The Country Trifecta: Fried Catfish, Crispy Homemade Fries, and Blackberry Cobbler

First, let me begin by deeply apologizing for my unintended hiatus. I haven't had the opportunity to update the blog in a while, as I've been caught in the "back to school" rush of a new semester. So I decided to make it up to you with a huge blog post with three calorie-laden recipes: Fried Catfish, Crispy Homemade Fries, and Blackberry Cobbler.

Fried catfish is a particularly favorite dish of mine. Growing up, it was a treat that we feasted upon only on special occasions. Admittedly, I prefer ordering fried fish of any kind at restaurants as opposed to making it at home, mainly because I hate the resulting mess from frying, but I think my homemade fish is pretty good, if I do say so myself. 

And what pairs better with fried catfish than french fries? And yet, it's another dish that is more desirable when purchased as opposed to being prepared at home, as the homemade variety tends to be soggy and floppy. However, I recently discovered the secret to homemade fries that are ACTUALLY crispy! It's a bit of a tedious process with the soaking and double-frying, but it truly does work.

Fried Catfish

Whole catfish*

Cornmeal mix* 

Salt & Pepper

Canola Oil 

*I ALWAYS prefer whole fish to filets. I find the overall flavor and texture to be much better when the fish is still on the bone. 

*You can use plain old straight-up cornmeal if you prefer, but I prefer the texture resulting from using the cornmeal "mix." 

Season the fish generously with salt and pepper. Give the fish a generous coating of cornmeal mix. I recommend re-coating the fish two or three times, just to ensure a hearty crust. 

Heat the canola oil in a heavy-bottomed frying pan until it reaches a medium-high heat. You can test the oil by dropping in a few cornmeal crumbs -- if the crumbs start to sizzle, the oil will be hot enough. Gently place the fish in the pan. If you are cooking several fish, I don't recommend cooking more than two fish at once, as the overcrowding will affect the temperature of the oil. 

Fry the fish for five minutes (ha! alliteration!) and then turn it, and cook for five more minutes. Continue this process until the fish has become a golden brown color. Place the fish on a plate with paper towels to absorb the excess grease. Cool for five minutes, and enjoy! 

Crispy Homemade Fries 

Russet potatoes

Salt 

Canola oil

Peel the potatoes and slice as desired. Place the potato cuts into a large bowl and fill with ice water. Allow them to sit for half an hour, then remove them from the water and place them on paper towels to dry. 

Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed pot until it reaches a medium-high heat. Once the potato cuts are dry, add them to the heated oil a few at a time. Don't overcrowd the pot, as this will affect the temperature of the oil. Once the fries have reached a light golden color, remove them from the oil and place them on a plate with paper towels to absorb the excess grease. Remove the pot from the heat. 

Allow the fries to cool for five minutes, and then re-heat the oil, once again to a medium-high heat. Return the fries to the pot and cook them until they turn a light golden brown color. Remove them from the oil and place them on another plate with paper towels. Sprinkle with salt, and enjoy! 

(Southern-fried goodness -- served with ketchup, the Alabama way!)

When it comes to cobbler, there are many different varieties. The cobbler with which I grew up has more of a rich, cake-y topping as opposed to a crust (and I believe this concoction is occasionally referred to as a "buckle"). However, when I make cobbler, I tend to go for the more traditional crust -- mainly because I can never remember the flour-sugar ratio for my mom's "crust." 

My recipe may seem a bit odd, considering I add jelly to the berries. However, I promise you, the results are AMAZING. I discovered this concoction purely on accident a few years ago. I wanted to make a blackberry cobbler, and I wondered how it would taste if I incorporated some of my homemade raspberry jam. So I added the jam to the berries in lieu of sugar, and I discovered that the jam contained just enough sugar to sweeten the berries, and the flavor for the jam melded beautifully with the berries' tartness. Also, the pectin from the jelly or jam helps to thicken the filling, making for a rich and delicious cobbler. 

Tyler's Blackberry Cobbler

1 lb. blackberries, fresh or frozen

1 half-pint jar of jam/jelly/preserves*

*I've found that jam, jelly, and preserves all work well for this recipe, so use whatever is most convenient. Berry-flavored varieties obviously pair well with the blackberries, but you'd be surprised at some unusual-sounding combinations that are quite delicious. Once, in a pinch, I used apricot preserves. Also, for this particular cobbler, I used a jar of homemade vanilla pear jelly, and the results were outstanding!

Crust:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 sticks cold butter

1 tsp. salt

1 tbs. sugar

Ice water

You'll want to prepare the crust first. In a food processor, add the flour and the butter. Blend together until the butter has fragmented into tiny pieces throughout the flour. Add the salt and sugar. Gradually add ice water, a few tablespoons at a time, and blend until the mixture becomes a workable dough. Remove the dough from the processor and mold into a disk. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled. 

In a medium-sized saucepan, heat the blackberries and jelly on medium-high heat until the mixture reaches a simmer. Remove the dough from the refrigerator. 

