Football fried fish feast

This feast was a joint effort with a friend of mine. We were trying to plan what to eat while watching the Alabama vs Georgia game and she suggested a fish fry. Now, fried food is slightly out of my normal repetoire- but hey, you gotta indulge every once in a while right? This post may be a little lengthy as there are many parts to putting this together, and it took us a good two hours to create- however it was great girl time and we had so much fun in the kitchen. There were several firsts for us too! We'd never done homemade fries or hush puppies, so it was an incredible success!

The order in which we cooked was fries, fish, and then pups. I warmed the oven to 200 to keep everything warm until we were completely ready. 

The first thing we did was prepare the fish. My friend's husband had caught several catfish locally and cleaned them. We patted the fish dry with paper towels and then added the following seasonings: (recipe adapted from Creole Contessa. )

4-6 whitefish filets such as  tilapia, swai, or red snapper

1 tbsp. creole seasoning

2 tsp. black pepper

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. onion powder

1 tsp. paprika

2 tbsp. hot sauce

1 tbsp. yellow mustard

1 egg beaten

1 c. flour

1 c. corn meal

Mix seasonings into a small bowl. Place fish in gallon sized zipper bag. Add seasonings to fish a little at a tie, making sure the fish is thoroughly covered. Add beaten egg, hot sauce and mustard to fish. Mix lightly. Add cornmeal and flour (corn flour) to the bag and shake until all pieces are covered. Heat oil to 350 degrees, and place fish in basket. Carefully lower into oil and watch for about 7 minutes. When fish has reached desired crispiness- remove from oil and drain on papertowel. Remove from paper towel and place in oven to keep warm. 

While my friend was working on the fish, I worked on cutting the potatoes. I first peeled the potatoes and cut them in half longways. I have a mandolin slicer with a julienne attachment. I just ran the potatoes through the slicer and then placed them into a large bowl of water. (This pulls some of the extra starch from the potatoes and also prevents them from turning pinkish/brown). Let the potatoes sit in the water until you are ready to fry them. When ready to fry, remove potatoes from water and dry as much as possible. Warm oil to 350 degrees. When oil is ready, place potatoes in basket and lower into oil. Continuoulsy check potatoes until they are golden brown. (about 10 minutes). Remove from oil and drain on paper towel. Salt/season immediately. Remove paper towel and place in oven to keep warm. 

Next for the hush puppies. 

1 large jalpaneo minced/diced

1 small onion diced

1 can creamed corn

2 cups corn meal

2 tbsp creole seasoning

1 tbsp brown mustard

2/3 cup beer 

Mix all ingredients together. Heat oil to 400 degrees. When oil is ready, carefully drop batter by rounded scoops into the oil. Pups are ready when they turn a medium brown color and float to the top of the oil. Set hush puppies on paper towel to drain. Remove paper towel and place into oven to keep warm. 

Homemade Tartar sauce (adapted from Allrecipes.com)

1 cup mayonnaise

2 tbsp dill pickle relish 

2 tbsp lemon juice

2 tsp sriracha

1 tbsp minced onion

salt/pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together. 

Baked Beans: Open a can of Bush's beans, add 1/4 cup mustard and 1/4 barbeque sauce. Add 1 cup sliced conecuh sausage. Stir together and let simmer on stove until warm. 

Once everything is ready, transfer from oven onto serving plates and enjoy!!!!

- ROLL TIDE!!!!