]) add another level of crunch to the plate.
Variation: For catfish nuggets with Creole mustard sauce, cut the fillets into 1-inch nuggets, and prepare and fry them as above, reducing the cooking time accordingly. Serve with Rémoulade Sauce ([>]).
* * *
In Uncertain, Texas, the residents pride themselves on having a lot of uncertainties, but not when it comes to their catfish. Home to some of the best catfish in the state, the small town on Caddo Lake got its name because boats have to make their way through a maze of cypress trees in the water to find the landing.
* * *
* * *
Texans tend to think of jalapeños as a Lone Star treasure, but they came originally from Jalapa (or Xalapa), the capital of the Mexican state of Veracruz. Cooks in that area used jalapeños in traditional dishes long before Texans did.
* * *
Pink Tartar Sauce
The traditional accompaniment to all fried fish, tartar sauce benefits from a touch of tomato.
¾ cup mayonnaise
3 tablespoons sweet pickle relish (Hellish sweet relish, [>], gives it a good kick)
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon capers
1 tablespoon prepared creole mustard
1 tablespoon ketchup
Juice of ½ lemon
Salt and cayenne to taste
Makes about 1¼ cups
In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, relish, capers, mustard, ketchup, and half the lemon juice. Taste the mixture, and add a little more lemon juice, if needed, and salt and cayenne. Refrigerate the sauce at least 30 minutes. It keeps for several days.
* * *
Fried catfish and Pink Tartar Sauce make a super sandwich. Before frying the fish, fry two slices of bacon for each diner, and prepare the tartar sauce. Have some good soft rolls, tomato slices, and lettuce on hand. Cut the catfish fillets into sections of about 4 ounces each, and prepare and fry them as usual. Combine the fried fish on the rolls with the bacon, tomato, lettuce, and a generous dollop of the tartar sauce.
* * *
Catfish Fillets with Pecan-Butter Sauce
Frying is such a common way to fix catfish, a Texan could grow up thinking the fish are born with a cornmeal crust. This is a fast and flavorful alternative preparation, best with the thinnest fillets gou can find.
1½ pounds catfish fillets, cut into four pieces about 6 ounces each
Cajun or creole seasoning
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon oil, preferably canola or corn
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
½ cup seafood stock or bottled clam juice
Juice of 1 lemon
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
Salt to taste, optional
¼ cup chopped pecans, toasted
2 tablespoons minced parsley
Serves 4
Rub the catfish fillet pieces with as much Cajun or Creole seasoning as you wish. Lightly dust each piece of fish with the flour.
Warm the oil and butter together over medium-low heat. Add the fish pieces, and cook them 3 minutes on each side. Thin fillets (about ⅓ inch) will cook completely in 6 minutes and begin to flake; fat fish will be a little underdone. Both states are acceptable at this stage. Pour in the stock, lemon juice, and Worcestershire sauce.
Remove the fillets that are cooked through as soon as they are coated with the sauce. Fillets that require longer cooking can simmer in the sauce another minute or two.
Transfer the fillets to individual plates or a platter. Stir the salt (if needed), pecans, and parsley into the sauce, and spoon equal portions over each piece of fish. Serve the fish immediately.
Batter-Dipped Fried Fish
Along with barbecues and crawfish boils, fish fries are a popular wag to raise moneg in Texas for churches, schools, and volunteer fire departments. These two batters are perfect for these occasions or for your own smaller parties. The first makes a light crunchg coating, rather like tempura. The second is thicker and flakier. Both work well with any white fish.
LIGHT BATTER
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons paprika
2 teaspoons salt
12 ounces beer
2 teaspoons prepared yellow mustard
FLAKY BATTER
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon sugar
⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
8 ounces beer
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 pounds mild-flavored fish fillets, cut in equal pieces of several ounces each
Peanut oil for deep frying
Pink Tartar Sauce ([>])
Pepper 'Puppies ([>])
Tabasco or other hot pepper sauce
Lemon wedges
Serves 4 to 6
For either batter, stir together the dry ingredients, and then mix in the liquid ingredients. Have the fish ready to dip into the batter before you heat the oil.
Fill a large, heavy pan with at least 4 inches of oil. Don't fill the pan more than half full. Heat the oil to 350° F. If the oil begins to smoke before reaching the proper temperature, it cannot be used for this recipe. Always start with fresh oil.
Dip the fish in the batter a few pieces at a time, taking care to avoid overcrowding the pieces. Fry the fish until it is golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes, and drain it. Repeat the process until all the fish is fried.
Serve the fish with the Pink Tartar Sauce, Pepper 'Puppies, Tabasco, and plenty of lemon wedges. The fish is good English-style, too, with malt vinegar.
