Southern Fried Catfish Recipes

CLASSIC FRIED CATFISH

Steps:

• Whisk together buttermilk and hot sauce.
• Place catfish in a single layer in a 13- x 9-inch baking dish; pour buttermilk mixture over fish. Cover and chill 8 hours, turning once.
• Combine cornmeal and next 6 ingredients in a shallow dish.
• Let fish stand at room temperature 10 minutes. Remove from buttermilk mixture, allowing excess to drip off. Dredge fish in cornmeal mixture, shaking off excess.
• Pour oil to depth of 2 inches into a large, deep cast-iron or heavy-duty skillet; heat to 360°F.
• Fry fish, in batches, 2 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack on a paper towel-lined jelly-roll pan. Keep warm in a 225°F oven until ready to serve.

CRISPY SOUTHERN FRIED CATFISH

Steps:

• Combine cornmeal, seasoned salt, pepper, and garlic powder in a shallow dish.
• Pour milk into a separate dish.
• Heat oil and butter in a large skillet over medium heat.
• Dip a catfish fillet in the milk, and shake off any excess.
• Transfer milk-soaked fish to the cornmeal mixture and gently roll to coat on both sides.
• Repeat with remaining fillets.
• Place fish in the hot skillet and cook until golden brown on each side (about 5-7 minutes per side). The fish will flake easily with a fork when it's done.
• Depending on the size of your skillet, you may need to cook the fish in batches. Don't overcrowd the skillet! Feel free to wipe out the pan and use additional butter/oil, as necessary, for subsequent batches.
• Drain fish on paper towels.
• Serve warm, garnished with chopped fresh parsley and a lemon wedge, if desired.

SOUTHERN FRIED CATFISH RECIPE

Steps:

• In a large heavy-bottomed pot, like a Dutch oven, pour in 2 inches of cooking. Let the temperature rise to 350 degrees over a medium-high heat.
• While the oil is heating up, whisk the buttermilk and hot sauce together in a large bowl. Place the catfish fillets in the bowl and let them soak for 15 minutes.
• As the oil is heating up and the fish are soaking up the liquid, combine the flour, cornmeal, Old Bay seasoning and 2 Tablespoons of salt in a large bowl.
• Take the catfish out of the buttermilk mixture and allow any excess liquid to drain off. Next, add the catfish fillets to the flour mixture. Coat each piece thoroughly on all sides, tapping off any excess flour. Transfer the fillets to a plate.
• Very carefully set 2 or 3 fillets at a time into the hot oil and let them fry. When the fish is cooked through, the breading will be crispy. This should take between 7 and 8 minutes. Transfer these fillets to a plate lined with a couple of paper towels. Add another 2 or 3 fillets and season the cooked pieces with salt. Serve them while they're hot.

SOUTHERN FRIED CATFISH

Steps:

• In a small bowl, combine the olive oil, mayonnaise, scallions and relish to make a tartar sauce. Refrigerate until needed.
• Heat oil in deep-fryer to 350 degrees F.
• Combine cornmeal, Blackfish Spice and salt and pepper, to taste. Dredge catfish fillets in seasoned cornmeal. Deep-fry coated pieces in batches until they are cooked through, about 10 minutes. (For basic reference, use the manufacturer's instructions for your deep fryer for similar foods, then test the fish see that it is fork tender.) Allow to drain on paper towels and serve with tartar sauce and fresh lemon wedges (to squeeze lemon juice over the fish).

SOUTHERN FRIED CATFISH

Steps:

• In a small bowl, mix buttermilk, water, salt, and pepper. Pour mixture into a flat pan large enough to hold the fillets. Spread fish in one layer over bottom of pan, turning to coat each side, and set aside to marinate.
• In a 2 gallon resealable plastic bag, combine the cornmeal, flour, and seafood seasoning. Add fish to mixture, a few fillets at a time, and tumble gently to coat evenly.
• Heat oil in deep fryer to 365 degrees F (185 degrees C).
• Deep fry fillets until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Avoid overcrowding so fillets have room to brown properly. Fish should be slightly crisp outside, and moist and flaky inside. Drain on paper towels.

