A few weeks ago I was making the first of what has now been three solo drives between Seattle and Birmingham and found myself about an hour out of Memphis late one afternoon. Having driven most of the day before, through the night and into that particular day, I was tired as hell, famished and cranky.
Experiencing a rare burst of good sense on the road, I pulled off in the next small town, checked into a little local hotel, unloaded the critical gear out of the truck and wandered back down to the office to ask about local eateries of note.
The very prim and proper proprietress, who could have been anywhere from 75 to 125 years old, responded that “the whole town” would be at the fish fry that evening at the community church “just up the road, honey” and they were serving all you could eat fish, hush puppies, slaw and sweet tea for a crisp five dollar donation.
She said to be sure and tell AJ, her son manning the hush puppy kettle, that she had sent me.
Sure enough, just up the road on the tree-shaded grounds of a little red brick church building sat a crowd of folks at picnic tables tended by a flock of rosy-cheeked high school kids shuttling plates piled high with fried catfish, hush puppies, a tart slaw along with Mason jars filled with sweet tea.
It was as good as it sounds; no, it was even better, though without a doubt the hushpuppies stole the show. They were golf-ball-sized mounds of golden brown, crisp cornmeal goodness, lighter than any I’d had before, filled with corn, scallions and bits of jalapeno, and – best of all – pockets of gooey, melted goat cheese.
Sure enough, AJ was indeed manning the hush puppy kettle and I offered to cook or clean to get the recipe. AJ dictated it off without holding me to my offer, though he did let me cook a couple of batches “just to get the hang of it”.
While not something you’ll be cooking every week, you’ve got to try these little bits of Southern goodness before the snow flies this fall.
1 cup yellow cornmeal
2 tbsp all purpose flour
1 and 1/2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 beaten egg
1/3 cup chopped scallions
1/2 cup corn
2 tbsp chopped, seeded Jalapeno chile
4 ounces crumbled fresh soft goat cheese (about a cup)Vegetable oil for deep frying
Mix it up. Combine the yellow cornmeal, flour, sugar, kosher salt, baking powder and baking soda. Whisk the buttermilk, egg and chile together, then stir in the corn, scallions and crumbled goat cheese.
Finally, stir the buttermilk mixture into the dry ingredients, stir until just combined.
Fry ‘em up. Add enough oil to your cast iron fry pan to reach a depth of 1 and 1/2 inches; over medium heat (and using a deep-fry thermometer) heat to 330 F.
In batches of 5 or 6 (pending pan size), drop tbsp sized dollops of batter into the hot oil and cook until crisp and golden, about 4 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels, toss one to the dog and say ‘hush puppy’ just for the hell of it and get out the dipping sauces – tartar sauce being one such traditional sauce – though a good Remoulade or asian dipping sauce works wonders too.
Enjoy.
