We ate a lot of
cornmeal based foods when I was growing up because corn meal
was cheap. In fact, we could even take grain to the local mill
and have it ground into flour, meal, livestock feed, etc.
Cornbread or biscuits were almost always served at any meal I
attended at many houses in the neighborhood. They were usually
pretty good too, although I preferred the lighter tasting hush
puppies. Eaten fresh out of the fryer, they practically melted
in your mouth. Here is my recipe:
-
2 cups yellow
corn meal
-
1 cup plain
flour (flour is what gave it the lighter taste and you can
experiment with the amount you use if you want)
-
2 eggs
-
1 cup
buttermilk (you can also use plain milk in a pinch, but
nothing compares to buttermilk)
-
3/4 teaspoon
seasoned salt. I use Lowreys but just about any brand will
work as you are just looking for something to spice things
up a little
-
1/2 teaspoon
ground pepper blend (again, the idea is to spice things up
a little).
-
1 teaspoon
baking powder
-
2/3 teaspoon
baking soda
-
1/8 cup bacon
grease. This is another big key to the flavor. In a pinch
you can use other types of cooking oil, but bacon is my
favorite.
You also need some
type of cooking oil to deep fry these in. I usually use Crisco
oil although peanut oil and some of the lower fat oils work
well too.
Mix all of the dry ingredients in a bowl. Add your eggs, oil,
and buttermilk. Stir it all up until the flavors are
thoroughly blended.
Turn your cooker on medium-high heat. When it's hot you can
drop your hush puppies in using a table spoon. Allow them to
brown on all sides. They should begin floating when done, but
if they don't, don't overcook them.
Serve as a side dish with just about any meal. I loved eating
them with fried catfish or fresh chopped or pulled pork
barbecue. Most of the local restaurants added them as a
standard feature when you bought plate meals.
After getting to Alaska, I visited a restaurant that also
added yellow corn to their hush puppies and a touch of sugar.
If you want to give this a try, precook the corn, but don't
overcook it. Use 3/4 cups in the recipe above. On top of that
add 2 table spoons of white sugar. The recipe at the
restaurant in Alaska was so popular that customers often
ordered side orders to take home. I always though that it
tasted pretty good.
You can also store this mixture in the refrigerator for a day
or so if you are only cooking for a smaller group. Before
cooking let it reach near room temperature.
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