Boudin Sliders

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Ingredients
  1. 3 cups all-purpose flour
  2. 9 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
  3. 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons cold whole buttermilk
  4. 3 teaspoons baking powder
  5. ¾ teaspoon salt
  6. Tabasco-Honey Butter, recipe follows
  7. Vegetable oil, for frying
  8. 18 frozen Boudin Balls, thawed for 10 minutes, recipe follows
  9. ½ cup Steen’s cane syrup
  10. 12 slices cooked bacon, cut crosswise into 3 pieces
Instructions
  1. In the work bowl of a food processor, add flour and butter; pulse 1 to 2 times until butter resembles peas. In a large bowl, combine flour mixture, buttermilk, baking powder, and salt. Mix until the dough just comes together, being careful not to overmix.
  2. On a heavily floured cutting board, roll out dough until 1 inch thick. Cut into 18 (2-inch) circles with a round cutter, and place on a parchment-lined baking pan. Freeze pan with biscuits for 20 minutes.
  3. Preheat oven to 375°.
  4. Bake biscuits for 12 minutes, rotate pan, and cook until golden brown, about 12 minutes more. Remove from oven and brush heavily with Tabasco-Honey Butter.
  5. In a large Dutch oven or stockpot, pour oil to a depth of 3 inches, and heat over medium heat until it reads 350° on a candy or deep-fry thermometer. Fry slightly thawed Boudin Balls in batches of three for 8 minutes. Transfer onto a paper towel–lined baking sheet to drain. Sprinkle lightly with salt. Repeat with remaining Boudin Balls.
  6. Cut biscuits in half and heavily drizzle 1 teaspoon cane syrup over top and bottom of each piece. Place a piece of bacon on each of the bottom halves.
  7. Place a Boudin Ball on the bottom half of each biscuit and drizzle with cane syrup. Add a piece of bacon, top with biscuit top and gently smash. Repeat with remaining Boudin Balls and biscuits. Divide biscuits between 6 plates and serve with additional cane syrup, if desired.
By Chef Justin Girouard, The French Press, Lafayette, Louisiana