Popplers

To kick off the new season of Futurama (or is it the second half of last season?) I wanted to create a dish that was not only a reference to the show, but also something that reflects the bizarre fantasy of American consumerism gone intergalactic that is Futurama.  This, of course means that the dish needed to be corn based and deep fried. I have seen many recipes online for Popplers, but none of them seem to contain any seafood.  Myself and "Fishy" Joseph Gilman disapprove of this trend.  In answer to this obvious and tragic problem, I have concocted a simple and delicious recipe.  Pop a Poppler in your mouth when you come to Fishy Joe's.  Or, if you don't have a time machine to take you to the 3000's, just make them at home with this recipe. (Ride the walrus)

Ingredients:

1 lb. Frozen Seafood (squid, scallop, shrimp)
1/4 Frozen Chicken Breast Meat
12 0nces of Lager
1 package "Jiffy" Cornbread Mix
1-2 cups Yellow Corn Meal
salt
black Pepper
dried lemon peel, or lemon zest
cayenne pepper
onion powder
 Vegetable oil, or other frying medium in sufficient quantity to submerge popplers

(This recipe yields a gigantic amount of popplers.  For pitiful human appetites halve the recipe)


Directions:

  Defrost the seafood and chicken together in a bag in the refrigerator or under cold running water with the lager and a 1/4 tsp of lemon powder or zest, as well as a 1/4 tsp of black pepper.

  Drain defrosted meats and add to food processor and pulse till mixed.
                                                     
  Add 1/4 tsp salt and black pepper, as well as 1/2 onion powder and cayenne pepper and the entire package of corn bread mix to the food processor and pulse till mixed.

  Spoon out bite size pieces of the mixture and coat them with cornmeal before adding them to the pre-heated fryer.  Popplers will fry quickly (1-3 mins depending on size at 375 degrees) and will puff up during the frying so make sure to leave ample room in the fryer.

  Allow excess oil to drain off of popplers on paper towels before serving. During this phase the popplers should deflate back to roughly their original size. At this point your popplers will be ready to serve.  

  If you don't have access to a food processor, then chopping the protein finely and mixing it with the dry ingredients in a bowl is acceptable.  This will make the final product more resemble a fitter than a poppler but should be just as delicious.

  In the absence of a fryer, a pot filled with a enough oil to cover the popplers will also work.