This recipe stays true to the original Southern-style dish but kicks up the flavor. Smoked paprika adds depth to the gravy, the grits bring a rich creaminess to the plate and are a great textural complement to the crispy fried fish.
Technique tip: Soaking grits in water overnight and cooking them in their soaking liquid reduces their cooking time by about 50%. In real terms, this means 1 cup of grits, unsoaked, cooks in about 90 minutes; soaked overnight, they cook in about 50 minutes. Either way, don’t rush these grits. If you do and the grits boil, their aromatic oils will emulsify, coat the larger particles of corn and prevent the particles from softening in the water. They’ll take even longer to cook.
Swap option: You can use other fish such as flounder, grouper or shrimp.
Ingredients
Creamy Grits (makes 4 cups)
- 6 ounces (1 cup) coarse white or yellow grits, preferably Anson Mills
- spring or filtered water
- fine sea salt
- 2-3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Tomato Gravy (makes about 1½ quarts)
- 4 tablespoons butter, lard or bacon drippings
- 1 cup finely chopped onion
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 sprig thyme
- 1½ teaspoons smoked paprika
- 3/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cups (or 14.5-ounce can) tomato sauce
- 1 cup vegetable or chicken broth
- 2 cups (or 14.5 ounce can) diced tomato
- 2 tablespoon chopped parsley
Fried Fish
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 1 tablespoon hot sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic
- 1/4 teaspoon granulated onion
- 4 teaspoons salt, divided
- 1½ teaspoons freshly ground black pepper, divided
- 1 lemon, zested
- 1½ pound catfish fillets, cut into 2-inch pieces
- 2 cups plain yellow cornmeal
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 4 cups vegetable oil
Preparation
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