Hush Puppies
Tuesday, March 22, 2011 Depending on where you are in the world I believe there is some variation of hush puppies or cornballs cooked in every culture, either savory or sweet - such as the falafel, sorullitos and festivals. Typically you may think of hush puppies as a BBQ or seafood side dish; originating in the southern region of the USA - tasty comfort food. Yes, I included my own version of it in my Know Your Fire Cookbook. Cook some up!
Where the name HushPuppies came from:
The name "hushpuppies" is often attributed to southern cooks who would fry some basic cornmeal mixture (possibly that they had been bread-coating or battering their own food with) and feed it to their dogs to "hush the puppies" during cook-outs or fish-fries.
Hush Puppies | Recipe by George Hirsch, Know Your Fire, Putnam 1997 | page 217
1 cup cornmeal
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 Tablespoons melted butter
1 Tablespoon fine chopped parsley
Vegetable oil for frying
* optional suggestions: onions, hot pepper, crisp cooked bacon, finely chopped ham or crab meat
Combine cornmeal, baking powder, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Add the milk, add egg and beat with a whisk or fork until the batter is smooth and no lumps remain. Stir in the butter, parsley and set the batter aside for 15 to 20 minutes.
Fill a deep saucepan or deep-fat fryer with 2 to 3 inches of vegetable oil and heat to 360 degree F. Scoop up a scant tablespoon of batter off the spoon into the hot fat and when the hush puppies rise to the top in about 1 minute, turn them over and cook until evenly brown, about 2 minutes total. Remove and drain on paper towels. Hush Puppies should always be served piping hot.