Here's where I will digress for a moment. I'm one of those weirdos who likes dumplings in my cobbler. So what I do at this point in the cooking process is pinch a few pieces from the dough and add it to the simmering berries. 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Roll the dough out until it's around 1/8"-1/4" thick. Cut to fit your oven-safe baking vessel -- you will likely have excess dough. Then, add the berry mixture to the vessel and top with the cut dough. For a pretty brown crust, you will want to pour a bit of melted butter over the top. Bake for around 45 minutes to an hour, or until the crust is golden brown. Allow to cool, and enjoy! 

(Ta-dah! Enough to share -- but you won't want to...)

Enjoy, guys! 

 

Slow-Cooker Pear Butter

When I was about 4 or 5, we planted a pear tree in the little orchard beside my house. Over the years, the tree has grown into a magnificent spectacle of arboreal life. While most of the trees in our orchard have sadly withered and died, the pear tree remains strong and vibrant, producing a lush abundance of fruit every summer. 

A few summers ago, I decided to explore the art of canning, and our annual bumper pear crop was going to be one of my test subjects. I honestly can't even remember how many jars of jellies and jams I made over those few months -- pear jelly, vanilla pear jelly, pear jam, pear and cherry jam, and on, and on. All I know is that I had enough jars of pear-y confections to provide everyone I know with a homemade Christmas gift and still have enough left over to satiate myself for the next year. 

Therefore, with our yearly plentiful pear crop, I've begun to experiment with a variety of pear-oriented recipes. I once made a pear and ginger cheesecake that was remarkably delicious. On a separate occasion, I attempted a pear cream pie, which was nothing short of a complete culinary disaster -- however, at the last minute, I decided to pull a Tim Gunn and "made it work," but with an indecent amount of gelatin and gratuitous swearing. 

My favorite recipe, however, has to be pear butter, for a multitude of reasons. First and foremost, who doesn't love fruit butters? Everyone loves apple butter! Speaking of which, I swear that the Flying Biscuit in Atlanta must put crack in their cranberry apple butter, because it's beyond addictive. Anyhow, I digress. Another concoction I created during the summer of endless canning was a peach butter that was insanely good. So, long story short, it would probably be immensely difficult to create a fruit butter that doesn't inspire salivation. 

On that last point, another reason I appreciate my pear butter recipe is that creating fruit butters is ridiculously easy. As much as I love jelly, I have to admit, it is a pain in the nether regions to make. If you don't nail the recipe with 100% precision, you will either end up with Jell-O or a runny mess. While making a jam is significantly easier, making a fruit butter is even simpler still, as you don't have to worry about pectin or specific cooking times, and all that jazz. As a matter of fact, I make all my fruit butters in a crock-pot. All you need do is peel and slice your fruit, add sugar and whatever other ingredients you like, and let it roll. Done deal. Seriously, it's completely idiot-proof. 

Now, while I will gladly share with you my recipe for pear butter, if you want to learn how to properly can your finished product, I encourage you to go elsewhere for guidance. I learned my canning techniques from the old school master (a.k.a. my mom), but whenever I've attempted canning, it's been a matter of trial and error. So because I'd rather you not give your friends and family tiny jars of botulism for Christmas, I will recommend any one of the plethora of websites devoted to this culinary art as a research source. 

For this recipe, you will need a standard 5 to 6 quart slow-cooker. Also, in regards to the type of pears to use, I say just use whatever the hell variety you want. Our pear tree produces a variety known as "sand pears" (also frequently called "Asian pears"), so that's what I use. But for the sake of being economic, I encourage you to use whatever is least expensive and more readily available. 

Slow-Cooker Pear Butter

About 5 lbs. peeled and sliced pears*

2 cups sugar

1 1/2 tbs. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. nutmeg 

1 tbs. lemon juice

2 tbs. Amaretto liquer*

Other spices if desired*

*If you don't have a food scale to weigh the sliced pears, I've found that once your pear slices almost completely fill the crock (leaving about an inch or half-inch of space from the top), then you're good to go.

*The Amaretto is purely optional, but I promise you, it adds a whole new dimension of flavor to the finished product. 

*Many people like to include additional spices such as cloves to their fruit butters. If you are one of those people, by all means, indulge! However, I often find such spices overwhelming, so I tend to exclude them from recipes. 

Add all ingredients to the crock and stir, so that the pears are thoroughly coated with sugar, spices, and liquid ingredients. Set the slow-cooker to high, and cook uncovered for roughly 12 hours, or until the mixture is dark brown and has reached a smooth consistency. Make sure to stir the mixture every few hours or so.

I, personally, alternate between leaving the crock-pot covered and uncovered throughout the cooking period. If I'm leaving my apartment for a while or letting the butter cook while I'm asleep, I tend to leave it covered, but otherwise, I leave it uncovered. Also, if the butter isn't reaching your desired consistency, use a potato-masher or similar implement to make it a bit more smooth. 

The finished product yields 4 half-pint jars. You can consume immediately (after a reasonable cooling period, of course), or you may can the finished product however you so choose. 

One of the added benefits to making this recipe is that your home will smell incredible for a couple of days. My roommate even commented, "It smells like a Yankee Candle store in here." -- I chose to take that remark as a complement. 

And here you have the finished product:

 (They may not be the prettiest pears in the world, but they make for some damn good pear butter!)

Enjoy!