Buttermilk Hush Puppies

A couple of weeks ago, we posted our recipe for “Blackened Catfish.”  To accompany the fish, the Weekend Chef made these Buttermilk Hush Puppies.  For those unfamiliar, hush puppies are deep-fried cornmeal batter, often associated with Southern food.  They remind me of the corn fritters that my mom made us growing up, but smaller, and with cornmeal instead of flour. The Weekend Chef prefers chunkier hush puppies, so he added some canned corn to the mix to add some texture. They came out of the fryer hot and crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside.

Buttermilk Hush Puppies
Recipe adapted from allrecipes.com courtesy of Mama Smith

Ingredients:
1 quart vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs, room temperature
1 cup cornmeal
1 1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup canned corn

Directions:
1.  Heat the quart of oil in a deep fryer and preheat oven to 200 degrees F.

2. Whisk buttermilk, 1/4 cup vegetable oil and eggs in a medium sized bowl.

3. In a large bowl combine the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt.  Fold the buttermilk mixture and canned corn into the cornmeal mixture until just combined.

4.  When deep fryer is ready, drop tablespoon sized balls of batter into the oil, frying approximately 3-5 minutes.   Then turn each ball and fry an additional 3-5 minutes until each ball is cooked evenly and golden brown.  Remove the hush puppies with a slotted spoon and place on paper towels to drain.  Transfer the hush puppies to a baking pan and place in preheated oven to keep warm until ready to serve.