Saturday, December 20, 2008

A New (at least, for me) Take On the Hushpuppie

I met some people for a friend's birthday supper last night (Happy Birthday Fred!) at a seafood restaurant out on the west-side.  It was a haul for me (almost far enough I felt I might need my passport) but the promise of catfish and the celebration a friend's birthday lured me.


If you're in the mood for fried seafood (and some fresh-water) and aren't put out by the room temperature bottle of tartar sauce, it might be worth a drive out - but not for the reasons you might think (see more below).

It reminded me of somewhere you might find in the old section of a beach town - lots of older people (it was very inexpensive), no alcohol (yes, NONE ... nothing ... couldn't get a cocktail), families and many large parties.  Damn near everything that swims in the water and isn't too exotic (no shark or octopus) is available, pretty much fried or broiled.

Lots of "platters" -

I had fried catfish with fried popcorn shrimp (I decided to go safe and not order something that isn't made that often) and combined, they were your standard, common fried fish plate.  The one thing about Bay Breeze that piqued my interest and made me smile was the hushpuppies.
They were circular - like little doughnuts.  I'm sure the kitchen has a doughnut dropper that they use with hushpuppie batter and drop into the oil.  I've never seen hushpuppies made like this and actually, I thought I had been served three little onion rings when my plate arrived.

The hushpuppies were tasty - simple, but they had a good onion flavor and were crisp on the outside.  When I think about it, taking into account the unexpected shape, they were REALLY good.  Not worth a FREQUENT drive out, however once in a while I'd be willing to take a journey to get ahold of the little devils!

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