Monday's Recipe: Hoecakes

My wife and I have enjoyed trips to the South with our best friends, one of who hails from Savannah, Georgia. One cannot travel to Savannah without enjoying the great Southern cuisine that can be found there. This cuisine is personified in the concoctions of Paula Deen. Her restaurant in Savannah offers a spectacular lunch buffet. As noted here before, I like to eat and will often do so to a point where I inflict pain upon myself. However, during one visit to Lady and Sons, it was the hoecakes that did in our best friend. Later, it was the Krispy Kreme that did in my wife. Pepto, anyone?

Enjoy this recipe from Paula for hoecakes, but please, eat responsibly.

Hoecakes

• 1 cup self-rising flour
• 1 cup self-rising cornmeal, or from a mix (recommended: Aunt Jemima's)
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon water
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil or bacon grease
• Oil, butter, or clarified margarine, for frying

Mix well all ingredients, except for the frying oil. Heat the frying oil or butter in a medium or large skillet over medium heat. Drop the batter, by full tablespoons, into the hot skillet. Use about 2 tablespoons of batter per hoecake. Fry each hoecake until brown and crisp; turn each hoecake with a spatula, and then brown the other side. With a slotted spoon, remove each hoecake to drain on a paper towel-lined plate. Leftover batter will keep in refrigerator for up to 2 days.