10/15/2017 – This was the first time to make hot-water cornbread fried as a pattie–sorta like a hush puppy. What we did was inspired by the recipe at http://inthekitchenwithpaige.blogspot.com. Here is what we did that made a great, crunchy cornbread…
1/15/2018 – 2nd-time lessons learned are inserted below in italics and in bold. Could be that as we prepared this about 30 minutes before frying that made a difference as the batter was no longer as hot as it would have been had we fried it immediately after blending it. But, the fried, crunchy cakes were not at all grainy inside.
1-1/2 cups cornmeal
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/2 t sugar
hot water – boiling
~1/4 C Green onion tops sliced thin
~1 C large grated cheddar cheese
1/2″ of an avg jalapeno, seeded and minced
- Whisked together dry ingredients in mixing bowl.
- Poured in boiling water and mixed thoroughly. Add just enough water to make a soft dough that stands up and maintains its peaks and edges while sticking to the spoon. [needs to be fairly dry as it stuck to the spoon but when the first spoonfuls hit the hot oil they “popped” apart.]
- Stirred in cheese, diced fresh jalapenos, and green onion tops.
- Dropped by serving spoon fulls into hot oil, about 3/4″ deep in an old, cast iron chicken-fryer skillet. Once it began to brown on bottom, pressed the top down into a patty and pushed in edges that were running away.
- When golden brown, and centers were not lighter than the edges and not soft, removed from oil onto paper towels.
- Lightly dressed with kosher salt
Next Time:
- Add cayenne pepper
- Add more jalapenos
- The cheese was not noticeable
- See About Today’s Oil below and maybe add Creole Seasoning
About today’s (10/15/17) oil – We made this on a Sunday evening with filtered oil left from Mary’s having made fried chicken Friday for the girls. Then Saturday, we fried catfish and onion rings in it. The oil was tinted reddish orange but clear. Surely, it had a flavoring of Kohl’s Creole Seasoning as both of those cooks used it to season the meat.
