Recipe Hoe cakes

Hoe cakes

• 2 cups corn meal
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups boiling water
• oil for frying

Put the tea kettle on to boil. In a large bowl combine the corn meal and salt. When the water boils, measure it in a metal or tempered-glass measuring cup. Pour the boiling water over the cornmeal and stir it up. The cornmeal will swell up, absorbing the water, and making a very thick mash.
Heat some oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. You can use as little as two tablespoon of oil per panful, but it is a little easier to use 4 or 5 tablespoons of oil for each panful. Use your waistline and frying skill as the final judge. Now scoop up a little of the cornmeal mush (about 1/4-cup) and shape it into a patty. It will still be warm from the boiling water, so be careful not to burn yourself. You can let it cool down some more first if you like. Plop the patty into the hot fat, and get it to frying. Make some more, until you have a whole pan full. I usually cook about 4 or 5 at a time. When the underside is crispy brown, turn them and cook the other side. When both sides are crispy and brown, transfer them to a plate to keep warm, and start another batch. This recipe makes about 12 hoe cakes.

call ed hoe cakes as they used to be cooked in the field over a fire on the blade of a hoe...incidently if you don't have a hoe you can cook them on a shovel...

 

I'm glad you clarrified the origin of the name.....you had me wondering how they were supposed to be eaten > : O , being an Aussie, innocent in the ways of American haute cuisine ; )

 

Different things for different folks

As a Southerner I've enjoyed my share of hoe cakes. Years ago in Venezuela, I was up in the mountains at a ranch and an appetizer that was served was similar except the corn meal mush was cooked (steamed) in corn husks then served with little pitchers with hot cream with hot peppers in the cream. The husks were opened and the mush cut and then we poured the hot cream w/ peppers onto the polenta-like slices. Really great stuff!
GB