February 01, 2005

Hush, Puppies!

I had a chance to cook for my dad and my hubby the other day, and cooked them some battered cod, fried potatoes and onions and thought I'd take a shot at some hush puppies. This recipe was good - my hubby gushed about how good the meal was, particularly these little guys!

Ingredients:

1-1/4 cup cornmeal
3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
salt to taste (I found it takes quite a bit)
1 tsp (or more) Louisiana hot sauce, to taste
1/2 medium onion, minced very fine
2 large eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk

Instructions:

Heat oil (canola, vegetable, peanut or corn) to 350 degrees. If you are using a fryer, follow your fryer's instructions. If you are doing this over the stove, you want 2-1/2 to 3 inches of oil in order to fully immerse the hush puppies while frying.

Mix the first 4 ingredients, the dry ingredients, together until well blended. Add the remaining ingredients, mixing until moist. The mixture should hold well together. Take a table spoon and scoop out a small ball of dough and, using another table spoon, drop it into the hot oil. Repeat until you have several hush puppies frying at once. You will want to allow room for them to cook properly - they typically should not touch each other in the oil.

Cooking time will depend on how dark you would like the outside of the hush puppies. The dough is completely cooked when the hush puppy starts to float on the oil. I typically like mine to be pretty brown, so I continue cooking until the color reaches the right shade. Drain on a paper towel and serve warm.

My 2 cents: I like to serve hush puppies and other similar items with fish, but they would also go well with many other items - steak and fries, as a dipper for soups, etc.