Hush Puppies

• 2 cups fine cornmeal (Alabama fine ground)
• 1 cup plain flour
• 1 tbsp. Salt
• 1 tbsp. Baking powder
• 1 ½ tbsp. Sugar
• 1 tsp. Pepper
• 1 ½ or 2 large Vidalia onions, finely chopped in a blender and mixed with 1 pint of buttermilk
• 3 eggs
• 12 to 16 ounces of sliced bacon (to season the oil)
• 32 oz. of canola or peanut oil Seasoned cast iron skillet

Mix the dry and wet ingredients separately the night before, by letting the onions and buttermilk sit overnight with the eggs, it helps age the mixture for maximum flavor. Also, the final mixture of the wet and dry ingredients needs to be done the day you’re going to serve the hush puppies so the contents stay fluffy. When mixing the buttermilk solution into the dry contents add only enough to make a smooth moist consistency with some stiffness in the batter.

Use about 3/4 of the 32 ounces of oil to fry bacon until crispy brown at 325 degrees. When dipping the puppies use a teaspoon and form round balls. Your teaspoon will function properly when dipped into the hot oil just before going into the batter. Keep a cup of cold water handy, to clean off any excess batter that may form from repeated use. A batch of puppies usually takes about 8 to 10 minutes to cook and the oil temperature should be around 325 to 350 degrees. Make sure the puppies cook evenly on both sides, sometimes it may be necessary to roll them over. Remove and drain on paper.