Hush puppies

Cafe Society
1

This thread got me to thinking that I want to fry something in my cast-iron skillet. Not like bacon or potatoes or steak, the usual suspects; but something in oil. I don’t really feel like making fried chicken; and anyway it’s a skillet, not a fryer. A bit shallow, I think. So how about hush puppies?

I’ve never made them, but I’ve made cornbread. (And yes, I use a cast-iron skillet to bake cornbread.) Can I just make corn bread batter, maybe cutting the milk in half so that I can form it into little balls?

2

This sounds pretty good. I made hush puppies once (with a different recipe) and they were duds, so I don’t know if or when I’ll ever make them again.

Something super-fun to fry is doughnuts.

3

I rarely have milk in the house, let alone buttermilk! (That would be never.) But I do have whole milk today. And my grease is only used for seasoning cast iron and I wouldn’t use it for cooking. (I should start keeping a container in the fridge.) So I could use the ‘in a pinch’ whole milk and oil. I was thinking of making them ‘sweet’ (no pepper), but with the pepper in it I’ll bet they’d be good with some jalapeños in them.

The comment about adding corn reminded me of when I was a kid. My mom used to make corn fritters from Bisquick with corn in it.

4

Look for Saco buttermilk powder. Keeps in the fridge at least a year. Reconstitute with water, typically, though other liquids work too.

5

Just made buttermilk pancakes with this powder this morning. It’s a great product to have around.

To the OP- what about fritters? You could do savory or sweet!

6

I rarely think to make them. When I do, it’s just Bisquick with a can of corn mixed in; the batter fried in oil. By ‘sweet’, do you mean with creamed corn? I’ve never made them that way. I don’t remember whether mom used creamed corn or just corn.

7

Apple fritters! Chopped up apple and cinnamon, nutmeg etc.

Here’s a recipe (though I’ve never done this specific one, so YMMV).

8

OK, I’ve just made one hush puppy from the link Left Hand of Dorkness posted. I left out the seasoned salt and the pepper, and added two tablespoons sugar. Quite nice! I’ve got the honey out.

9

I had some leftover shrimp from earlier this week and I just threw together some impromptu shrimp cakes. Shrimp, red onion, jalapeno, cracker crumbs, mustard, mayo, and cholula.

I just winged it without a recipe and they’re sitting in the fridge waiting for dinnertime to get here.

10

Make one for me! They sound yum!

11

Since I made the whole recipe (amounts), I’ll have entirely too many. Like two dozen.

They’re not nice little balls, but they’re very roughly the right shape. I mean, they’re not flat.

12

I think what you would want is a “Hoe cake” or hot water cornbread. In my family they are the same thing. Cornmeal mixed with hot water and a little salt and fried in a skillet (as a flat pattie) until crispy and browned. Basically the same as hush puppies except for the shape and some ingrediants sometimes. For instance, I wouldn’t put whole corm, peppers or onions in hoe cakes but they are tasty in hush puppies.

13

adhemar: No, I was looking for hush puppies. And if I do say so, they’re as good as any I’ve had in New Orleans or any soul food place in California.

What I meant by not being little balls is that they’re not perfectly-formed little balls. The batter was not stiff enough to hand-form like falafel, so I spooned it into the oil. Of course with the baking powder and baking soda, they plumped up into rough ball shapes.

Sadly, the jalapeños I thought I had in the cupboard were Ortega chilis.

14

I’ll have to confess that I was an adult before I knew that “hush puppies” were anything other than shoes…