SOUTHERN PAN FRIED CATFISH

Steps:

• In a flat dish (Like a baking dish or cake pan), combine cornmeal, Cajun seasoning, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Whisk together to combine.
• Coat catfish in cornmeal mixture. Remove to a large plate or tray.
• Heat half of the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
• When butter is hot, fry 2-3 fillets at a time for about 3 minutes on each side, or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork.
• Repeat with remaining butter and catfish.
• Serve immediately.

SOUTHERN FRIED CATFISH

Steps:

• Heat the peanut oil in a 5-quart Dutch oven over high heat until it reaches 350 degrees F on a deep-fry thermometer. Adjust the heat to maintain the temperature.
• Whisk the cornmeal and flour together in a shallow dish. Combine the seafood seasoning, kosher salt, paprika, and pepper in a small bowl. Season the catfish fillets evenly on both sides with the spice mixture. Pour the buttermilk into another shallow dish. Dip each fillet into the buttermilk, flip once to coat both sides, hold over the pan and allow the excess to drip off. Coat both sides of the fillets in the cornmeal mixture. Set the coated fillets on a cooling rack and let rest for 5 minutes.
• Gently add the fillets, 2 at a time, to the hot oil and fry until golden brown, about 5 to 6 minutes. Remove the fried fillets to a cooling rack set over a newspaper-lined half sheet pan. Repeat method with remaining fillets. Arrange the catfish on a serving platter and serve immediately.

SOUTHERN FRIED CATFISH

Steps:

• Whisk together egg, milk, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl. Pulse saltines in a food processor until finely ground, then stir together with cayenne and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt in a shallow baking dish.
• Dip 1 catfish fillet into egg mixture, letting excess drip off, then dredge in saltines to coat and transfer to a wax-paper-lined tray. Coat remaining fillets in same manner.
• Preheat oven to 300°F.
• Heat oil in a 4- to 5-quart heavy pot (preferably cast-iron) over high heat until it registers 360°F on thermometer. Carefully lower 1 fillet into oil (temperature of oil will drop to 340°F), then fry until golden and just cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer fillet with a slotted spatula to a rack set over paper towels to drain briefly, then transfer to a shallow baking pan and keep hot in oven. Fry remaining fillets in same manner, returning oil to 360°F each time.

FRIED CATFISH AND SPAGHETTI

Steps:

• Marinate the catfish: In a medium bowl, mix together buttermilk, mustard, salt and pepper. Add the catfish strips, turning to coat each side, and place in the refrigerator to marinate as you prepare the sauce.
• Prepare the pasta sauce: In a large pot set over medium-high, heat olive oil until it shimmers. Add ground meat, onion, green pepper, seasoned salt and black pepper. Cook until the meat is browned and cooked through and the vegetables have softened, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, 30 seconds.
• Add tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes, stock, sugar, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, Italian seasoning, parsley, basil and red-pepper flakes. Continue to simmer until sauce has thickened, about 20 to 30 minutes.
• While the sauce is cooking, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package directions until al dente.
• As pasta cooks, prepare the fish for frying: As sauce cooks, heat the vegetable oil over medium-high in a large (12-inch) cast-iron skillet until it reaches 365 degrees on an instant-read thermometer.
• In a medium bowl or resealable plastic bag, combine the cornmeal, flour and seafood seasoning. Add the fish to the mixture, a few strips at a time, and tumble gently to coat evenly
• Working in batches, fry fillets until golden brown, about 5 minutes, flipping occasionally with tongs. Avoid crowding the pan, so that the fillets have room to brown properly. (Fish should be slightly crisp outside, and moist and flaky inside.) Drain on paper towels, and hit with seafood seasoning or salt as soon as the fried strips come out of the oil.
• Toss the spaghetti into the simmered sauce. Serve the sauced pasta across plates, alongside the fried fish. Sprinkle more basil and parsley over the top.