recipe – Dreaming Reality

This post is dedicated to my good and dedicated blogging buddy Dan over at No Facilities who recently suffered a travesty of the culinary kind when a restaurant he tried offerd up their own (abomination) version a true Southern favorite-the beloved fried cornbread delight know as a hush puppy.

The first recorded use of the word “hush-puppy” dates to 1899.[3] The name is often attributed to hunters, fishermen, or other cooks who would fry some basic cornmeal mixture (possibly that they had been bread-coating or battering their own food with) and feed it to their dogs to “hush the puppies” during cook-outs or fish-fries.[4] Other legends date the term to the Civil War, in which Confederate soldiers are said to have tossed fried cornbread to quell the barks of their dogs.[5][6]

~Wikipedia

This, for the record, is a photo of a real, authentic, Louisiana style hush puppy.

Notice the crispy, golden outer layer? Many hush puppies taste pretty good but few have this crust. The key to that is deep frying quickly and at the right temperature. Also note the glaring absence of corn kernels. Now, although there are some Louisiana communities that will use corn in their puppies, most don’t. Most are either a bit spicy or only mildly sweet and not the overly sweet, dessert style pups one often finds on the road.

These delicate treats are a favorite of mine and I am pretty picky about the ones I really love. Certainly not with a mushy center. Or served with any kind of vinagrette. I have been known to dip them in remoulade sauce and some may use catsup. But, just like it’s mother, great crusty cornbread, I just love them hot and slathered with real butter. 😱

Oh….yeah….and preferably with some shrimp on the side. Fried shrimp, grilled shrimp, broiled shrimp, boiled shrimp, shrimp gumbo, shrimp creole…..ok, Bubba Gump. 🙄

yeah….

Shrimp and fried fish! Oh and cold Yuengling on the side. Making hush puppies isn’t difficult. Finding the right recipe is the trick. I have made quite a few versions, some better than others. I did some research before putting one here for you guys. This one has a lot of promise. I plan to make them before the weekend. I thought maybe we could all give it a shot then meet back here to see how we did.