Hush Puppies

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups stone-ground yellow cornmeal
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 small yellow onion, grated
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 6 cups peanut oil, for frying

Before you cook

• Grate the onion on the large holes of a box grater and reserve it with its juice.
• Beat the egg into the buttermilk.
• Pour the oil into a heavy Dutch oven to a depth of about three inches.
• Set a wire rack over a sheet pan next to the stove.

Steps

1. Heat the oil over medium heat to 350 degrees Fahrenheit on a deep-fry thermometer.
2. Whisk the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, black pepper and cayenne together in a bowl.
3. Stir the grated onion into the buttermilk and egg.
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir into a thick, scoopable batter.
5. Let the batter stand for 10 minutes to hydrate and thicken further.
6. Scoop rounded tablespoons of batter and slide them carefully into the hot oil.
7. Fry no more than eight at a time so the oil temperature holds.
8. Turn the hush puppies as they float and brown, about three to four minutes total.
9. Lift them out with a spider when they are deep golden all over.
10. Drain them on the wire rack and salt them lightly while they are still glistening.
11. Fry the remaining batter in batches and serve the hush puppies hot.