New GFCF Chicken Nuggets!

Coming home and finding boxes on our doorstep is no big deal in our household. UPS brings me packages for work almost daily. But whenever there is one that doesn't have my company's return address on it, Andy gets excited and wants to know right away what is in it. Yesterday we got just such a box and he was right to be excited!

When we opened it, we found treasures inside:
It was from Applegate Farms. Not only did it contain 2 boxes of their new gluten free (and casein free) chicken nuggets, it also had DRY ICE! I really should have taken a picture of Andy playing with the dry ice - that provided over an hour of fun. I should mention that you should never let small children play with dry ice and even with older kids like Andy, you need to supervise them and make sure they know the dangers of dry ice.

We have been struggling to find a great tasting chicken nugget. We used to buy the Wellshire Kids/Garrett County Farms (Wellshire Kids brand is now used only at Whole Foods and Garrett County elsewhere). We used to buy a lot of their products. But ever since the Chicago Tribune exposed that their dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets tested high for gluten, we have crossed them off our list.

We love Ian's products. Andy especially loves their allergen free fish sticks. But he isn't a fan of their chicken nuggets. He reluctantly accepts them in his thermos in his lunch box and eats them, but he doesn't love them like he did the dinosaur ones.

So, I was excited to learn that Applegate Farms had come out with a gluten free chicken nugget. We LOVE Applegate Farm's products. Their chicken hot dogs are what I use to make my wonderful mini corn dogs. Applegate Farms is really a great all around company. I'm not going to bore you with all the details, you can go to their website and read all about it http://www.applegatefarms.com/ (and while you are there, read all about the future of our school lunches).

What I am going to tell you about is how great tasting these new nuggets were. I made one box of them for dinner last night and Andy was begging for more. Even Dan and I enjoyed the taste. They have a wonderful taste and texture. Andy likes that they are soft. Try them. They get two thumbs up from all 3 of us.

I made mini corn dogs yesterday

The recipe for mini corn dogs is in the archives - 8/14/06. I took pictures of each step as I made them to share with you. You could probably make full size corn dogs the same way.

Cut hot dogs into 6 pieces

1/6th of a hot dog seems to be just about the right size for a mini corn dog.

Dipping in batter

Many people have asked me the secret to making the mini corn dogs - they can't get the batter to stick. What I do it stick them on sticks - the kind you use for shish kabobs - you dip them in the batter and fry them in the oil on the stick and then take them off.

Frying in deep oil

They are so much easier to handle in the oil on the sticks - I find six to be about the right number to do at once - by the time you get the sixth one dipped and in the oil, the first one is done just right. Drain on paper towels when done.

Finished Corn Dogs

You can see the little holes in them from using the sticks, but they taste fine.

GFCF Mini Corn Dogs Recipe

I make double batches of these up and keep them in the freezer for a quick lunch.

Mini Corn Dogs
1/2 C garbanzo bean flour
1/2 C white rice flour
1 C yellow cornmeal
1 tsp xanthan gum
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

Place exactly half of this mixture in a Ziploc or Tupperwarecontainer for later use.

To half of the mixture add:
1 egg, beaten
1 C milk sub (3/4 cup rice milk)

Cut 2 packaged of hot dogs into four pieces each; dip in batter and deep fry untilgolden brown.
If you want to use four packages ofhot dogs, then use all of the dry mixture, 2 cups of milk and 2 eggs.