Crab Stuffed Hush Puppies with Horse Radish Cocktail Sauce #RecipeRedux

Need a little spice in your life?  Me too. I can't help you with your love scene but I can offer up some tantalizing, lip smacking good finger foods with a kick. These bite size crab stuffed hush puppies are perfect with a drop or three of sirachi or your favorite hot sauce. I happen to love these babies sitting next to a piping hot bowl of chile con carne. Of course Manhattan Red Chowder would pair equally well..... as well as an ice cold cerveza!  

This month at Recipe Redux we are all about spicing things up in the kitchen! Everyone has pulled together their favorite dishes using all sorts of spices from chile powder to smoked paprika and an assortment of smoked delectables like smoked fish, smokey sauces and mouthwatering side dishes.

Start Smoking in the New Year!  {no, not cigarettes!}

The New Year is heating up with smoke and spiciness. From boldly flavored smoked salts to actual smoking techniques, subtly smoked food is on-trend. The same can be said for spice as we savor heat from harissa, sriracha and smoked paprika. Show us the healthy dish you’re heating up with smoke and/or spiciness.

When I was little, I use to ask for home made hush puppies every year for my birthday, along with seared jumbo sea scallops. I was  very  refined for an eleven year old..  Something about those hush puppies, made just for me, hot from the fryer and then dipped into a spicy home made cocktail sauce really made me feel all kinds of special.




Now that I'm all grown up, I like to put a little bit extra horse radish sauce in my cocktail sauce. Just enough to give me a little roll of the eye and a kick in the pants. My grown up version of hush puppies has evolved a bit too and chunks of fresh crab meat couldn't be any finer.

SERVES        4-6            TIME      20 MINUTES




Crab Hush Puppies

4-6 cups grape seed oil for frying  {please see note below}
2 cups yellow cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon salt (yes, that's correct)
1-2 tablespoons of your fav hot sauce
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1 lb Dungeness crab meat {I used fresh/jarred claw meat from the meat counter}
5 large green onions, thinly sliced
extra hot sauce to dash on the puppies or tarter sauce if your wimpy






Heat oil in a heavy 4-quart pan over med-high heat until it registers 350F on a deep-fry thermometer. Preheat oven to 170F.

While the oil is heating, stir together cornmeal, flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together hot sauce, eggs and milk then add to the cornmeal mixture and stir until combined. Fold in crab.

Carefully, drop batter by small spoon fulls into heated oil. Don't over crowd the pan. Cook 2-3 minutes per side until golden brown, adjusting heat as necessary. Transfer with a slotted spoon or fork to paper towels to drain briefly. Transfer each batch of hush puppies to a shallow baking pan and keep warm in oven till ready to serve. Add more oil in between batches as needed and let heat back up to 350F 
{I don't own a thermometer, I just put my hand close to the oil and guess can expertly tell when it's ready, usually just 30 seconds or so after adding more oil.}

Serve immediately.

Cocktail Sauce


2 cups ketchup
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2-3 teaspoons horseradish (adjust to taste)
Optional, I like to add: dash or two of garlic powder, dash or four of onion flakes



Mix all ingredients together until well-combined.
Keep refrigerated.

notes:


grape seed oil is a high heat oil and is best for frying. There are other high heat oils you can use, please refer to the complete list HERE. Just DO NOT use Olive Oil for frying!

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