Rosie Makes Hushpuppies. Successfully. Woof! Whoot!

Rosie has never much cared for hushpuppies. Yes. I'm a Southerner. Somebody take my DAR card away. Obviously I've never had a proper hushpuppy. At least that's what I keep telling myself. I've tried them at home, many a time. Never could get it right. Mr. Hawthorne has tried it. Never cared for any of his attempts. Some OK, but nothing I'd want to recreate. I've tried them at numerous restaurants. Most are sweet. I don't like sweet. I've never gotten the right balance of corn flavor and spices and texture. I've only liked them once. At a restaurant in Boone, NC. I asked for and they didn't give me the recipe. Well. I made hushpuppies today. And I LIKED these hushpuppies!

Those two little balls of deliciosity at the top are Rosie's Hushpuppies. I was making Shrimp Etouffee and thought hushpuppies would be a nice accompaniment, sopping up the juices handsomely.

My ingredients for Hushpuppies:
1/2 cup cornmeal
 1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup masa harina
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/4 tsp Kosher salt
 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp dried oregano 1
 TB finely minced white onion
1 TB finely minced scallion
 1/2 cup buttermilk
1 TB melted butter
 1 egg
 peanut oil for frying
 Combine all dry ingredients. Mix in scallions and onion. Pour in buttermilk. Add melted butter. Mix in egg. Drop by tablespoons in hot oil. NEVER crowd when frying. Drain on paper towels.

Here are all my dry ingredients. Mix well.

Mince a tablespoon each of scallion and white onion. Add in the scallion and onion to the dry mixture.

Stir in buttermilk.

This is what it looks like.

Mix in butter.

And add in egg.

This is what the batter looks like now. If you take a melon baller, it will sorta hold its shape. See three amorphous lumps above.

Mr. Hawthorne has his peanut oil at approximately 350 degrees. We have a large fryer that can accommodate about 8 of the balls at a time. If you notice, they are not crowded. You want them floating and sizzling in their own personal spaces.

Oh Sweet Golly Miss Molly. The outer crust is perfectly crisp and crunchy. I would call it delightful. The inner crumb is cakey, possessing a lovely texture.

Slather some butter on it. This is divine.

YAY! Rosie finally made hushpuppies she likes!