Hush, puppy!

There are few things that make me as happy as a really good hushpuppy.  Frankly, anything involving perfectly fried, salty carbohydrates has my immediate attention.  Recently, I put out a call on my FaceBook page for a good recipe and my Aunt Betty (my Dad's sister from my epic cooking Mississippi side of the family) obliged with the following:

2 c cornmeal, 1/3 c flour, 2 tables sugar, chopped onion, enough b milk to make it stick together, fry in hot grease. When they ready they should turn over in the pan. Now does that sound like mamaw's recipe?

She then later specified that it's self-rising flour and self-rising cornmeal, both of which I have in my pantry thanks not to my South East Asian upbringing, but to my deep south roots.  And I have the say, this is a delightfully detailed recipe for one that came out of my Mamaw's kitchen.  I remember digging through scraps of paper and torn envelopes covered in scribbles that, if I concentrated really hard, might look like a list of ingredients (as long as you could do without measurements or complete words).

The Proportions

2 Cups self-rising yellow corn meal mix (no, people, not a box of Jiffy!)
1/2 Cup self-rising flour 

2 Tbs sugar

about 1/2 Cup grated onion
about 1 finely minced jalapeno pepper
enough buttermilk (more about this later) 

The Method

Heat enough oil in a heavy pot (or use a deep fryer) until it reaches 350 degrees.

Mix first three ingredients together in a large bowl. 

Stir in grated onion and minced jalapeno pepper.   

Add enough buttermilk to make a sticky batter type dough. 

Scoop dough out with a spoon and drop into hot oil.

Fry until hushpuppies roll over.

Drain immediately on oil absorbant paper.

The Rules

"Fried food isn't bad.  Bad fried food is bad."  - Emeril Lagasse

Thou shalt have, and hold, thy oil at the right temperture: Start it at a little above 350 degrees so that, as you quickly drop in your blobs of goodness, the temp stays in the 350 vicinity.

Thou shalt use enough oil:  I use a cast iron dutch oven filled with about four inches of oil (I used a combo of vegetable and corn oil for this batch).  You want enough oil for the hushpuppies to float and bob around freely, cooking evenly.  This also gives you the magic "I'm done" moment when the hushpuppy turns itself over in the oil.  Flip - out it comes!  Enough oil also helps the oil maintain its temperature.

Thou shalt not crowd thy cooking vessel: Want your oil temperature to plummet, and your crispy-crunchy-moist-on-the-inside miracle to turn into a soggy mess?  Then please, cram as many as you can in at a time.  I generally try to leave at least as much free oil as I have frying items.  If that makes sense.

As with all self-rising buttermilk type items like biscuits and pancakes... thou shalt not overstir.  Unless you like hushpuppies that behave like mini tennis balls.  And you don't.

The Tips

Grated onion and minced jalapenos are not the only things you can add.  At that point you could add anything else you think is yummy in a hushpuppy - like crumbled bacon, or diced cooked shrimp, or ... I don't know ... white truffles or anchovies or whatever.  Me, I like onion and jalapeno.  Period.  Thanks.

And a word about grated onion ... it does wonders for flavoring something like a hushpuppy because the grating releases much more onion juice (ergo flavor) than chopping or mincing does.  Scrape all that soggy goodness into the dry ingredients and mix it up.

What is "enough buttermilk?"  Okay, I apologize for not having a measurement here but I really don't know.  Even when I make the same thing over and over, "enough buttermilk" changes depending on the dry ingredients, the buttermilk, and whether Jupiter is aligned with Mars.  You want it to hold together well in a moist blob that you can scoop and shape easily with a spoon, not runny but not be so dry that you have to roll the batter in your hand to get it to stick together.  Think drop biscuits if that helps.

I promise the next time I make these (and there are going to be so many next times!) I will measure the buttermilk to give you at least a ball park idea.