SOUTHERN CORNMEAL HUSH PUPPIES

Hush puppies are round cornmeal dumplings that usually accompany a big dish of fried fish.  There are many different ideas as to how hush puppies got their name.  If you check the internet, you will come up with some of the following:  1.  Confederate soldiers used their corn biscuit rations to feed to their dogs to quiet them in order to avoid detection from Union soldiers, hence the phrase hushing the puppies. 2.  It is believed that while cooking fried foods with batter outside such as fish, balls of batter were fried and given to the dogs to keep them from begging or barking, thus the name “hush puppies”. 3. (This one is my favorite. I am a Kentuckian and it makes sense to me.)  They were fried up to toss to the dogs to keep them quiet while the “revenooers” were snooping around looking for stills. Whatever explanation, fried catfish just isn’t the same without them.

3/4 cup cornmeal

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup onion, diced (can be regular or green onions)

1/2 teaspoon salt

Pinch of cayenne

1 egg (Optional)

1/2 cup buttermilk or beer

1 cup cooking oil (I use Canola)

 

Combine cornmeal, flour, onion, salt, egg and milk.  The batter should be just wet enough that you can shape it into balls about the size of a walnut with your hands and it sticks together.  Have oil hot in a skillet and drop hush puppies into oil.  Cook about 3 to 4 minutes browning on all sides.   Remove and drain on paper towels.  This makes about 10 to 12 hush puppies.  You can double or triple the recipe.  Enjoy!

 

You might like my Pan Fried Cod Fish Fillets or Fried Catfish Fillets.

 

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FRIED GREEN TOMATOES AND FRIED OKRA

Southerners all know about fried green tomatoes and fried okra.  It would be a wasted summer without this dish on the table a few times during the season.  There are a number of different recipes out there for this treat.  You cannot be a southerner if you don’t like fried okra and tomatoes!

 

3 or 4 green tomatoes

1/2 cup all-purpose flour or 1/2 cup cornmeal

2 eggs

salt and pepper

dash of garlic powder

1/2 to 3/4 cup cooking oil

 

Slice green tomatoes into slices about 1/4 inch thick. In a bowl beat eggs with a whisk. In another bowl add salt and pepper and garlic powder to meal or flour whichever you decide to use for breading.   There is really not much difference.  The tomatoes in the picture have been done with both.  I usually have a bowl of flour and a bowl of cornmeal and I do about half the tomatoes in flour and half in meal.  You can do the okra the same way or just use either one.  Dip the tomato slices into the egg then the meal or flour.  Have your oil hot and deep enough in the skillet to cover about half the tomato slice.  Cook on one side, turn and continue cooking until a golden brown.  Drain on paper towel.

For okra:  Cut okra into 1/4 inch pieces and dip into egg and then flour or meal.  Cook just like you did the tomatoes.

 

I bet you can’t stop eating this once you have tried it!

FRIED CORNMEAL MUSH

This recipe has been around for a long time. I used to make it for my twins years ago when we lived on the farm. It is great for breakfast served with bacon or sausage.

3 1/2 cups water

1 1/2 cups cornmeal (I have used yellow and white)

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup flour

3 or 4 tablespoons butter or margarine

Maple syrup, honey, sorghum or syrup of your choice

 

Mix cornmeal and salt together in a bowl.  Bring the 3 1/2 cups water to a boil on the stove.  Gradually stir in cormeal. I use a wisk stirring constantly.  Turn down heat and cook until thickens, about five minutes.  Pour mixture into a greased or sprayed loaf pan.  Cover and chill overnight in refrigerator.  Next morning, slice mush in about 1/2 inch slices,  coat with flour, and fry in butter until golden brown.  Remove from skillet and add lots of syrup of your choice.  Enjoy!

 

Note:  Some people don’t coat the mush with flour.  You can do it either way.  I think it fries better with the flour.