Monday, February 28, 2022

T Stands for Fried Catfish

  Wow How about that we have arrived to March 1st. February here has been all winter with two ice storms and quite a bit of snow too-we get spoiled as some winters are very mild here in SW Missouri. The lake house is an hour further north than our woods home so that may give us a bit more winter here.

   It's also T Stands for Tuesday with Bleubeard and Elizabeth. where we share a drink related photo. 

   I have a new outlook on blogging, which includes visiting bloggers that I enjoy so have decided to share posts again. I was also quite stressed out with all this ice removal on our steps and hill. Here is a photo of our steps going into the house. To the left is the area I will be working in first to plant lots of flowers and herbs. To the right of the steps-that area needs allot of work too-moving more rock, getting rid of some bushes, and turning this into flowers and herbs as well. a work in progress for sure.


Where this levels off up on top is a steep concrete driveway.  I don't mind the exercise this gives me to get my mail, but this is the first winter in this home that we had to deal with so much thick ice.  As one gets older these winters are more of a stress situation too.

  I am not one that fries foods much, my Mom never fried much. She would bake chicken instead of frying, and I don't remember her ever serving us french fries at home. Those were a treat growing up when Dad took us to the A&W restaurant. Husband and I do love fried catfish, so over the weekend I searched for a new batter recipe and fried us up a meal for Sunday. I served it with the last of the potato soup I had made earlier,

  This was the perfect recipe-moist fish inside and crispy batter on the outside really perfection, and not greasy either.  I fry with grapeseed oil when I do fry, and I read about straining it to use again. The site I read said to strain with cheesecloth and refrigerate. Can reuse for fish 4 times, and if not fish then 8 times-that was all new to me. I felt better knowing I can reuse this more expensive oil. It is a healthier oil and is why I like to use it.

   These are the ingredients: corn flour, I used gluten free flour instead of regular flour, and this is a gluten free sorghum beer-my last bottle from about 6 years ago. I also added a little onion powder, a good amount of fresh ground pepper.  I don't use salt in my cooking but this did need just a bit of salt.


    Maybe you that fry fish know this already, but what made this recipe so good I think was the method. You mix 1/2 cup of each flour together-then take half of it and put in the dish to coat the fish first. The other half you gradually add the beer til it is the right consistency and then dip the floured fish in that-and into the fryer.
   I forgot to take a photo of the bowl with flours and beer-but the ones on top in the dish to the right has been battered.
  My ticket to the T party is this bottle of Bard's gluten free beer made with sorghum, which I had a few swallows of while frying the fish.😀


I fried at 360 degrees in one of my favorite vintage cast iron pots. This one is a  Griswold and also has a lid with it-the perfect size for many things.



  My husband raved about this fish so the recipe is a keeper 

One of our pretty sunrises over the lake-loving the reflections on the water


Happy March and Happy T Everyone and thank you to Bleubeard and Elizabeth for hosting

and thank you to Iris for letting me know that Sunflowers are Ukraine's national flower-sharing sunflowers for support



37 comments:

  1. Wow. I have always used beer in my batter. It's the only reason to get beer in my opinion. Your fried catfish look beautiful when complete. Now I'm hungry.

    Jeanie was the one who told Iris (and me) about the sunflowers. Since Kansas's state flower is the sunflower, I feel an even greater connection to Ukraine. Thanks for sharing these photos of your fish and those incredibly scary looking steps with us for T this week, dear Kathy.

    BTW, I LOVE deep fried food and have used grapeseed oil before. Sadly it is not available where Scott shops for me (my Aldi).

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    1. I feel so bad about Ukraine Larry's grandparents came from Russia immigrated during the war and some of the relatives were in Ukraine as well.
      I love Aldi stores we don't have one near here-but I commented back on your post so you see this Aldi has very affordable avocado oil that works really well for frying too.

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  2. Your fish fry looks absolutely yummy! I don't eat fried foods much either as my body doesn't like them but my taste buds LOVE fries.
    What a beautiful sunrise!
    Happy Tea Day,
    Kate

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    1. same here I only started frying fish-and I did not get a stomach ache at all with this fish-I think it was grapeseed oil too and the gluten free ingredients helps. I love fries too but I bake those now.
      Happy T

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  3. Your fish looks delish! I must say though that I have never fried any food though we have had some on occasion when eating out. Sorry to hear the wintry weather and all the ice got you down- anyone could feel that way after awhile. Now it's march you can look forward to spring and all it has to offer.
    Love that beautiful sunset and reflection in the water. Happy T day!

