IDEA ALLEY 7 recipes arrive for cornbread request
Recipes that appear in Idea Alley have not been tested by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
We heard from Kats near and far in response to an anonymous reader’s request for hot water cornbread.
WBTrout writes via email:
“I use Aunt Jemima buttermilk cornmeal mix. Pour almost boiling water into the amount of meal you desire until the consistency is thick enough to hold shape when dropped by large spoonfuls into hot oil. Cook until golden brown, turn and cook other side. I usually do a cup of cornmeal mix and it makes about 10 cakes. I like the consistency of the mix to be similar to thick cake batter — too thick, the bread will be dry; too thin, it is ‘runny.’”
“This recipe is from my late mother-in-law,” writes Marisue Jones.
Hot Water Cornbread
1 ½ cups cornmeal
½ cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking powder
Boiling water
Chopped jalapenos, optional
Chopped onions, optional
Shortening, for frying
Mix all dry ingredients. Add hot water to a thick consistency. Form into patties. Fry in hot shortening.
“This recipe came from the side of a Martha White cornmeal bag, probably in the 1960s,” writes Janet Fifer.
“My mother made these when she served fried fish in addition to the traditional hush puppies. I hope this will fulfill the request for hot water cornbread. They’re good!”
Hot Water Corn Cakes
Shortening for frying
1 cup Martha White cornmeal
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon sugar
1 ¼ cups boiling water
Heat enough shortening to fill inch in a heavy skillet. Measure cornmeal into a bowl. Add salt, baking powder and sugar. Stir in boiling water. When shortening is hot drop batter in by spoonfuls. Fry over medium heat until brown on one side, turn and fry until brown on the other side. Serve hot.
Makes about 12.
Murlene Sampson sends two recipes. She says these are best prepared using cast-iron skillet.
Murlene’s Hot Water Cornbread I
2 cups cornmeal (white or yellow)
1 ½ teaspoons salt
2 to 3 tablespoons sugar
Boiling water
Oil, for frying
Mix well all dry ingredients. Add boiling water to make soft dough. Dampen fingers in cold water; shape into patties. Fry patties in hot oil.
Murlene’s Hot Water Cornbread II
1 ½ cups yellow cornmeal
½ teaspoon salt
Boiling water
Oil, for frying
Mix meal and salt. Add enough water to make a thick mush similar to the consistency of Play-Doh.
Dip hands in cold water and make patties out of the mixture. Drop into hot oil deep enough to cover ½ of patty. Brown one side then turn to brown other side.
This recipe is from Oleta Orr. A note on the card reads: real good.
Oleta’s Hot Water Bread
1 cup white cornmeal
2/3 cup flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
4 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups boiling water
Oil, for frying
Mix all dry ingredients together. Pour boiling water, slowly, and mix; add more water if necessary. Make into patties or hush puppies and drop into hot grease or deep fryer. Cook until golden brown. When one side is golden, flip with a spatula and turn when golden brown.
This one comes from Margaret Thompson.
She notes this good served with beans, turnip greens and fish.
Margaret’s Hot Water Bread
1 cup cornmeal
½ cup flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
Salt to taste
Oil for frying
Mix cornmeal, flour, baking powder and salt together in a glass bowl. Add enough very hot to boiling water to moisten the dry mixture. Then run hands under cold water and spoon enough of the bread mixture into your hands to form a small patty. Fry until lightly browned.
REQUESTS
Potato soup — like that served at Chip’s Barbecue, which closed in 2016 — for Helen Austin. “I’m guessing it was made with peeled, raw potatoes, sliced thinly and cooked in broth,” Austin writes.
Salad dressing like that served at the long-closed Anderson’s Restaurant in Beebe for an unidentified Cabot reader.
Send recipe contributions, requests and culinary questions to Kelly Brant, Idea Alley, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, P.O. Box 2221, Little Rock, Ark. 72203; email:
kbrant@arkansasonline.com
Please include a daytime phone number.