Homemade Hushpuppies {50 Women In Food: #9 Irma S. Rombauer}
Mary of One Perfect Bite and ten other women bloggers (including myself) are blogging our way through the 50 Women Game Changers In Food published by Gourmet in May ’11. Some of the women on the list you will know, others you may not, but either way, this will be a great 50 week journey to learn more about these women that inspire the way we think about food today.
Please visit Mary at One Perfect Bite, Val at More Than Burnt Toast, Joanne at Eats Well With Others, Taryn at Have Kitchen Will Feed, Susan at The Spice Garden, Claudia at A Seasonal Cook In Turkey, Heather at Girlichef, Jeanette at Jeanette’s Healthy Living, April at Abby Sweets, Katie at Making Michael Poland Proud, Kathleen at Bake Away With Me and Viola at The Life is Good Kitchen for their tributes to these 50 women.
Number 9 on our list, Irma Rombauer, self-published the first Joy of Cooking in 1931 with the small insurance payout she received after her husband committed suicide during the Great Depression. The first commercial version was printed in 1936 and it is one of the world’s most-published cookbooks. This fact is clear because the copy that I got from the library was well used. It is the condition you would expect of a good cookbook – edges worn, pages slightly wrinkled. The amazing thing about this cookbook is that there are so many recipes! This book shows that you can make many recipes from a single base and it allows for a little experimenting of your own.
This week, the hubs is out of town, which means I usually take it easy with cereal and pb&j. But, when I realized that I had to make something from The Joy of Cooking, I sifted through the recipes and landed on hush puppies. This way, I could keep it simple since I was the only one eating, and I could cross off a recipe from my Accomplished Cook list. Nice.
This is a very simple version of the hush puppy. Probably as original as they get, and it literally has only six ingredients. I would venture to say that 90% of American households have the ingredients in their home all the time. Make the original and then spice it up with some sugar, jalapenos or whatever your fancy! The sauce was not a part of the original recipe, but I made one to go along with it (pictured) so I will include my recipe.
Fishermen used to cook these finger-shaped concoctions on the river bank, along with their catch. Rumor has it, they threw a large amount to their clamborous dogs with the admonition "Hush Puppy!" Sometimes we think that is still the best use for them.
Ingredients
- 1 cup stone-ground cornmeal
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 to 3 tablespoons minced onion
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 cup mayo
- 2 tablespoons ketchup
- 2 tablespoon sweet pickle relish
- salt, to taste
- cayenne, to taste
Directions
- Mix together the cornmeal, baking powder, salt and onion.
- Beat together egg and milk.
- Combine wet and dry ingredients and use a tablespoon to form into balls. Fry in deep fat for 370 degrees until golden brown. Drain on paper towel and serve at once.
- Mix all ingredients, chill until ready to use.
In The Spotlight: Irma S. Rombauer
(From Wikipedia) Irma Starkloff Rombauer (30 October 1877 – 14 October 1962) was a German-American author of The Joy of Cooking. It is one of the world’s most-published cookbooks, having been in print continuously since 1936. She graduated from the all-girls preparatory school Mary Institute in 1901 and later attended Washington University in St. Louis. Rombauer privately published The Joy of Cooking in 1931 in St. Louis, Missouri. It was illustrated by her daughter Marion Rombauer Becker, also a graduate of Mary Institute (1931) and at the time an art teacher at local private school John Burroughs School. The Rombauers self-published early editions of the book; it was picked up by a commercial printing house, the Bobbs-Merrill Company, in 1936.
This Recipe Linked To:
{Sun} Recipe Swap Sundays {Mon} Made By You Mondays, Recipe Sharing Monday {Tues} Tuesday Night Supper Club {Wed} These Chicks Cooked {Thurs} Full Plate Thursday {Fri} Fresh Food Fridays, Friday Potluck
I do have every one of the ingredients necessary to make these Miranda.
Knew you would!
Yum! What a fun and easy bit of bread to have with fish fry! That’s how I always think of hushpuppies – my Gramps would take us to community fish frys in Florida and we’d have hushpuppies with a tartar dipping sauce with the fried fish and then more hushpuppies with a sweet molasses dipping sauce for dessert!
Oooh, hush puppies with sweet dipping sauce? That one is new to me, but sounds good!
Who knew homemade hush puppies were so simple? Check out my newest post for the "50 Women in Food" series: http://fb.me/EvXSYRsH
I haven’t had hush puppies in years – these look like they came out really good. Nice recipe to try in honor of Irma S. Rombauer.
Me either, so I thought it would be a great time to revisit.
Oh my goodness…that picture with the sauce dripping…totally made my belly rumble. I failed miserably the last time I made hushpuppies, but that was years ago. I will definitely try Irma’s next time, they look great
I thought they would be harder than they were! I used a wet tablespoon to scoop the balls out which made it easy. You should definitely try again!
These hushpuppies look fabulous, with just the right balance of crunch on the outside and softness on the inside! Wow! I want these for a snack right now.
Thanks Katie!
I remembering paging through the Joy of Cooking when I was just a child. I think my mother still has that old copy. I’ve never made hushpuppies before. These look wonderful.
It seems to be one of those cookbooks that just about everyone could remember growing up. This was also my first attempt at hush puppies!
I’ve never made hushpuppies, but I love them. How about you?*Mangoes and Chutney* http://ow.ly/5Xc2m
Looks delish.
We’d love you to share your recipes with us at Simply Delish Saturday
Hi Miranda,
We just love Hush Puppies and this recipe is awesome! The sauce looks really good. Thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday and hope to see you again real soon. Hope you are having a great week!
Miz Helen
Homemade Hushpuppies {50 Women In Food: #9 Irma S. Rombauer} | *Mangoes and Chutney* http://t.co/vEPYUs3 via @Mangoes_Chutney
Oh, my heavens – this takes me back to my childhood. I adore hushpuppies dipped in tarter sauce and ketchup – I am so going to have to try this.