Family Meal Plan: Crispy Corn Southern Hush Puppy Fritters + Corn Butter + Jalapeño Jam + Lemonade Slushies

Crispy Corn Southern Hush Puppy Fritters + Corn Butter

Happy & Healthy Cooking,

Fun-Da-Mentals Kitchen Skills

• blend :

  to stir together two or more ingredients until just combined; blending is a gentler process than mixing.

• chop :

  to cut something into small, rough pieces using a blade.

• grate :

  to reduce food, like a carrot, to very small shreds or pieces of the same size by rubbing it on a tool with an outside surface that has holes with cutting edges (a grater).

• measure :

  to calculate the specific amount of an ingredient required using a measuring tool (like measuring cups or spoons).

• mix :

  to thoroughly combine two or more ingredients until uniform in texture.

• pan-fry :

  to fry in a pan in a small amount of fat.

• sauté :

  to cook or brown food in a pan containing a small quantity of butter, oil, or other fat.

• whisk :

  to beat or stir ingredients vigorously with a fork or whisk to mix, blend, or incorporate air.

History of Hush Puppies!

• The term "hush puppy" was first seen in writing in 1899. However, the origin stories for the name of these delicious balls of fried cornmeal batter cannot be proven, although they all seem to involve keeping dogs quiet for various reasons. For example, one story says that Confederate soldiers fed their dogs pieces of fried cornmeal batter and told them to "hush puppies" when Union soldiers approached. 
• The dish may have come from the 1720s when French nuns in New Orleans, Louisiana, made "croquettes de maise" (corn croquettes) out of cornmeal. Or, it may have originated with former enslaved chef Romeo Govan and his "red horse bread" served with fish and was similar to hush puppies. 
• Hush puppy ingredients include cornmeal, egg, flour, milk or buttermilk, baking powder, salt, and sometimes onion and sugar. They are usually served with fish, often fried catfish, or barbecue meals.

Let's Learn About the Southern United States!

• The southern region of the United States is also referred to as the Southern States, or just "the South." The area lies between the Western states and the Atlantic Ocean. Midwestern and Northeastern states are to its north, and Mexico and the Gulf of Mexico are to its south. 
• From west to east, the states included in the South are Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware. 
• The term "Deep South" usually applies to Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina.
• Native Americans inhabited the region as early as 11,000 to 9,500 BCE. They lived on food they grew, hunted, and fished.
• Eleven Southern states seceded from the Union from 1860 to 1861 and became the Confederate States of America. Their secession and the dispute about the expansion of slavery caused the Civil War (1861-1865), the war between the North and the South. At the war's end, the Southern states returned to the Union. 
• Southern culture was influenced by indigenous peoples, immigrants from England, Spain, and France, and enslaved Africans. As a result, the area's language, food, music, architecture, and literature may include one or more of these influences.  
• The climate in the region is diverse and depends on a state's proximity to the Atlantic Ocean or the Gulf of Mexico. Hurricanes and tornadoes are extreme types of weather seen in the South.
• Animals that are unique to the South include the nine-banded armadillo, the cottonmouth (snake), the roseate spoonbill (wading bird), and the American alligator.
• Stock car racing got its start in Southern states. NASCAR (National Association of Stock Car Racing) was founded in 1948 and is headquartered in Daytona Beach, Florida, and Charlotte, North Carolina. 
• There are a wide variety of foods in Southern cuisine. Cajun and creole dishes originated in Louisiana. You can find Caribbean cooking influences in Florida, including Cuban, Dominican, and Puerto Rican. 
• Various types of barbecue are popular in the South, and each state has its own cooking or smoking techniques, dry rub, and BBQ sauce that make its barbecue style unique.
• Other well-known Southern dishes are Southern fried chicken, red beans and rice, fried catfish and hush puppies, and Hoppin' John, a black-eyed pea and rice dish commonly served on New Year's Day.