* * *
Catfish raised or sold commercially usually average 1 to 3 pounds—puny, by some standards. In 1965, Mrs. Joe Cockrell of Austin reeled a 36.5-pound channel cat out of the Pedernales River, setting the state record.
* * *
Pepper 'Puppies
These slightly spicy hushpuppies can he fried right along with the batter-dipped fish in the preceding recipe, and they'll go equally well with any other fried fish.
¾ cup medium-grind cornmeal, preferably stone-ground
⅓ cup flour, preferably a soft-wheat flour like White Lily
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup buttermilk
1 egg, lightly beaten
3 tablespoons minced onion
1 teaspoon coarse-ground black pepper
1 garlic clove, minced
Peanut oil for deep frying
Serves 4 to 6
In a medium bowl, stir together the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix in the buttermilk, egg, onion, black pepper, and garlic, combining the ingredients thoroughly.
Pour enough oil into a skillet or other pan to measure at least 1 inches in depth. Heat the oil to 350° F. Gently spoon in the hushpuppy batter a tablespoonful at a time. Try a test 'puppy first. It should quickly puff up and, when done, be deep golden brown on the outside. Cut into it to make sure it is cooked throughout. Adjust the heat if necessary. Then fry the rest of the 'puppies.
Drain the hushpuppies, and serve them hot with fried fish.
Salmon Patties
Away from the Gulf, the most common fish in Texas until recent decades was salmon—canned salmon. All the early cookbooks contain recipes for it, particularly patties or croquettes, which continue to be popular. We start these from fresh salmon, adding another dimension to the dish.
2 egg whites, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons minced parsley
2 tablespoons minced onion
1 tablespoon prepared creole mustard
1 tablespoon White Wine Worcester shire sauce or 1½ teaspoons regular Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
¼ teaspoon salt
Scant ¼ teaspoon white pepper
2 cups cooked, flaked salmon
½ cup saltine cracker crumbs
¼ cup minced red or gree
n bell pepper, or a mixture of both
Additional saltine cracker crumbs, optional
3 tablespoons oil, preferably canola or corn
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Serves 4
In a large bowl, stir together the egg whites, parsley, onion, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, mayonnaise, salt, and white pepper. Gently mix in the salmon, cracker crumbs, and bell pepper. Form the mixture into individual patties. This amount makes about twelve 2-inch patties. If you like a crunchy exterior, coat the patties in additional cracker crumbs.
Heat the oil and butter together in a skillet, and fry the patties in batches until they are golden brown on both sides. Drain the patties, and serve them immediately.
Baked Bass with Spicy Citrus Sauce
This recipe works equally well with black bass fresh from the lake and store-bought striped or white bass. A version in Nick Bennack's Tastes of Deep South Texas provided our initial inspiration.
MARINADE
¼ cup corn oil, preferably unrefined
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 garlic cloves, minced
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
4 6-ounce bass fillets
SAUCE
4 tablespoons corn oil, preferably unrefined
4 green onions, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 fresh jalapeños, minced
½ medium bell pepper, preferably red, diced
½ cup fresh orange juice
1 tablespoon orange zest, minced
2 tablespoons sliced pimiento-stuffed green olives
Serves 4
Preheat the oven to 400° F.
Combine the marinade ingredients. About 30 minutes before you intend to bake the fish, pour the marinade over the bass fillets in a shallow nonreactive dish.
While the fish marinates, make the sauce: Heat the corn oil in a medium skillet, and add the green onions, garlic, jalapeños, and bell pepper. Sauté the vegetables a few minutes until they have softened, and add the orange juice and zest. Simmer the sauce over medium heat until the orange juice reduces to a syrupy consistency. Add the olives, and heat through. Reserve the sauce, keeping it warm while you prepare the fish.
Grease a shallow baking dish. Drain the fish gently, and transfer it to the baking dish. Bake it until it is cooked through, about 4 to 5 minutes per ½-inch of thickness. Watch it carefully to avoid overcooking it.
Transfer the fish to a serving plate, and top the fillets with the sauce. Serve the fish hot.
* * *
Big bass, known in fishing lingo as "lunkers," are the stars of a Texas program called Operation Share A Lone Star Lunker. Hoping to breed larger fish, the state Parks and Wildlife staff encourages fishermen to free bass over 13 pounds.
* * *
SUPER AND SIDE DISHES
Hearty Salads and Breads
If the good Lord wanted man to eat grass, He'd a made him into a cow.
Anonymous cowboy (quoted by
Ramon Adams in Come an' Get It)
Texans have always loved their "doughgods," or biscuits, and other kinds of bread, but green salads have had more trouble getting respect than a cowboy in a bowler hat. As recently as 1949 Arthur and Bobbie Coleman, in their excellent The Texas Cookbook, called their salad chapter "Petticoat Doings."
