two questions - side dishes for fried catfish and a good gumbo recipe

[fizzgig]

what would be some good, fairly simple side dishes for fried catfish? i don't make it very often and have no idea what goes with it.

for the gumbo, i'm looking to use okra, shrimp and andouille. is that going to work? if so, what's a good recipe? my dad's been craving it lately and i told him i'd make it.

thanks :)

[Lars39]

1. The TN classic: slaw, onion rings and white beans :^)

:9

[fizzgig]

2. white beans?

please enlighten this colorado girl :D

[Lars39]

6. Great white northern beans.

Goes *very* good with catfish. Especially with onions and a bit of hot sauce to taste. :9

[mtnester]

3. Hush Puppies, Mac and cheese, slaw

cold beer...lots of it

oh YEAH a heart attack waiting to happen, but oh so good.

If you have good fried okra, do that too!

H2S - DO NOT READ THIS THREAD

[grasswire]

4. corn fritters

Yum yum.

Slaw, for sure.

Deep fried dill pickles?

Smoky baked beans?

[cbayer]

10. I absolutely love deep fired dill pickle slices. Yes, indeedy.

:hi:

[hippywife]

5. I haven't made it in a while

and I can't find the recipe I use. This one looks to do the trick, tho.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Boudreauxs-Zydeco-Stomp-Gumbo/Detail.aspx

And I would also go with at least slaw for a side. You've already got the okra in the gumbo and all the veggies are cooked. The slaw would give you a good raw green side that's also cool on the tongue, if ya get my drift.

ETA: I second either hush puppies or corn fritters. If you feel you've already put too much work into it already, just a nice simple cornbread with a little real butter on the side would do just fine, too.
Or you could stir frozen corn niblets into your cornbread batter. It's pretty good.

:hi:

[eleny]

7. Cole slaw - cold & crunchy

[MagickMuffin]

8. Catfish, Potato Salad, Slaw, and Corn on the Cob

as for the C-o-t-C only if your dad can eat it that way, if not then cut it off the cob and cook it in lots of butter and add some cream to it, salt and lots of black pepper. I always did this for my FIL (he couldn't eat cobbed corn) he loved it and knew it was extra special since he knew it took extra time, and love and care to have to prepare it this way. I loved cooking this for him because he was such a special person that I didn't mind the extra prep time involved.

I actually like corn prepared this way. I bought 9 ears for our Thanksgiving Dinner with my family. Then on Thanksgiving Day my SIL called and canceled the dinner because she was sick. Hubby and I ended up eating corn for a week. But it was so good I didn't mind.

[fizzgig]

17. the corn sounds good, but i'm apprehensive...

i have horrible memories from my childhood of canned creamed corn :scared: how do you do it so it doesn't resemble that slop?

i don't know if i'll do it for this meal because i don't know if i can get good cotc right now, but i definitely want to save it for later.

[MagickMuffin]

18. Believe me it IS nothing like the canned stuff

My mom used to make it this way when we had our little farm-big garden.

The kernels stay plump and kinda crunchy. I usually melt 3 to 4 T of butter, add corn and stir, then I add the cream and let it reduce, then the salt and pepper.

I don't think anyone could reproduce the canned "cream style corn." My FIL liked the canned CSC, but he LOVED my CSC the most. If there were any left in the bowl he would eat it until it was ALL gone. I miss him soooo much.

When I bought the corn for Thanksgiving I got it from the farmers market. It was prepackaged already shucked, which I rarely buy that way. I like shucking my own corn, but since we lost our goats my heart wasn't into it this year.

[cbayer]

9. I am particularly fond of hushpuppies, corn and slaw.

Make sure you have tartar sauce and use cornmeal for the breading.

I usually make either seafood (oyster, shrimp, crawfish) or meat (chicken, andouille) gumbo. For some reason, I don't like to mix the two kinds of ingredients. You need a sticky rice like mahatma or a nice jasmine rice. Uncle Ben's types just don't do it for me. You can find recipes at the southerncooking website and Emeril probably has a good one on the web. The trickiest part is the roue. Be very, very patient!

Yummy, yummy!

[grasswire]

11. yes on the tartar sauce

I like mayo, dill, lemon, some finely minced onion and a dash of tabasco

[fizzgig]

14. thanks for the tips!

the only reason i'm mixing is because that's what dad wants and, considering he's buying the fixins, he gets to decide :)

[TygrBright]

12. Yeah, okra, shrimp and andouille are a good start on gumbo...

...but I would add some chicken chunks if you have them. Key is a flavorful roux and your seasoning. Y'start with your onion, celery and bell pepper chopped coarse, saute them in your oil until soft, and then add the garlic for a minute. Remove the veggies and set aside, add a little more oil if needed. Add your flour, and stir around enough to cook it until it's as brown as you like. (I like it very, very brown.) Add your stock and your seasoning. Everybody has their own seasoning favorites, but there are some good basic mixes available if you're not into making your own mix. A little dry mustard, bay leaf, lots of black pepper, a little cumin, some cayenne. My grandmere used to throw in a pinch of coarse dark brown sugar and some lime zest. I can do without the sugar but I throw in the zest now and then.

Oh, and DON'T use a cast iron or copper pot, it will turn your okra gray or black.

Add your sauteed veggies back in, and your okra, and let it simmer a while. You want to cook the okra enough so it thickens the gumbo instead of being slimy. The time will depend on your okra, what variety of okra, how big you cut the pieces and your taste. Take as long as it needs. While it's cooking down you can sear your sausage, meat, chicken, fish, etc. in another skillet, just enough to brown it some. A small amount of high-temp oil in a thick bottom skillet, well heated, works best. Don't cook it too long, especially not the fish or seafood.

When the okra is cooked down nice, start adding your meats based on cooking time. If your chicken pieces are bone-in, they'll take longer to cook. Squirrel and/or rabbit takes long, too. Sausage medium. Crawdads and prawns not so long. Fish right before the end, takes hardly any time. Add stock from time to time if it gets too thick, and adjust the seasonings after your meats are in and almost all cooked.

Serve over rice with a little file powder to shake in to taste. Heaven, heaven, HEAVEN!

hungrily,
Bright

(ed. to add the celery!)

[fizzgig]

15. excellent tips!

and thanks for the heads up on the cast iron :)

[sandnsea]

13. fried okra and catfish

Half flour, half corn meal, salt and pepper, fry in hot oil. Yum.

I think you've got a good start on the gumbo from what I've read here. Last time I made it I think I used Emeril's recipe and it was really good. The only thing is that it seems to me the flavor sort of dissipates so make sure and add a little extra spice. I don't like "hot" so if it's not spicy to me, it's not spicy to anybody.

[fizzgig]

16. you sound like dad

the heat is the only thing i have to keep in mind