Originally published at Women Not Dabbling by emphelan
Robbyn’s post got me thinking about what was done, back in the day, that helped with stretching out foods. My father’s side of the family was not in the country during the Great Depression, my mother’s side was. But there were things that seem to carry over, not just from country to country, but generation to generation.
Fried Dough Balls
In a time when most people are worried about fat content in what they eat, the fried dough ball has gone by the wayside. Of course this might not sound appetizing put into the term of “Fried Dough Ball” Some of you may prefer doughnut, or loukoumades, or even hush-puppies. There are many different ways to make the fried dough ball.
Flour has increased in price within the last year, but it is still a relatively inexpensive item to have on hand. I realize that this post isn’t kosher for the people that want to stay away from processed foods, white foods, and oils/fats, don’t care. You want to learn how to live lean, do it by what you can stretch your dollar with and then going outside and do some manual labor. Hey it’s Saturday, very few people read on Saturday, so I can say what I want, ha! I digress. During the Great Depression, the dough ball was easy and sometimes the only food that many families had on hand. Simple water, flour and a lard or oil.
The easiest way to stretch a meal is to make the dough balls when you use a batter for your meats. Most of us use a dry batter, dunk the meat into an egg and milk mix, then dredge it through flour/corn meal seasoned mix, then fry, or bake. Then we look at the dredged flour and toss it because raw meat has touched it and it is now no good. Ah ha! There is were you went wrong my friends. Add a little savory ball to the dinner plate by simply adding your egg/milk mix to the flour, add water or more milk to turn it into a wet dough. Fashion up form balls and throw it into the frying pan until you have these puffy golden brown fried bread. There ya go, hush-puppies. Why do you think that, THAT one fast-food seafood restaurants hush-puppies taste just like their battered fish? Waste not want not.
Simple flour, sugar and water can be fried to make doughnut holes, just drizzle honey over them, for a sweet treat, or allow them to cool a bit before rolling them in powdered sugar. Stuffing the balls with shrimp, crab, or any meat can give you another meal all together. Filling and tasty. You can stuff either a savory or a sweet ball.
Fried dough balls can be made in hundreds or different ways, each country seems to have there own specialty. But as always, be creative with your own.
Not Dabbling In Normal 
Hey, I’m reading!! 😉 (I have no life, LOL)
I think this is a brilliant way to use up dredging flour! My husband and kids love hush puppies, yet I have never tried to make them from scratch (a few times in the past from a “kit”). I will put this in my “depression notebook”. Thanks!
We make these about once a month and call them ” ollieballen or doughbellies”. I just use my regular bread dough recipe… pinch off… deep fry..and then roll them in cinnamon sugar…. we dip them in vanilla icing… good stuff!!
Hey, Erin, I read on Saturdays, too. !!
And, I agree with Gina, I’ve always thrown that flour out, but not anymore.
Thanks so much for helping me think outside the box ( or flour sack).
barbara
What a great excuse to fry something up soon! Though I don’t think I will ever be desperate enough to fill them with excrement. “Stuffing the balls with shrimp, crap, or any meat can give you another meal all together.” LOL! Great typo.
Judy, a relatively new reader here
oops, thank you for pointing that one out. I guess that’s what I get for writing it at 530am, with little coffee in me. My mind goes straight to crap 😉
mmmmmmmmmmmm! frybread! good for the soul if not the heart! add a bit of chopped apple and a little cinnamon for a lovely sunday morning breakfast!
We always looked forward to baking day when I was young. My Mom would take bits of bread dough, roll it about half inch thick and fry it. Slather it down with butter and it is heaven. Hmm, making me hungry.
I had never thought to use the dredging flour. Great idea. We also make a soft dough and drop it into broth. Kind of like lumpy noodles.
J
Oh man, hush puppies….mmmmmmm (drifting off for a moment into happy fish fry memories…) I never thought to use the dredging flour, great idea!! And fried doughnuts in any form, yum! I th ink I’ll be making more dumpling-ish additions to stocks and soups..the dredging flour would be great for that
I wouldn’t do it a lot because I need to avoid fried food more often than not–but once in a while, I bet it’s damn tasty.
What I usually end up doing with the cornmeal/flour mixture from dredging fish is to put it in the pan with the fish and make crispy “bits” for want of a better word. It doesn’t add a lot of substance to the meal, but it’s quite good. I wonder if I could add liquid and make something like a crepe?
Safira, I don’t see why not. Just make it a batter instead of a dough. It should work out. I don’t fry very often myself. My husband has an aversion to chicken skin. ha!
Almost the same thing: Indian fry bread. Flour, baking powder, water, patted out flat and deep-fried. I eat it with honey or powdered sugar.
Good lord I miss hush puppies, and catfish too. My mom made homemade doughnuts sometimes (I remember that they had grated potato in them) but the hush puppies were always my favorite.
Don’t forget dumplings on top of stew…
I don’t make them Phelan but you brought back memories of time spent with my grandparents and my granddad and his morning coffee. My grandma would make them in batches and freeze them for him to have some each morning. (Hushpuppies! Never heard of them until I came south …don’t ask why….love those things though!)
Monica
I dont get to read on Saturdays. =( But Mondays work very well! =)
I too have thrown flour out thinking it contaiminated – cooking kills the cooties. =) Great idea!
Growing our own food has taught me to be frugal in the kitchen. Some things are still “expensive” to grow, if not in cash, in time and energy and composted manure.
Homegrown meat is still “expensive” for us to produce so I have learned to stretch it, but at the same time, not feel deprived at the table. It is definately an art! My meatballs are sometimes more like a dumpling with some meat mixed in, but still tastes great.
I usually do fried dough from my bread batch, but I never made them from a simple flour, water, sugar dough. I love all of the variations.
We make indian fry bread, around here. My hubby’s got an aunt who is native american (though not an Alaskan tribe, she’s from Montana origionally) who used to make Fry bread every month and share it with all the kids in the family. Well, I came along and was happy to get her recipe, and happy to make this for hubby.
Now we’ve got a favorite recipe that involves slicing the puffiest fry-breads open along the side (pita-bread style) and stuffing with a mix of browned ground beef & onion, and sauce made of cream o’ chicken & chopped green chilies and topping with cheese and eatting like a “tex-mex sloppy joe”. So, extra sopaipillas are always made to have just topped with butter or cheese (to be melted). YUM!
Is anything else added to the flour mixture for leavening??? Whenever I’ve tried making hush-puppies out of that left-over flour mixture, they always come out dense as hell and damn near inedible.
Kati, I don’t add anything, but I do use more cornmael than flour in my fried foods. You can try adding up to a teaspoon of baking soda to the mix. I love indian fried bread. My family makes it as well.
Thanks to all who have put this web site together. This is my first visit. I was reading how to render fat. I am a cook of over 30 years but never had the opportunity. I am mostly a city gal gone country. My husband got his first bear and I have had to prepare it for freezing and such. Now I am rendering the fat. I am stoked! I think I was born a little to late. I love not having to go to the store to purchase these niceties. I enjoyed your blogs, and yes I’ve made indain fry bread, but not hushpuppies from the dredging left overs, I keep learning and that keeps me going so thanks transplanted orgonian:)