Tastes have changed a good deal since then, but even folks reluctant about lettuce will enjoy many of these dishes. They are robust in a Texas style and as versatile as a campaigning politician. Served individually, many make fine starters or accompaniments at main meals. Served together in a combination of a salad and bread, they make a hearty supper. Either way they'll earn your esteem.
* * *
In the same year the Colemans published The Texas Cookbook, Jane Trahey brought out A Taste of Texas on behalf of Neiman Marcus. Contrary to the Colemans, she claimed Texans loved salads. What Trahey meant, it turns out from her recipes, were dishes like applesauce, or avocado filled with cranberry sherbet.
* * *
Creamy Peanut Coleslaw
Slaw has always been the most popular type of green salad in Texas. In the past, local cookbooks sometimes treated it separately from other salads, devoting whole chapters just to slaws.
1 cup mayonnaise
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1 garlic clove, minced
½ teaspoon Beau Monde seasoning (from Spice Islands) or celery salt
1 medium cabbage head, shredded
2
to
3 carrots, shredded
2 tablespoons minced onion
¾ cup chopped roasted salted peanuts
Salt to taste
Serves 6
In a lidded jar, shake together the mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar, milk, garlic, and Beau Monde or celery salt until they are well blended.
Place the cabbage, carrots, and onion in a large bowl. Pour the dressing over the vegetables and toss them together.
Chill the coleslaw at least 1 hour. Just before serving, stir the peanuts into the slaw. Taste, and add salt as desired. The slaw keeps well for several days.
* * *
Until recent decades green was the last color you would find in any Texas salad except slaw. Potatoes were the most common ingredient, followed by chicken, eggs, seafood, fruit, and gelatin.
* * *
Sweet-Sour Kraut Salad
This tangy German dish is served in central Texas almost as frequently as coleslaw.
1 pound sauerkraut, preferably not a canned variety
⅔ cup sugar
⅓ cup cider vinegar
⅓ cup minced sweet onion (such as Texas 1015, Vidalia, or Walla Walla) or ¼ cup regular onion
2 carrots, shredded fine
2 celery ribs, chopped
½ small green bell pepper, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped pimiento
2 tablespoons oil, preferably canola or corn
1 tablespoon mustard seeds
Dash of ground cloves
Serves 4 to 6
Drain, rinse, and drain again the sauerkraut. Place it in a large bowl.
Heat the sugar and vinegar together until the sugar has dissolved. Pour it over the kraut.
Add the remaining ingredients and toss well. Refrigerate the salad, covered, at least 1 hour. The salad keeps well for several days and can be made ahead easily.
* * *
The source of so many things cantankerous, Austin was probably the place where green salads first took root in Texas. In the decade after World War II a couple of young, adventuresome chefs began putting salads on the tables of two of the capital's top restaurants. Mary Faulk Koock provided the inspiration at Green Pastures, and Helen Corbitt led the way at the Driskill Hotel.
* * *
Not-Quite-Granny's Wilted Lettuce
When lettuce first appeared on Texas farm tables, it was usually in a "wilted" form. Early recipes called for a heap of hot bacon grease, but you can get plenty of that flavor with a lot less saturated fat.
10
to
12 cups torn leaf lettuce
4
to
6 radishes, sliced thin
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon bacon drippings
¼
to
½ cup chopped sweet onion (Texas 1015, Vidalia, Walla Walla, or Maui) or green onions
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cider vinegar, preferably unrefined
Serves 4 to 6
Place the lettuce in a large bowl. Add the radishes.
In a skillet, warm the olive oil and bacon drippings together over medium heat. Stir in the onion and garlic, and cook them until they are limp. Sprinkle in the sugar and salt, and stir until they are dissolved. Re
move the skillet from the heat and add the vinegar.
Pour the warm dressing over the greens and mix well, until the lettuce is well wilted. Like cooked spinach, it will reduce substantially in volume.
Serve the salad warm or at room temperature.
* * *
East Texas pioneers picked and ate wild greens, particularly poke, but they didn't munch them raw. Instead they boiled the greens with salt pork, both to tenderize them and to add flavor. Wilted salads were a natural evolution, probably done first with poke, a tasty, leafy weed with poisonous berries and roots.
* * *
Special Dressings for Green Salads
Though wilted lettuce salads are still popular in the state, most Texans today favor crisp, cool greens with assertive dressings. Any of the following trio of toppings adds Lone Star flavor to crunchy lettuces such as romaine and iceberg, and both vinaigrettes also pair well with the more tender leaf lettuces.
Texas Home Cooking Page 29
