Southern Fried Catfish With Hush Puppies Recipes

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.

Steps:

• 1. HUSH PUPPY BATTER: Combine cornmeal, flour, baking powder and salt in medium bowl. Add milk, onion and egg. Stir until well combined. Set aside. Mixture will be a little thick.
• 2. Rinse catfish and pat dry with paper towels. Combine cornmeal, flour, salt and red pepper in shallow dish. Dip fish in cornmeal mixture. Heat 1" of oil in large, heavy saucepan over medium heat until oil registers 375 degrees.
• 3. Fry fish, a few pieces at a time, 4 to 5 minutes or until golden brown and fish flakes easily when tested with fork. Adjust heat to maintain temperature. Drain fish on paper towels.
• 4. TO MAKE HUSH PUPPIES: Drop batter by tablespoonfuls into hot oil. Fry, a few pieces at a time, 2 minutes or until golden brown. Makes about 24 hush puppies.

Steps:

• For the comeback sauce: Combine mayonnaise, sambal, ketchup, lemon juice, hot sauce, smoked paprika, Worcestershire, garlic powder, mustard, salt and pepper in a medium mixing bowl. Whisk together until the mixture is smooth and everything is well incorporated. Taste and adjust seasoning.
• For the whipped sorghum butter: Add the butter, molasses and salt to a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, or to a medium bowl if you're using a hand mixer or whisk. Mix on medium speed until well-combined and the butter is lightened and fluffy.
• For the catfish: Combine the catfish with salt and sugar in a bowl. Refrigerate.
• For the hush puppies: Combine cornmeal with sugar, salt, baking powder, garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, black pepper and cayenne in a medium bowl. Whisk thoroughly to combine these dry ingredients. Whisk together the buttermilk and egg in a separate bowl until there are no specks of egg and it becomes a smooth and homogenous mixture.
• Retrieve the quick-cured catfish from the fridge, and add the catfish and diced onion to the dry ingredient mixture. Quickly stir together to coat the onion and catfish bits with cornmeal and spices. Add the buttermilk and egg and mix quickly with a spatula or wooden spoon until everything is well combined and the batter stiffens up pretty quickly as the cornmeal soaks up the buttermilk. Cover your batter and refrigerate for a few minutes while you prepare your pot for frying.
• Add vegetable oil to a heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven no larger than 8 inches across-it's necessary for deep frying to have at least 2 inches of oil. Heat the oil over medium heat, bringing it up to 350 degrees F, using a thermometer to check the temperature. (If you don't have a thermometer, you can tell that the oil is ready when you add a small pinch of flour and it immediately sizzles and fries. You can fry without a thermometer if you're feeling bold, but just be careful that your oil doesn't get too hot or cold-you could either burn your hush puppies or end up with greasy ones-and no one wants that!)
• Once the oil is up to 350 degrees F, pull your batter from the fridge and begin to scoop it into the hot oil. We like to use a 3/4-ounce cookie scoop, but you could also use two spoons to scoop and drop roughly tablespoon-sized dollops into the hot oil. Fry as many hush puppies as comfortably fit into the pot at once-they should definitely have some room to expand and get crispy. It's okay to fry in several batches.
• Fry the hush puppies for 2 minutes, then turn them over and fry until golden brown and fluffy on the inside, another 2 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon or spider, moving them to a plate or tray lined with paper towels to help drain any excess oil. Sprinkle the hush puppies with a little salt while they're still hot. Repeat this process until all your hush puppies are cooked and seasoned.
• Pile the hushpuppies into a dish for serving and garnish with a nice sprinkle of the chives. Serve them nice and hot with 1 cup comeback sauce and 1/4 cup whipped sorghum butter, or your favorite sauces.