sweet southern hushpuppies

[Jerboa113]

OK so it came to my attention that some of you dont know what a hushpuppie is?

 

So I have to share this with you.

 

To be fair, I got the original idea online, but I never do things by the book and I think these turned out for the better because of it.

 

Ingredients you will need:

* A way to deep fry, you only need maybe 2-3" of grease to do this.

* A squirt bottle like for ketchup.. one you wont need for other things. Cut the nozzle off so its a large opening.

* 1 cup self rising white cornmeal

* 1/2 cup of self rising flour

* 1 egg

* 1/2 tsp salt

* 2tbsp yellow or vidalia onion.

* some honey (will cover this in a minute)

* 1 cup of butter milk. I used "nonfat" buttermilk but whatever floats your boat.

 

1. in a medium sized mixing bowl, combine the cornmeal, flour and salt.

 

2. in a food processor or blender, mince about 1/6th of the onion, you only need 2 tbsp of minced onion but if you like a little more in your hushpuppies i usually make extra just in case the 1st test batch doesn't taste right.

 

3. combine the 2tbsp of minced onion to the flour salt and conmeal

 

4. add the egg

 

5. start to mix it up and start pouring in the buttermilk. DO NOT DUMP THE WHOLE CUP IN YET. As you mix it make sure you're getting the consistency right. You want this to be thick enough that it will stay on a spoon for about a half second bnefore falling back into the bowl. If you put too much in thats ok, add more flour or cornmeal to thicken it up a bit, it wont hurt the taste too much.

 

6. Now technically if you want bland hushpuppies you can stop here.. but.. you dont want that.. so......

 

7. Add some honey.. unfortuantley I have not measured mine very accuratley but from memory it was probably 1-1.5 tbsp of honey.. mix it in with your whisk like you did everything else.

 

7.5 diabetic? dont like honey? no problem.. use splenda or sugar, about 2tbsp of either of those should have almost the same taste, but it may thin the batter out a bit.

 

8. after its all mixed up good, heat your grease (I use canola oil but peanut oil would also be good) to 325F and start spooning the batter into the ketchup bottle I mentioned.

 

9. When the grease is up to speed, turn the bottle upside down above the grease. If your fryer has a basket like mine, set the basket down in the grease, you dont want these to stick to the

basket or fall through the mesh.

 

10. If you did this right the batter probably wont drip out of the bottle when its upside down, or if it does it will very very slowly. Position it over the fryer and squirt about 1 second worth of

batter into the same spot, move, and squirt it again.. depending on how big your fryer is will depend on how many you can cook at one time.

 

11. use a long stick (I used a shishcabob (sp) skewer) to make suer the balls of batter are not sticking to the bottom, they should float on the top.

 

12. Using the skewer, turn them over making sure to keep them an even color. Once they are golden brown, you can lift the basket out or fish them out with.. whatever method you wish.. and place them on a paper towel for draining.

 

13. When they are drained, they are ready to eat OR if they're ready before you are, you can put them in a toaster oven at around 100F or so to keep them warm.. be advised tho that this will dry them out a little.

 

Recipie makes probablly enough for 4 people, maybe more if you're a light eater.

 

ah yes.. as a note.. the batter expands A LOT when its in the fryer and this makes them cook slower (duh) so.. do yourself a favor and dont make softball sized hushpuppies or they wil be burned on the outside and raw in the middle.. and no one wants that.

 

These are prefect with fish or shrimp.. I hope you enjoy!

[Abandonhope16]

Mmmmmmm. I love hushpuppies. I wonder if there is a way to bake them. My wife wont let me get a deep fryer.

[Jerboa113]

I imagine you could make hushpuppie.. muffins of sorts by using a cast iron muffin pan in an oven.. but the taste might not be exactly the same.. more like cornbread maybe.

 

hrmmmmm.. might have to try that.

[GoRilla]

good stuff....mmmm hushpuppies w/ carolina bbq.

[Wang Lung]

We fry catfish and hushpuppies in a turkey frier.

[Legend]

Think I need another vacation to Charleston and Myrtle Beach!

[Jerboa113]

Charleston is a great place to visit.

I try to go to other coastal cities but I always wind up in Charleston. So much history and so much to do.. plus the beaches..

 

Foods good too.

 

A turkey frier should be more than enough. I have a countertop 1 gallon single basket fryer, I dont remember the brand off hand but it has a removable bucket for the grease and a heating element that sits inside that. It makes cleanup a lot easier and also seems a bit safer than some countertop models. It was about $50. For anyone who likes southern foods as much as I do its a good investment. Might shorten your life tho.