Back home in Tennessee my grandparents would have a big fish fry every summer and all of our family and friends would come. My grandfather and all his friends would fish all year and save it all for the fish fry. I have so many fond memories of fishing with my grandfather, cooking with him and eating of course. I lost him several years ago to cancer, but my sweet grandmother is still alive and she gave me the recipe they always used for all those years.
I lived here for about 7 years not knowing you could buy catfish. For some reason I thought it was just an American thing, but last week at the store there was a worker and I asked him if he knew catfish and any fish that tasted similar. He was like we have some right over there and sure enough, they had all kinds of fresh catfish ready to be filleted. I was happy, but kicking myself for not noticing sooner.
Ingredients
Hush Puppies:
- 1 cup cornmeal
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1-1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 garlic clove smashed
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup green peppers finely diced
- 1 egg beaten
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
Fish:
- 4 fillets
- 1 cup cornmeal
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, add cornmeal, flour, baking powder, salt, garlic, green peppers and egg, mix well. Gradually add buttermilk until a stiff dough has formed.
- In a 1-quart saucepan, add oil on medium heat. Form dough into golf ball size balls and carefully drop into the oil. Cook until golden and drain on paper towels.
- Oil for frying
- In a small bowl, add egg, in another bowl adds cornmeal, paprika, salt and thyme, mix well. In a saute pan on medium heat, add oil for frying. Coat each fillet in egg and then cover with cornmeal mixture. Carefully place into hot oil and cook until golden. Approximately 2-3 minutes on each side. Drain on paper towel. Serve with lemon wedges.
Love this recipe! Love these recipes!