My hubby’s favorite wedding gift that we received is our little fry daddy. It’s small – just the right size for making appetizers for our friends or making dinner for the two of us. When we’re feeling particularly indulgent, we’ll have a fish fry night: fried fish, fried potatoes, and hush puppies. Since we’re about to start our New Year’s diet, we wanted to splurge by having one last fish fry. Here is our recipe for hush puppies – they are delicious!!!

Hush Puppies
Adapted from Paula Dean’s recipe

6 cups canola oil, vegetable oil, or peanut oil
1 1/2 cups self-rising cornmeal
1/2 cup self-rising flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning
1/2 small onion, chopped
1 cup buttermilk
1 egg, lightly beaten

Using a deep pot or fryer, heat oil to 350 degrees.

In a mixing bowl, stir together corn meal, flour, baking soda, salt, and Old Bay Seasoning. Mix in the chopped onion.

In a small bowl, stir together buttermilk and egg. Add this mimxture to the corn meal mixture, and stir until just incorporated.

Drop the batter by teaspoonfuls into preheated oil. To prevent sticking, dip your spoon into a glass of ice water after dropping each hush puppy into the oil. Turn hush puppies as they brown, and remove from oil when completely golden.

Drain on paper towel, and serve immediately.