Southern Fried Catfish

Deep-fried catfish is a favorite at our house.  Brush catfish with prepared mustard.  For two pounds catfish, I put one cup cornmeal, one and a half teaspoons of CajunSeasoning, and one-half teaspoon onion powder in a quart bag and shake till well-coated.  Best fried in a deep cast-iron skillet.  (I am extremely partial to cast-iron.)

There is an easy trick to getting the oil to just the right temperature.  As the oil gets hot, drop a wooden, strike anywhere match in the heating oil.  It will ignite at exactly 375 degrees, the perfect temperate for deep-frying.  The corn-meal battered catfish sear over when dropped in the hot oil and absorb much less oil.  In a matter of minutes the will be crisp and golden brown.  Put them on a rack to drain for maximum crispness.

Tonight, instead of the French-fries we so admire, I served the fish with oven fried okra,  I just bought the frozen breaded type,  sprayed it with cooking spray, and baked it at four hundred degrees til crisp.  I opened a jar of home-canned bean soup to go along with it.

For dessert, we had a very simple peach crumble.  To four cups frozen peaches, I stirred in three-quarters cup Splenda Brown Sugar, two tablespoons corn starch, and half a teaspoon cinnamon.  I poured in a bowl and topped with a crumb mixture of one-half cup oatmeal.a dash of cinnamon, one-fourth cup Splenda Brown Sugar mixed with three teaspoons butter.  I baked at 350 degrees till top is brown and crumbly.

This was an easy, delicious meal.