Yield: 4 Servings
| Measure | Ingredient |
|---|---|
| 1 cup | Self-rising corn meal- (preferably white stone- ground) |
| ½ cup | Self-rising flour |
| ¼ cup | Pancake mix (see note) |
| \N \N | Pinch salt |
| ½ teaspoon | Sugar |
| ¼ teaspoon | Freshly ground pepper |
| 1 \N | Egg |
| 1 medium | Onion, diced |
| ½ cup | Milk, or as needed |
| \N \N | Oil or fish drippings for- frying |
Hushpuppies are fried in hot drippings left after frying fish, picking up some of the fresh fish flavor.
Combine the corn meal, flour, pancake mix, salt, sugar, and pepper in a bowl. Beat the egg lightly in a measuring cup, and add the onion and enough milk to fill to the 1-cup mark. Mix the liquids into the dry mixture well. If not moist throughout, add a tablespoonfull or two more of milk, blending well.
Put any fish drippings you may have in a heavy frying pan and add enough oil to a depth of ¼ inch. Heat and drop a small amount of batter into the fat. If it sizzles, the fat is hot enough. Make a test hushpuppy: Drop a teaspoonful of batter in; if it spreads like a pancake, the batter is too thin, so stir a tablespoonful or two of corn meal into the uncooked batter.
If, after the test hushpuppy has cooked, it is dense and dry, stir 2 or 3 teasponns of milk into the batter. When the batter consistency is right, drop the batter from the tip of a teaspoon into the pan; cook 6, 8, or 10 at a time, being careful not to let the hushpuppies overlap while frying.
Cook until lightly browned, 3 to 4 minutes, turn, and brown the other side, about 3 minutes. Drain on paper towels and keep hot while frying the remaining hushpuppies. Add more oil to the pan as needed, a little at a time, to prevent cooking. Fat should be kept medium-hot, to brown hushpuppies. Check often so that hushpuppies do not scorch.
NOTE: In Florida many like to use self-rising flour and corn meal as well as pancake mix in hushpuppies and other breads. If you wish, substitute all-purpose flour for self-rising and the pancake mix; use plain corn meal in place of the self-rising type. Then to the dry ingredients add 1 tablespoon baking powder and 1 teaspoon salt. Add the liquid ingredients, then proceed with the recipe as directed.
FROM: The Florida Cookbook, By Jeanne Voltz and Caroline Stuart. Typed in by: Ronnie Wright
From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini