Cajun Hush Puppies with Fried green tomato dip
Here is a recipe for our Mardi Gras series. It is a classic southern treat. These are crunchy tasty bites that make a filling appetizer. You can change out the dips and/or use this batter as the base for southern fried fritters. Shrimp, lobster, sausage, bacon, mushrooms, you name it. See what you have in your fridge, fold it into the batter and fry it up. Your little doggies will love you for it. Just remember we can’t all be cool in our hushpuppy shoes. Not like Pete Townshend (around the 2:25 mark).
Table of Contents
Cajun Hush Puppies with Fried Green Tomato Dip
A Slightly sweet and spicy corn meal based appetizer
Ingredients
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 cup chopped scallion
- 1 cup flour
- 1 t baking powder
- 1 t chopped cilantro
- 1/2 t chopped garlic
- 1/4 cup diced onion
- 2 cups cornmeal
- 2 T sugar
- 2 T melted butter plus extra for sauteing onions
- 2 each eggs beaten
- 1 t cayenne pepper
- 1 t kosher salt
- Oil to Fry
- For Green Tomato Dip
- 1 cup diced sweet onion
- 1 t chopped garlic
- 1 cup sliced green tomato
- 1 T Diced Hot pepper such as cerrano
- 1/2 bottle beer
- 1 T Sugar
- 2 T Chopped Scallion
- oil to fry and saute
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 t cajun seasoning
Instructions
- Mix all the dry ingredients for the Hush puppies in a mixing bowl
- In a separate mixing bowl whisk the eggs and add the buttermilk
- Saute the onion and garlic in a little butter until translucent. Then add in the scallions and 2T more butter
- Fold the eggs, buttermilk, onion, scallion, and butter into the dry ingredients until a batter forms.
- Make the dip. Heat oil in a pan, add in onions and gralic. Saute until translucent
- add sugar and then the green tomatoes and chilis. Heat over high heat until they start to break down.
- Add the beer and cook it down by 1/2 the volume.
- Season with cajun spice, salt and pepper. Remove from the heat and add the scallions.
- Blend the sauce in a blender or with a stick blender.
- Heat a neutral oil in a deep pan or fryer. Spoon or scoop in the hush puppy batter. They will float to the top. Keep an eye on them and turn them over with a spoon or tongs to cook both sides evenly. When they are a nice golden brown, remove them and let dry on paper towels.
- Serve hot with the dip on the side.
Notes
You don’t have to do the green tomato dip if you don’t want to. I think it’s a nice southern touch. You could serve with a creole spiced mayonnaise, remoulade, or an aioli of some sort. You can adjust the seasoning to your taste. This version is a little spicy, but not overly. A mayonnaise based dip cuts the heat. I skipped the mayo here because our next course is going to have mayo in it and I thought it might be a bit much.
Also, I used butter here. Some people like to use bacon fat. You can do whichever you prefer. You can also use this as a base to add other things into it: lobster, crayfish, shrimp, spicy sausage. I find a hush puppy batter a little heavy, so this recipe is just with onion. Some fresh grilled corn would also make a nice addition and keep it meat free. You would have to substitute eggs, buttermilk, and butter to make it vegan.