My mom used to make squash puffs. And they were excellent. I wanted to make something like that with the squash flavor, but with a hush puppy consistency. I saw a recipe on cooks.com, then adapted/hacked my own. And guess what?! These are great too – a little bit more bready like hush puppies. Go figure!
Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 small squashes, grated
- 1/2 lg white or yellow onion, grated
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1 cup corn meal
- cheddar cheese (optional – I didn’t use cheese but I might next time!)
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup milk
Method
- Grate the squash and onion, add to a bowl. Add a teaspoon of salt, mix together. Let sit for 20 minutes to let the water sweat out.
- Heat oil to medium-ish. (Use peanut, canola, or some other oil with a higher smoke point)
- Mix corn meal and flour and set aside
- Dump the onion/squash mixture in to a colander, press the mixture in your clasped hands to wring out as much water as possible. Then return to bowl.
- Add about half the flour/corn meal mix to the onion/squash mixture. Stir. Then crack the egg and stir it in. Add remainder of flour until you mix it together to get a “goopy” consistency. If you want more bready consistency, then add more of the corn meal / flour mixture. If you want them goopier, then use less of the corn meal / flour. I like them bready.. soo…..
- Take a regular sized spoon (a teaspoon) and dollop out a spoonful (it helps if you form it in to an oval shape with the spoon) in to the oil. Be careful to not burn yourself!
- Flip once during cooking. Cook until both sides are lightly browned. Keep an eye on them, because they can get overcooked. Take them out before they get too browned!
- After you take ’em out, let the squash puppies sit on a flattened paper bag to help soak up some of the oil (and to cool).
Enjoy!