Rania's Recipes: Fried Catfish, Barbecued Shrimp & More

If you're looking for some southern-inspired recipes, be sure to try out these from Rania Harris today!

Fried Catfish with Spicy Remoulade

• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon ground red pepper
• 1 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons prepared mustard
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• Several dashes Frank's hot sauce
• 1 pound catfish fillets, cut into 1- by 3-inch strips
• Vegetable oil
• 2 cups fish-fry mix*
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 onion, thinly sliced
• Spicy Remoulade (recipe below)

Directions:

Place first 7 ingredients in a large, heavy-duty zip-top plastic bag. Add fish; seal and shake gently. Chill 1 hour.

Pour oil to depth of ¾ inch in a large, heavy-duty skillet; heat to 350 degrees.

Combine fish-fry mix and cornstarch in a separate large, heavy-duty zip-top plastic bag. Remove fish from milk mixture. Place in bag in batches, and shake to coat.

Fry fish, in batches, in hot oil 2 to 3 minutes on each side or until golden. Drain on paper towels. Separate onion slices into rings, and place over fish. Serve immediately with Creole Tartar Sauce.

*I used Zatarain's fish-fry mix

Serves: 4

Spicy Remoulade Sauce

• 1/8-cup capers, drained
• 5 or 6 cornichons
• 1/2 small onion, peeled
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons tarragon vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons Creole spices
• 3 tablespoons chopped parsley

Directions

Finely chop the capers, cornichons and the onion. Place in a bowl and add the mayonnaise, lemon juice, vinegar, mustard, Creole spices and herbs. Mix well. Cover and chill for one hour.

Barbecued Shrimp

• 1 ½ cups Worcestershire sauce
• 3 tablespoons Creole seasoning
• 3 tablespoons freshly cracked black pepper
• ½ teaspoon Cayenne pepper (or more to taste if you like your shrimp super spicy)
• 2 cloves of garlic – minced
• 3 pounds jumbo shrimp – shells and heads left on
• 4 lemons, cut into halves
• ¼ cup water
• ¾ pound butter – cut into pieces
• Buttermilk Drop Biscuits (Recipe Below)

Directions:

In a bowl, stir together first 5 ingredients. Place shrimp in a large cast iron Dutch oven and pour sauce mixture over shrimp.

Squeeze lemons over shrimp mixture. Add squeezed lemons along with ¼ cup water to the shrimp mixture in the pot. Bring to a boil over high heat, uncovered, for 6 minutes, or until the shrimp begins to turn pink, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and begin to add the butter and stir until the butter melts. Serve hot with biscuits (see recipe below)

Serves: 6

Buttermilk Drop Biscuits

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1/3 cup unsalted butter – cut into pieces
• 2/3 cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon honey

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Combine all dry ingredients in the bowl..

Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add buttermilk and honey and mix just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Do not overwork the dough or the result will be a tough biscuit.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 15 – 20 minutes or until golden.

Yield: about 14 biscuits