Squash Puppies



 

Squash Puppy with Garlic Mayonnaise

My friend, Johnathon Scott Barrett, is the author of a wonderful book on being a "Southern son" called, Rise and Shine, published by Mercer. It's full of stories and the other things we southerners love, like really good family recipes! Hallelujah, because I can hardly pick up a book anymore that doesn't have recipes and southern stories. Reading how other southerners lived and what they ate are my adult bedtime stories.

Johnathon's book is very popular and he has had one of the busiest schedules ever, with book signings and speaking engagements. But, finally we were able to mesh our schedules and meet in Yemassee, South Carolina. Yemassee is halfway between our two cities of Charleston and Savannah.

Lucky for us that we had planned on meeting at a place that didn't serve lunch on Saturday. And, the place we ended up was where we were really supposed to be. It was a quaint tea room by the name of Fletcher's Finds and Finest. What a wonderful surprise it was too.

After we had some great conversation with the owner and her assistants, we settled in by seating ourselves at a huge dining room table in a room off to the side of the main dining room. The tables behind ours were covered in stacks of rugs, and the walls were covered in portraits and other art. The shelves were full of glassware, and cabinets were full of knick-knacks. We couldn't stop looking, nor could we stop talking. After all, we had a lot to catch up on and one of those was, of course, southern food. 

But first, we had to eat. On the menu in the list of appetizers was one called, "squash puppies"which the owner told us that we had to try. So, we placed the order, and soon, the big basket of squash puppies was on the table. We couldn't stop eating them. So good.

We had a fun lunch, and didn't want to leave because we still had so much to talk about, but alas, life calls and we both had to leave the table with "stuff" on it and go to our homes. But, we'll meet again one day and this time we will be talking about Johnathon's latest book! I will let you know about the book as soon as it's out, and where we ate as well as what we ate. I know it will be something good.

A week or so before our meeting, I had made hush puppies and published the recipe on this blog, so I decided that I would try to use that recipe and make squash puppies. If you want the original recipe from Fletcher's, please contact them in Yemassee, for a cookbook that includes the recipe. The cookbook is very reasonable and I am sure they'd love to ship you one. If you want to try my recipe, you will find it below. I hope you enjoy them. See photo directions below the recipe.



Squash Puppies

Inspiration from Fletcher's Finds and Finest

Yemassee, SC

 

1 cup self-rising corn meal mix (I use Martha White Hot Rize, white cornmeal)

1 tablespoon self-rising flour

pepper, to taste

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 egg, beaten

1 cup finely diced yellow squash (zucchini would work too)*See instructions in photos below for cutting squash

3 green onions, including the stems, thinly sliced, optional (you could also use chopped jalapenos)

1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk*

 

Mix the dry ingredients together with the squash (and green onions if using them in the recipe). Add the buttermilk starting with 1/3 cup and then per tablespoon until you have a very thick batter, making sure you have no dry cornmeal in your batter.

 

Prepare a small, deep, heavy saucepan for frying the hushpuppies by adding about 2-3 inches of oil, and place over medium to medium high heat. When the oil starts to move, scoop out hushpuppy batter a tablespoon at a time and add to the hot oil. A one tablespoon ice cream scoop works great for this. Your saucepan should be deep, but large enough to hold 3-4 hushpuppies at a time. Brown hushpuppies on each side, and remove to paper towels to drain. Serve hot. Makes 13-16 hushpuppies. *Repeat-you want a thick batter, so add the extra two tablespoons sparingly. It would be better to add one at a time as needed.

 

Serve with red pepper jelly or aioli on the side. Aioli is garlic mayonnaise. I mixed finely chopped garlic with mayonnaise, and served it with the squash puppies.

 

 

Cut the squash by quartering from stem to stem. Slip your knife under the seeds and slice them out.

 

 



Cut the squash into strips and then into small dice. 

 

Batter should be thick.

 



 

I use a Le Creuset Saucepan.

 

 

Use a small ice cream scoop for the batter.

 

 

 

Drain on paper towels.

 

 

Enjoy!