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    1. yep I have not fried much at all, if I attempt it is for fresh caught fish-this recipe was a winner-and did not taste greasy at all.
      we are into a warm up this week with sunshine so that is lifting our spirits for sure. Happy T

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  4. Those are really steep steps. Especially when they get ice covered. And fried fish tastes good every now and again. Here we usually use cod or pollack instead of catfish, but I'm a fish person so anything works. And it's just about March, so happy new month as well as happy T day Kathy. Hugs-Erika

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    1. This was fresh caught catfish Larry likes this fish the best as it has no "fishy" taste, a very meaty fish.
      Happy March and T Erika, thanks

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  5. Kathy, your fried fish looks delicious! Beer batter is so good - and I have never tried it myself since we don't eat much fried food. And I still prefer to drink the beer ;) The photo of the sunrise over the lake is so beautiful.

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    1. thanks this fish did turn out really good. this is the best gluten free beer I have tasted-similiar to a good dark beer.

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  6. Yes, the Sunflower is Kansas state flower. I didn't know it was Ukraine's national flower. Thanks for sharing that. I used to love fried fish from Long John Silvers, but my taste has really changed. We also don't fry things. I bet your flowers and plants will look beautiful when you get them all planted and growing. I look forward to photos when that happens. Happy T Day!

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    1. I am looking forward to begin starting up lots of flower seeds very soon, as soon as we get out of the low night temps they are still in the low 20s but it is warming up during the day

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  7. I am so glad we had no snow this season.
    Not really a fish fan but this looks good, and my, I would love to try that beer :-)

    Awwww, your lake.
    And the credit for the sunflowers actually goes to Jeanie ;-) Beautiful pic!

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    1. I do not drink much beer a whole bottle is too much, but this beer is really good.
      we have been getting some really pretty sunrises this winter

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  8. Your food sounds wonderful. I've never had catfish. Happy T Day, Valerie

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    1. My husband prefers this fish because there is no "fishy" taste to it and it is thick and firm too

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  9. They look so crunchy and tempting! Would be fantastic to use the beer batter to make some onion rings too.

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    1. Hi Angie-oh yum I have made onion rings in years and years and if I can find it I had an excellent gluten free batter for that-May need to make some of those-smiles

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  10. I totally love fried catfish - especially in little pieces like you did. The recipe sounds good - I may have to try it. We have a catfish pond and I need to take advantage of it more! Gorgeous lake picture! Wow. I would want to sit and look out the window all the time if I lived there. Happy T-day, Kathy. Hugz

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    1. Good morning, we had a catfish pond at our woods home-my husband's "pets" haha we have had such lovely sunrises here this winter

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  11. Ice is definitely scary on steep stairways and driveways, especially, as you say, when we are getting older and less resilient. I'm impressed by your technique of frying. I've never tried deep frying.

    best... mae at maefood.blogspot.com

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    1. thank you Mae I think a good quality oil and a good recipe made this work-and must keep an eye on the temp of the oil as well

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  12. I don't fry many foods, occasionally French fries. Most of the time I bake chicken and French fries. I've never fried fish. We always go out for Fish n Chips especially now that it is Lent. Happy T Day

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    1. We used to go out for fish and chips too years ago I like baked chicken and fries too-Happy T

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  13. Fried catfish s one of my favorite foods! My mother raised me right ;) Happy T Tuesday

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  14. Wow, that catfish looks so yummy! I can see why your hubby liked it so much and how wonderful is that view over the lake 😊. Happy T Day! Hugs Jo x

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  15. I love all food fried, will look into your favorite oil. Where is it sold?

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    1. most grocery stores, wal mart etc usually near the olive oils and avocado oil is good one too for high temps

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  16. Boy, those steps look very steep. I can imagine you would be apprehensive using them in bad weather. I don't suppose you go out much when the weather is bad. Make sure you have enough supplies and you can stay in.
    You deep fried fish looks absolutely delicious. I don't have a fryer (because I never fry anything), but hubby likes fish & chips which had batter deep fried cod. We go to a restaurant on the coast that does that (we go a couple of times a year).
    Unfortunately we can't get grapeseed oil here. I will remember the name and look out for some when we are on the coast or in a city.
    Happy T-Day,
    Hugs,
    Lisca

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    1. Hi Lisca, yes we stay put when things are snow or ice covered. I always have several months of supplies here except for fresh foods-and I keep a month supply of those.
      avocado oil is really good for high temps too Happy T

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  17. Wow this fish looks amazing. Yes a keeper on the batter recipe. Have a nice day.

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  18. I don't fry anything either and don't eat fish but I have eaten it in the past (fish and chips is a national dish here lol) Happy belated T Day Elle/EOTC xx

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