There is some shorthand that you experience while in the service industry that stays with you forever. You'll be working in a cube and not realize that every time you're out of some sort of supplies, you'll say they're eighty-six. You mumble "at your back" in the grocery store. And, you maintain classic abbreviations for food, after hearing these phrases shouted by cooks on the line for years. Buffalo chicken is almost always memo'd on tickets as "Buff Chix". I still call it this almost every time. I can't resist.

So this weekend, I just so happened to have a rotissere chicken, buffalo sauce, and some other necessities on hand. I had to give this concept a try.

I adapted from this recipe from Sweet Pea's Kitchen. They could have been healthier, I suppose, had I baked them as Christina did. But as I noted above, the whole inspiration was frying something in the dutch oven. And while Christina's photos are way more stunning, I can attest these taste un-freaking-real. Baked or fried, you should make. Immediately.






What They're Made of (for about 8-10 balls):

• 2-3 cups cooked chicken, chopped/shredded small
• 1/2 cup buffalo-style hot sauce
• ~1 t hotter hot sauce, if you wish
• Salt, pepper, Adobo seasoning
• 1/4 cup cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup crumbled blue (or gorgonzola, if you're me and that's what ya got) cheese
• 1/4 cup green onion, diced small
• Vegetable oil, for frying
• 1 cup flour
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 2 cups Corn Flakes, crushed

How they're Made:

• Combine chicken, hot sauce(s), cheeses, green onion and seasoning in a bowl and stir to combine
• Use a large spoon or an ice cream scoop (cause that's always fun) to create a ball of the chicken mixture
• Place them on parchment paper while you create the rest of the balls
• Pour enough veg oil into your pot to cover about 2". Heat over medium-high.
• Roll the chicken ball in flour, egg, then the crushed corn flakes
• Fry the balls, a few at a time, for about 4-5 minutes each, turning occasionally so they don't burn
• Allow to cool thoroughly you salivating fool. These things are both-kinds-of-hot for the first five-ten minutes they are out of the oil.