HUSH PUPPIES

Do you love a mess of fish and hush puppies as much as we do? My Honey can fry a mean batch of catfish and I always whip up the hush puppies to go with it. We had a discussion during dinner tonight, over the origin of the word, hush puppies. This is what I found.

Hush puppies are a favorite accompaniment to fried catfish, and are often served with other types of fried fish. Also known as corn dodgers, hush puppies are deep-fried little cornmeal breads. The popular legend surrounding the hush puppy takes us back to Civil War days. Southerners would sit beside a campfire, preparing their meals. If Yankee soldiers came near, they would toss their barking dogs some of the fried cakes with the command, "Hush, puppies!"

HUSH PUPPIES

6 cups vegetable oil
1 ½ cups self rising cornmeal
½ cup self rising flour
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 small onion
1 cup buttermilk
1 egg, lightly beaten

Prepare the oil for frying in a skillet. Preheat it to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, stir together the cornmeal, flour, baking soda and salt. Stir in the onion. In a small bowl, stir together the buttermilk and egg. Pour the buttermilk mixture into the dry ingredients and mix until blended - don’t worry if there are a few lumps. Drop the batter, one teaspoon at a time into the oil. Dip the spoon in a glass of water after each hush puppy is dropped. Fry until golden brown, turning the hush puppies and during the cooking process.