CHEF’S HUSH PUPPY RECIPE FROM TV’S YELLOWSTONE

If you’re looking for a break from the usual potatoes or rice, Hush Puppies are a nice way to change it up. They’re basically deep fried balls of cornmeal and flour. They’re actually pretty simple to make. Besides we’ve never met a hush puppy we didn’t like! The unique thing about this recipe is it comes from Gator, a real-life chef who plays the same role on the popular TV show, Yellowstone. Have you been curious what the family eats around the drama-filled dining table? Gabriel “Gator” Guilbeau has released an inspiring cookbook detailing the many dishes he creates for the cast and crew. We’re spotlighting the Hugh Puppies recipe because it seems like the quintessential cowboy side dish or snack…

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups fine cornmeal
1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 large egg
1/2 cup whole milk
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 tablespoons melted butter or oil (optional, read chef’s notes at bottom)
1/2 cup finely chopped raw yellow onion (optional, read chef’s notes)
oil for frying
your favorite dipping sauce, sweet, tarter, spicy

PREP TIME ABOUT 20 MINUTES, MAKES ABOUT 2 DOZEN HUSH PUPPIES

Instructions:

In bowl whisk together cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and pepper until well blended. In a separate bowl whisk egg, milk and onion. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones and stir until just combined. The thick batter can become heavy if over mixed. Once cooked they’ll be surprisingly light and fluffy.

Put about 2 inches of oil in a pan. The heat should be about 365° F. You can use a candy or deep-frying thermometer to test temp if you like. Put a wire rack next to pan, covered with paper towels, so you have a place to let them drain while you’re cooking in batches. You don’t want to put too many in the pan at one time because that will reduce heat. You can use a small cookie scoop, which holds about 1 1/2 tablespoons of the batter, and drop carefully into oil, about 5 to 6 hush puppies per batch. It’s best to use tongs to turn them a couple of times until they’re a deep golden brown. Takes about 4 minutes to cook them. Lay them onto wire rack with paper towels. Let the oil cool to room temp between batches. If it’s still hot your next batch will burn on the outside but be raw in the middle from cooking too quickly.

CHEF’S NOTES: Although the recipe calls for onions, those are optional. Honestly they don’t really change flavor of batter much because amount of onions is small compared to amount of batter. However they do give it a touch of savory. If you’d rather keep it sweet, skip the onions. These go well with honey, agave nectar, syrup, whatever sweet accompaniment you like. Also, the melted butter is not in Gator’s recipe but to be honest, these can be a little dry. They’re very light and fluffy but a little butter or oil in the batter can help with moisture. It can also make the batter a bit more crumbly so keep that in mind when you’re scooping into oil. You’ll want to scoop nice round balls so they keep their shape.