Several things I have read about or eaten lately have had me thinking about the fusion of different cuisines. Being from the south, I always find it fun to put a southern twist on something from somewhere else. So, I came up with these catfish tacos complete with a spicy remoulade sauce. While remoulade originated in France, it is quite popular served with seafood in the south. Then when the question of what to serve them came up, I decided instead of going with refried beans that I would make refried black-eyed peas because they are a predominately southern legume most likely brought to the south by African slaves. The results were wonderful. My husband and son both loved them – though my son did substitute veggie chicken cutlets for the catfish. But, he loved the remoulade and refried black-eyed peas.
The recipe uses an oven fried catfish, so you save a few calories by using much less oil. And, the coleslaw in the tacos is made with a combination of sour cream and mayonnaise, which also saves you some calories. Make the remoulade first and refrigerate it while you are doing everything else, so that the flavors have time to marry.
Catfish Tacos with Refried Black-Eyed Peas
Prep
Cook
Total
Yield 4
Ingredients
Remoulade Sauce
- 3/4 cup mayonnaise
- 2 Tbsp. horseradish
- 1 Tbsp. coarsely ground Dijon mustard
- 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
- 1 Tbsp. ketchup
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1/2 tsp. celery salt
- 1/2 tsp. paprika
- 1/4 tsp. ground cayenne pepper
- 2 clove garlic minced
Refried black-eyed peas
- 4 cups cooked black-eye peas (either dried and cooked peas or canned – If you use canned make sure to rinse and drain them.)
- 2 Tbsps. olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
Catfish
- 1 1/2 pounds catfish fillets
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 2/3 cup corn meal
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsps. Old Bay Seasoning
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- cooking spray
Cole slaw
- 4 cups cabbage, thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup sweet or dill pickle relish
- salt and pepper to taste
Tacos
- 8 corn tortillas
- avocado, tomato, and/or any toppings you prefer
Instructions
Remoulade Sauce
- Stir together all ingredients and refrigerate until serving.
Refried Black-Eyed Peas
- Heat oil in a large skillet.
- Add garlic and cook just until fragrant being careful not to burn.
- Add peas and stir to evenly distribute.
- Using a potato masher, mash peas until they are a rough puree.
- Continue cooking and stirring until heated through.
Catfish
- Place catfish in a shallow dish and cover with buttermilk.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment.
- Spray parchment liberally with cooking spray.
- Refrigerate and let sit 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- Stir together remaining ingredients and pour it into a plate.
- Remove catfish from buttermilk and dredge in cornmeal mixture.
- Place on parchment lined baking sheet. Spray fillets with cooking spray.
- Bake until golden. Using a spatula, turn fillets over and bake other side until golden. This will probably take about 10 minutes on each side, but time will vary greatly depending on the thickness of your fish.
Coleslaw
- Stir together all ingredients.
Tacos
- Heat tortillas according to package directions.
- Place a little coleslaw down the center of each tortilla.
- Top with a piece of fish.
- Top with remoulade sauce and any other toppings you desire.
- Serve with refried black-eyed peas
Courses Entree
Vigna unguiculata is Africa’s dietary gift to the American South. More a bean really, the black-eyed pea (and its extended family of the crowder, field, cow, and lady) has an entrenched Southern reputation with a dark, earthy essence not quite accepted in other parts of the country. It owns a reputation similar to catfish, an ingredient cooked regularly by the best of Southern chefs, but untouched by, say, the New Englander used to the quaint cleanliness of the more proximous salmon and cod. The pea is respectfully referenced as the basis of Texas Caviar, disrespectfully as it may be when called Redneck Caviar, and is the Hoppin’ John signifier, able to wrangle superstitious obedience out of even the most skeptical resolvers of the New Year.
Thank you so much for this.
The gumbo z’herbes recipe comes from Creole authority Leah Chase , who made it countless times to sustain people in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. And recipes for fried catfish and oyster stew make the perils Gulf fisherman now face particularly relevant.