Fried Catfish

Josh and I decided to have dinner at home for our date night this past weekend. We were originally going to make crab cakes but we ended up getting catfish because crab meat is going on sale today. Neither of us had ever had catfish but I've always heard it was good. We got a mini deep fryer for the wedding so we decided to make fried catfish & hushpuppies. We bought some slaw to go with it. Everything was super easy to make but we got some interesting shapes with our hushpuppies.

The catfish recipe we used was from Food Network. It was actually for catfish sandwiches so we changed it up a little.

Catfish:

• Oil, for frying
• 2 eggs
• 2 to 3 dashes hot sauce
• 2 teaspoons seafood seasoning (recommended: Old Bay)
• Kosher salt
• 1 cup cornmeal (medium ground for more texture)
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cornstarch Freshly ground black pepper
• 4 catfish fillets, cut in 1/2, about 2 pounds
• 4 sourdough sandwich rolls
• 4 tablespoons butter, softened
• 4 romaine or red lettuce leaves

Directions

In a deep 12-inch pan set over medium-high heat, add enough oil so it comes 1/3 of the way up the sides. Heat the oil to 375 degrees F.

In a wide-mouth bowl, whisk the eggs with the hot sauce, seafood seasoning and a pinch of salt. In a small paper bag, mix together the cornmeal, flour, cornstarch, and salt and pepper, to taste. Dredge the catfish in egg mixture, then in the flour mixture. Gently shake off excess flour. Set aside and repeat with remaining catfish. Fry the fish in batches until golden, about 2 to 3 minutes each side, being careful to keep the temperature at 375 degrees F. Remove catfish to a paper towel to drain and immediately season with salt.

Hushpuppies

Ingredients

• 6 cups peanut oil
• 1 1/2 cups self-rising cornmeal
• 1/2 cup self-rising flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 egg, lightly beaten

Directions

Using a deep pot, preheat oil for frying to 350 degrees F.

Using a mixing bowl, stir together the cornmeal, flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir in the onion. In a small bowl, stir together the buttermilk and egg. Pour the buttermilk mixture into the dry ingredients and mix until blended. Drop the batter, 1 teaspoon at a time, into the oil. Dip the spoon in a glass of water after each hushpuppy is dropped in the oil. Fry until golden brown, turning the hushpuppies during the cooking process.

For the hushpuppies we used canola oil because we didn't have peanut oil. We added some onion powder instead of using onions & they were really good!