Monday, March 30, 2009

Magazine Monday #34: Hush Puppies

When I went to Florida five years ago, my friends and I ate at a gated community. Yes - a gated community. I don't know how we wound up there - we were all tourists - but someone recommended the little village within the gated community for lunch as there were a number of small restaurants there in addition to some shopping.

It was creepy, but perhaps that's another story. We chose a small restaurant and sat out on the immaculate patio as a black person walked by picking up non-existent litter. Really - but like I said, that's another story.

The food was good, but I can't remember what I ordered, though I do remember that it came with these things called Hush Puppies. My friend E, whom we were all in Florida to visit with, is originally from the deep south, and I asked her what a Hush Puppy was and she told me. I was intrigued. And when my meal came, I was totally digging the Hush Puppies. They were great!

Fast forward five years and I am still cringing at my gated community experience, and I still remember those Hush Puppies. And lo and behold, Gourmet's February 2009 issue had a recipe! I made them to go with a spectacular burger that will appear in Wednesday's post.

The recipe is here.

Aaaaaahhhhhh...the results were not good.

First of all, I didn't have stone ground cornmeal as specified in the recipe, so my batter wasn't the right texture. And they fell apart in the frying process. They were a complete and utter disappointment.

Perhaps my expectations were too high. Perhaps I needed finer cornmeal. Perhaps I need a new recipe.

Well, they cannot all be keepers can they? That's the whole point of Magazine Mondays - to sift through all those magazine recipes and see which ones are keepers and which ones to pitch. This one is getting pitched.

13 comments:

Coleens Recipes said...

Cooks that try magazine recipes and are brave enough to post about it, should get some sort of award!!
Thank you very much for the post.

Donna-FFW said...

Crap.. doesnt that stink when something isnt up to par?? They look really pretty though!! Gated community, huh? My BIL works in a gated community in Fl.. wonder if its the same?

Cathy said...

I hate it when something I look forward to doesn't turn out. Onwards and upwards :)

La Cuisine d'Helene said...

No fun when the recipe does not turn out like we wish. Thanks for posting.

Mam said...

WC, wished you lived on the east coast. I have 3 years of Martha's and many stacks of cooking magazines to go through. Having separation anxiety pitching them.

Tina said...

What part of Florida were you visiting. See, now everyone wants to know!

I actually cheat and use a mix for the hush puppies. Growing up in the north, I never had the bad boys until I moved down south. They are pretty good.

Wandering Coyote said...

OK, for all you inquiring minds, I was in Destin.

Wandering Coyote said...

Pierce: Hush Puppy mix? Cool! I'll have to source some out! Maybe they sell it in Washington state, where I cross border shop every now and then!

Van Santos said...

This look good!

There is a local place that does Hush Puppies w/ corn in them. They are to die for.

Are you going to try the recipe again w/ the Hush Puppy mix?

Wandering Coyote said...

Van: yeah, I'd try again, either with a mix or a different recipe.

Emily Rose said...

Haha, its so funny to see this post because hush puppies are about as normal as french fries here in Louisiana! They are very tasty and there are a number of different methods for making them- sadly, I can't fry anything to save my life so I don't have any good tips for you! I will look through my Southern Living cookbooks and see if I can find a recipe for you!

Wandering Coyote said...

Emily Rose: thank you - I'd really appreciate that!

Elyse said...

I hate it when that happens! I'm confident that you'll find the perfect hush puppy recipe out there, though. Hush puppies are my favorite--with a bit of butter and a sprinkling of sugar--believe me, it's super good!

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