Fried Catfish

donna

Brev. Brig. Gen'l
Forum Host
Joined
May 12, 2010
Location
Now Florida but always a Kentuckian
512px-Acme_Oyster_House_Shrimp_and_Catfish_Platter.jpg
Acme Oyster House Shrimp and Catfish Platter
Kimberly Vardeman [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons


Here is recipe for fried catfish to serve with Hush Puppies.

Fried Catfish

Ingredients:

Skinned catfish fillets
Seasoning salt
Garlic and onion salt
Cracker meal
lard, or oil for frying

Preparation:

Rinse catfish in cool water. Set aside to drain. Sprinkle catfish with seasoning, garlic and onion salts. Dip into cracker crumbs. Deep fry in the hot oil until golden brown on each side.

Another recipe that my grandfather used. He loved to fish and his favorite was catfish. Each summer he would have a fish fry and invite all his family and friends.

Catfish Recipe:

Ingredients:

1/3 cup cornmeal
1 tablespoon Old Bay Seasoning
1 teaspoon parsley flakes
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
1 pound catfish fillets
1 egg, beaten
3 tablespoon oil

Preparation:

In a shallow dish, mix cornmeal. Old Bay, parsley and garlic salt.

Dip fish fillets one at a time, in beaten egg. Coat with cornmeal mixture.

In large skillet, heat oil to medium. Pan-fry fillets 4 to 5 minutes on each side or until flakes with a fork. Drain fish on paper towels.

Old Bay Seasoning has been around for over 70 years. It is made out of Maryland. It is great to use for catfish.
 
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Catfish is hard to find out West here. Costco used to carry it, but no longer does.
First time I had real catfish and 'puppies was about 12 years ago in St. Petersburg, my first visit to the South. Mercy sakes that was a wonderful meal.

Yes, some stores carry it but not too many. (And not always that fresh! :confused:) Think maybe the closest we have to it is red rockfish.
 
Catfish is hard to find out West here. Costco used to carry it, but no longer does.
First time I had real catfish and 'puppies was about 12 years ago in St. Petersburg, my first visit to the South. Mercy sakes that was a wonderful meal.
Bill, have you tried a Wal-Mart Super Center? They carry them down here in 4 pound boxes for about $25. I think maybe the "geniuses'" in Bentonville, AR, where Wal-Mart has their headquarters, must think they know more about what people like to eat in different parts of the country than the people themselves. I'm fortunate to live close enough to the Pride Of The Pond catfish farms just outside Tunica, MS that I can go over and get catfish fillets that slept in the pond the night before. They're (I think) the largest commercial catfish producer in the US. I know that they have several hundred acres devoted to catfish ponds where, 20 years ago, cotton was king. Here's a link to their web site and they do sell and ship retail and wholesale.

http://www.prideofthepond.com/

Edit to add: These are catfish fillets, not whole fish. No bones and you usually get about 12 to 15 fillets per 4 pound box.
 
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In New Orleans, great catfish can be had at Olivier's, a Creole owned restaurant in the French Quarter or at Top Hat, more North Louisiana/Mississippi catfish in the University area.

There's a great catfish restaurant in a small North Florida town, but the last time we went there my husband got a $187 speeding ticket--most expensive dinner we've ever had. Yes, it was a speed trap and no, my husband never, ever, ever drives over the speed limit, except this one time.
 
Next week is the annual Okeechobee, Florida bass fishing trip. People say it's wrong, but I eat catfish every evening for a week.
 
In Memphis, catfish places flicker in and out of existence like lighting bugs on a warm summer evening - everybody thinks they have the best catfish recipe, but few people know how hard it is to run a successful restaurant. Y'all have me craving catfish and the place I used to go closed, so I'm going to try a new one!
 
I don't generally like fish but I would eat good fried catfish. When I was a kid there used to be places in south Georgia built partly on stilts out over small rivers where they caught the fish out back. Served family style on wooden picnic tables. Hushpuppies and sweet tea included. Brings back some memories. Can't get that sort of thing out here.

I was interested to see that Gorybound had mentioned Cadiz, KY. That's where I used to buy my country hams (from the place where, at the time, the governor bought his). Never thought I'd see that little town mentioned anywhere !
 
Of course, there are lots of catfish species. My favorite is channel catfish, and they shouldn't be too big. I want the fish (with the head off) to be no longer than about 12 inches. Shorter is even better. Some other species (like flatheads) seem to taste better when they are larger. I can't comment too much about them, because I am not a big river fisherman, and around here, the boys only pull flatheads out of THE big river (the Missouri River). I've probably eaten my own weight in flathead filets over my lifetime, but I honestly do not know how the river boys make them so good. All I can say is, they do it. That said, I'd take a ten or twelve inch channel catfish fillet over a fancy rainbow trout any day (but I wouldn't exactly turn my nose up at a fresh caught rainbow, either.)

....now...if we get REALLY persnickety here, I'll just say this much more: In my view, crappie fillets beat even a channel catfish fillet. And sauger or walleye fillets (again, from a fish that is not too big...about 12-14 inches) will beat even a crappie fillet. But walleye fillets are hard to come by in central Missouri. They are native to our waters, but they are not out there in any sort of big numbers, so it's rare when one is caught here.
 
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