When my skipper and I moved to Maryland 36 years ago, we were such newbies. Everything was exciting and adventurous….moving onto a Panda 38, living the marina life with new live-aboard friends and then the best Maryland tradition ever…whiling away the hours, sharing boating mishaps over a huge pile of steamed crabs. It’s not what you’d describe as dinner, but rather a prolonged feast. And along with the crabs comes sweetcorn, Hush Puppies and lots of cold beer.

Hush puppies is such a cute name for fried cornmeal that there must be a story behind it. And there are many. The one I learned, on a buggy ride through Charleston was this: When the large estates of Charleston were constructed, the kitchens were built separately, away from the main house, for fear of spreading fires. The cooks would carry platters of their wonderful southern meals from the kitchen, across the yard to the, no doubt, palatial dining room, with dogs in tow yipping behind them. To distract the dogs they would carry fried cornmeal balls in the pockets of their aprons and toss them at the dogs, saying “hush, puppies!” True or not, I love the story! And I LOVE hush puppies!

Hush Puppies

1 1/2 cups stoneground yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup flour
1/2 small yellow onion
1 teaspoons kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
1 large egg
3/4 cup milk
Vegetable oil for frying
Melted butter for serving

Grate half of a small onion. Combine the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.

Add the grated onion, egg and milk to the dry ingredients. Set aside for 15 minutes to thicken.

Meanwhile heat the vegetable oil in a deep frying pan. I like to add two kernels of popcorn to test the temperature of the oil. When the popcorn pops, the oil is hot enough for frying.

Place some paper towel on a platter to drain the hot puppies.

Working in batches, drop spoonfuls of batter into the hot oil. Rotate them frequently to brown on all sides, 3 to 4 minutes. You will probably get quite a few “droplets” of batter than can be spooned out. Remove two the paper towel.

Once browned on all sides, carefully remove from the hot oil with a slotted spoon. Don’t worry if your hush puppies are not perfectly round balls. They will be devoured with all their imperfections.

Serve hot or whatever the temperature is outside.

PRINT RECIPE

Hush Puppies

Little bits of tasty fried cornmeal with roots from the south

Author: GalleyPirate

Ingredients

• 1½ cups Stoneground yellow cornmeal
• ½ cup Flour
• ½ Small yellow onion, grated
• 1 tsp Kosher salt
• 1½ tsp Baking powder
• ½ tsp Baking soda
• 2 tbsp Sugar
• 1 tsp Garlic Powder
• 2 tsp Cajun Seasoning
• 1 tsp Cayenne pepper (optional)
• 1 Large egg
• ¾ cup Milk
• Vegetable oil for frying (minimum 4 cups)
• Butter for serving

Instructions

• Grate half of a small onion. Combine the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
• Add the grated onion, egg and milk to the dry ingredients. Set aside for 15 minutes to thicken.
• Meanwhile heat the vegetable oil in a deep frying pan. I like to add two kernels of popcorn to test the temperature of the oil. When the popcorn pops, the oil is hot enough for frying.
• Place some paper towel on a platter to drain the hot puppies.
• Working in batches, drop spoonfuls of batter into the hot oil. Rotate them frequently to brown on all sides, 3 to 4 minutes. You will probably get quite a few "droplets" of batter than can be spooned out. Remove two the paper towel.
• Once browned on all sides, carefully remove from the hot oil with a slotted spoon. Don't worry if your hush puppies are not perfectly round balls. They will be devoured with all their imperfections.
• Serve hot or whatever the temperature is outside.

Notes