Fried Corn Pie...

You definitely read that right.
I made Corn pie for lunch some days ago and one question just keep niggling at my brain.. "I wonder if deep fried corn pie would work?? I mean it should, because it works with Mac and Cheese.. right??"
So of course I had to experiment, because of course I did.

Corn Pie is a Trini thing, so hopefully no Trini crucifies me for this. There are several recipes floating about online, they are easy to find. For those who have no idea what a corn pie is, I'd say it's like cheesy grits, but baked, something like that, if it helps.

ingredients

cornmeal
onions, garlic, thyme, sweet pepper, hot pepper
milk (or dairy free sub)
can of sweetcorn (whole kernel)
egg
spices
cheese

A lot of recipes call for creamed corn, I don't use it. I generally find cans of creamed corn to be more like a sugar and chemical slurry with two grains (read, kernels) of corn in there somewhere for colour. I think it's gross, but that's just me.  If I'm feeling rather productive and willing to overachieve, I might blend a can of corn or kernels cut directly from the cob. Otherwise I generally leave it out. 

So here's what I do with my ingredients:

The first thing for me, is to drain the canned corn water into a measuring cup, if it's not fully 1 cup, I add some water, then I crack and egg in there and mix it up, to that I add in the cornmeal (you might want to transfer this to a bigger container/bowl). I use the fine yellow cornmeal, like what you might use to make porridge. Throw some spices (white pepper, and paprika at the very least) in there and mix it all up so its one thick paste. Leave it to the side. It will probably separate, but that's ok, just give it another mix before you need to use it.
​The next thing is to cut up the onions, garlic, sweet pepper, thyme and hot pepper (if you want), I like sweet peppers in mine.
I tend to use coconut oil, but feel free to use whatever you like, butter included.
When the fat is heated add your cut up onion mix, and when the mix is fragrant and softened, add in the milk (about a cup, match whatever measurement is equal to the water/cornwater). Let that heat up, until the milk bubbles a bit at the sides of the pan and then give your cornmeal a quick stir and throw that in the pot.
Please stir the cornmeal mix, it's like making porridge, if you like lumps, well fine, if not, keep stirring it until it starts to thicken and pull away from the side of the pot. 
Turn the heat off, add in half of the cheese (I like cheddar because its sharp and the saltiness works well with the sweetness of the corn, but use what you like, pepperjack, parm, a smoked gouda.. I wouldn't use mozzarella or feta  though)
Pour all of this into a greased baking dish, and sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top (I generally use about a cup of cheese for the whole recipe)
Bake at about 350 for a half hour, but watch it, because not all ovens are the same.

Ok so to the frying part.
Since leftovers are stored in the fridge, the pie was firm and I was able to cut a clean slice, which I then cut into smaller pieces. After that I coated them in a mixture of egg, seasoning and milk (I think maybe buttermilk might work, you just need something that the dry coating with stick to) and then rolled in some breadcrumbs. I put them in the freezer and left them there until the oil heated up, then you fry.
I didn't deep fry nor did I shallow fry, I was somewhere in between. But just fry on all sides til golden brown, remember the pie is already cooked.
And that's pretty much it. 
​You could make them smaller, you could use a melon baller and make little balls, you could double dip, use panko, or flour . Go forth my people, try a thing.
​