I love hush puppies! When I was a kid my parents had a lake house where we would spend a lot of our free time. Weekends at the lake were the best with boating, swimming, and fishing. After a long day on the lake we would often go to a local seafood restaurant called Henderson’s that had the best hush puppies.

They’re still open today and are located about 15 minutes south of Covington, Ga. They also do some great fried shrimp and catfish. I’ve been looking for a good recipe for a while to match my favorites hush puppies from Henderson’s.

I’m not too picky about hush puppies but I definitely like some better than others. I’ve tried several recipes and didn’t settle on any that I really liked. At some point though I got Katie’s (my wife) mom’s recipe and I knew I liked this recipe right away.

My wife isn’t a big onion fan if she can see chunks of onions in the hush puppies so I started processing them very finely in a food processor before I add them to the batter. They come out almost in a slush and I think this helps give the cornmeal a real good flavor with all the onion juices.

These don’t have to be served with seafood although that is a always a classic pairing. If you haven’t tried dipping them in ketchup, make sure to give that a try!

Hush Puppies

Makes enough for 4-6 as an appetizer

Ingredients

• 1 cup corn meal
• 1/3 cup AP flour
• Pinch salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 onion
• 1 egg

Instructions

1. Heat pot of oil or deep fryer to 350F.
2. Dice an onion extremely fine. I recommend putting in a small food processor and chop until it’s almost slush.
3. Combine corn meal,  flour, salt and baking powder and whisk together in a bowl.
4. Add the rest of the ingredients to the bowl and mix together.
5. Use two spoons to drop balls of the dough carefully into the hot oil.
6. Fry in batches one to two minutes per side flipping halfway through.
7. Remove with a slotted spoon when golden brown.
8. Let dry on a rack. Enjoy!