Blackened Catfish

I love Cajun-style blackened fish - it is so good! So I was really excited to get to make it myself. We used the recipe for blackened redfish from the Chef Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen cookbook, except we used catfish fillets instead.

It turned out really tasty, and I'm looking forward to making it again.  

Ingredients:

• 3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter
• 4 8-10 oz. catfish fillets
• Seasoning Mix:
• 1 tbsp. paprika
• 2 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. onion powder
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tsp. ground cayenne pepper
• 3/4 tsp. white pepper
• 3/4 tsp. black pepper
• 1/2 tsp. dried thyme leaves
• 1/2 tsp. dried oregano leaves 

Yield: 4 servings

Melt the butter in a skillet.

Pour 2 tbsp. of melted butter into 4 small cups. Set aside and keep warm.  Reserve the remaining butter in its skillet. 

Thoroughly combine the seasoning mix ingredients in a small bowl. 

Dip each fillet in the reserved melted butter so that both sides are well coated.

Sprinkle the seasoning mix generously and evenly on both sides of the fillets, patting it in by hand.

Heat a large cast-iron skillet over very high heat until it is beyond the smoking stage and you can see white ash in the skillet bottom (the skillet cannot be too hot), at least 10 minutes. We did this outside on the grill - it can get a lot hotter than our stove and that way we wouldn't have to deal with the smoke in the house. 

Place the fillet in the hot skillet and pour 1 tsp. melted butter on top of each fillet. Be careful since the butter will probably flame up.

Cook, uncovered, over the same high heat until the underside looks charred, about 2 minutes (the time can vary depending on the heat of the skillet and the fillet's thickness).

Turn the fish over, and again pour 1 tsp. melted butter on top and cook until the fish is done (about 2 minutes more).  

Pour the 2 tbsp. of melted butter your set aside in the small cups earlier over the fillets and serve while hot!

Enjoy!