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Light Red Horse Bread
(For fish suppers) I PART FLOUR 2 PARTS CORN MEAL I TEASPOON SUGAR 3 EGGS SALT TO TASTE FAT FOR FRYING This mixture should be stirred well, taking pains to use only enough flour-meal mixture to make batter thin as waffle batter. About 1 tablespoon of the batter is enough for each piece of bread. Be sure to have enough fat to float the batter, and have it hot before putting the batter in.
This is a hushpuppy batter in its oldest and plainest form, written by proportion rather than by cup. The proportions are sound; the liquid is left to the cook's judgment.
- Proportions, not measuresWork by volume: 2 parts cornmeal to 1 part flour. A practical batch for four to six people is 1 cup cornmeal, 1/2 cup flour, 1 teaspoon sugar, 3 eggs and about a teaspoon of salt.
- The missing liquidNo milk or water is specified, and 3 eggs alone will not thin 1 1/2 cups of dry meal to waffle-batter consistency. Add milk, buttermilk or water a little at a time until the batter ribbons off the spoon.
- The hinge: batter thicknessEverything depends on the batter being as thin as waffle batter. Too stiff and the centers stay raw and pasty; too loose and the spoonfuls spread and shatter in the fat.
- Fat temperatureBring the fat to 350-375F. Below that the bread absorbs grease; above it, the crust colors before the interior sets. If the fish has been fried first, its fat can be used for the bread.
- Depth of fat'Enough fat to float the batter' means a deep pot with enough fat that the spoonfuls bob and turn themselves rather than sitting on the bottom.
- No leaveningThis version calls for none, so the eggs and the steam do the lifting. Cooks who want a lighter crumb add a teaspoon of baking powder, but that is a departure from the recipe as given.
- CornmealUse a stone-ground white or yellow meal rather than a fine degerminated one. A medium grind gives the sandy bite this bread is meant to have.
- Yield and timingA tablespoon of batter per piece, as the recipe directs, will give a large number of small breads from the batch above. They need 2-3 minutes, turning once, and should be drained on paper and eaten hot.