Fried Catfish & Hushpuppies Recipe

My version of good old Southern Fried Catfish & Hushpuppies really hit the spot tonight! Sometimes, the only thing that will cool your craving is a whole plate of fried food, tonight was one of those nights.
I used a medium grind corn meal, and I wish I hadn’t. The only downfall of the whole meal. Those large grains just don’t seem to get cooked through enough during the short frying time.

Wondra flour (gold medal brand) is what is known as an instant flour, used for thickening sauces and gravies. It’s wonderful for frying because it absorbs so much liquid and makes the finished product ultra crispy.

The recipes:

Fried Catfish Recipe with Hushpuppies and Creole Tartar Sauce

For the Catfish:

Fried Catfish Recipe

2 Catfish Fillets, cut into fingers
1 Cup Corn Meal
1/4 Cup Wondra Flour
3 Tbsp Creole Seasoning
Salt & Pepper
Peanut Oil or Lard for frying

Heat 2 inches of Peanut Oil or Lard to 360 degrees in a Cast Iron dutch oven.
Season the Catfish fingers liberally with salt and pepper.
Combine the corn meal, Wondra, and Creole seasoning in a shallow dish. Dredge the catfish in the mixture until well coated. Set aside for 10-15 minutes.
When the oil is to temperature, fry the catfish fingers in batches until golden brown and cooked through.

Serve with lemon wedges, hushpuppies and Creole Tartar Sauce

**Be sure not to over crowd the pan, or you will have greasy, soggy catfish.

For the Hushpuppies:

Hushpuppies Recipe

1 Cup Corn Meal
1 Cup All Purpose FLour
2 Tbsp Green Onions, finely sliced
2 tsp Kosher Salt
1 pinch Cayenne
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Cup Buttermilk

Combine all of the ingredients and mix together thoroughly. Form into balls and fry in 360 degree oil as described above for the Catfish.

For the Creole Tartar Sauce:

Creole Tartar Sauce Recipe

1 Egg
2 Tbsp Fresh Lemon Juice
2 tsp Garlic, chopped
1/4 Cup Dill Pickle, chopped
1 Tbsp Creole Mustard
2 tsp Horseradish
2 tsp Parsley, chopped
3 Tbsp Green Onions, chopped
2 tsp Hot Sauce
1 1/2 Cups Vegetable Oil
Kosher salt

Combine all of the ingredients except the oil in the workbowl of a food processor. Mix on high for 1 minute, then slowly drizzle in the oil until all is incorporated and the mixture is thick like Mayonnaise. Season to taste with salt.

Be sure and check out my ever growing Index of Creole & Cajun Recipes!

Redfish Courtbouillon

From NolaCuisine.com:

This is the city or Creole version of the great Louisiana Courtbouillons, the other being the Cajun Catfish Courtbouillon (COO-be-yahn). The major difference in my two versions is the absence of a Roux in this one and of course the type of fish. I actually used Red Snapper for this version. Although Redfish is preferred and classic, I went with what I could get freshest.

According to the Picayune’s Creole Cookbook of 1901:

Those kings of the New Orleans French Market the Red Snapper and the Redfish, are used in the pride and glory of the New Orleans cuisines, a good Courtbouillon. More generally and with finer results the Redfish or Poisson Rouge is used. This Fish may always be known by the single spot on the tail. The old Creoles have a tradition that this was the fish that the Apostles brought to the Savior when he performed the great miracle of the loaves and the fishes. They hand down the quaint legend that the Savior took up this fish between his fingers and blessed it, and it was ever after a marked fish in the waters, the imprint of the Lord’s fingers having remained on the spot where He held up the fish and blessed it and offered it up to His Father. They hold the Redfish in reverent veneration, and never fail to tell the children when cooking it: ‘Those are the marks of the Lord’s hand.’

More on Redfish Courtbouillon from what I’ve said before is one of my absolute favorite reads on the subject of Creole & Cajun cooking, the long out of print 1971 Time-Life publication American Cooking: Creole and Acadian by Peter S. Feibleman:

Stop and have a bowl of redfish courtbouillon, a dish that is to the bayous and marshes and Gulf coast what a hamburger is to the Midwest. A rich brown roux has been made and combined with tomato puree, onions, shallots, garlic, celery and bell pepper. Bay leaves and allspice and red pepper and other spices have been added, and a dash of Tabasco. Redfish meat and a bit of claret have been put in and simmered gently for an hour, and the courtbouillon is served in a gumbo bowl with rice. It is red and thick and searing, and just one taste of it makes you imagine that you can stand up even to the weather.

When making your Creole Sauce for this recipe be sure to make it extra thick, otherwise the liquid the fish lets out while cooking will make your sauce watery.

Here is my recipe:

Redfish Courtbouillon Recipe

2 Whole Redfish, Red Snapper, or other firm fleshed fish (scaled, gutted and trimmed of all fins)
1 Cup Flour, liberally seasoned with salt, pepper and cayenne
2 Tbsp Unsalted butter
1/4 Cup dry white wine
1 Recipe Creole Sauce, made with fish stock, and made extra thick
1 Lemon, thinly sliced
2 bunches fresh Thyme, 1/2 of which tied tightly with butcher’s twine
1 Bay Leaf
1 Recipe Creole Boiled Rice as an accompaniment

Season the fish all over including in the cavity with kosher salt, black pepper and a little cayenne. Place some of the sliced lemon and 1/2 of the Thyme into the cavity of each fish.
Dredge the fish in the seasoned flour and warm the unsalted butter in a large cast iron skillet.
When the butter just starts to brown place the fish in the pan, cook until golden brown on both sides.
Remove the fish to a plate and deglaze the pan with the white wine. When the wine reduces slightly, add the fish back to the pan and ladle enough Creole Sauce to come up the sides of the fish by half, plus ladle a little on top of the fish.
Add the Thyme and bay leaf to the pan and place some of the lemon slices on top of the fish. Cover the pan with a lid or aluminum foil and place into a 350 degree over for 30 minutes.

When plating, carefully remove the fish and filet gently being careful to get rid of all of the bones. An alternate method would be to filet the fish raw and use the head and bones to make your fish stock.

Serve with Creole Boiled Rice and garnish with chopped parsley, lemon slices, and a genourous helping of the Creole Sauce from the pan.

Serves 2-4 depending on the size of your fish.

Be sure and check out my ever growing Index of Creole & Cajun Recipes which is a directory of all of the recipes featured on this site!