Review: Blackened Catfish

[Getfitn2001]

My first review! My husband and I cooked the Blackened Catfish that is in CL Jan/Feb. The recipe is easy, quick and delicious. Not knowing how much smoke would be created if we cooked it inside, we decided to cook it outside using the burner attached to our gas grill. I highly recommend this recipe.

[Marsha]

I was very concerned about the amount of smoke that might be generated - will you make this indoors in the future?

[Getfitn2001]

Yes, I will probably use this recipe indoors in the future. I think the reason there was not much smoke created was the fact that in this recipe you use only 2 teaspoons of olive oil. In other recipes where you blacken fish, etc., sometimes you have to use a whole stick of butter, and I think that's why there is so much smoke. Once again, excellent recipe. Can't wait to cook it indoors.

[jliah]

We just had Blackened Catfish for lunch today. It was OK. My husband rated it an "8." I would give it a "5" or so. I don't think I'll fix this again. It tasted a little too burnt. It sure filled the whole house with smoke.

[Gail]

Interesting.

I made this several days ago, actually because of the last review which suggested it was "safe" to try indoors. No problem here with smoke (whether or not that's due to the fact that I've got a pretty good exhaust system, I can't say.) I thought the recipe was a keeper, although to my taste, I'd add a tad more cayenne to the mix. My fish came out moist, slightly spicy (good for my ten-year-old) and flavorful and considering the minimum effort required to make the dish, I was quite impressed with the results.

[jillmayre]

My DH and I loved it! And we live in the Cajun area where this type of cooking is done all year round 24/7... I mean we even add Tabasco to our scrambled eggs and popcorn!

[Jessica]

OK, so I am slow; I just tried this last night. It was ridiculously easy and my husband raved--i did not have any problems with smoke. I served it with steamed asparagus for a light supper. I plan to make this again, and I think the spices would work on chicken, too.

[Gail]

Slow? Oh, I don't think so.

Last year I finally got around to trying a recipe I clipped out of the LA Times in 1986. That's slow!

PS That seasoning is great on Red Snapper, too! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

[Gwendolyn]

I know I'm a little late adding to this thread, but I couldn't help but reply. When I made this the first time, it tasted fantastic, but DH and I could barely see our plates for all the smoke in the apartment and tears in our eyes. (oh, and the blaring smoke detector didn't add to the ambiance at all.) The next time, I used canola oil instead of olive oil. I heard somewhere that olive oil has a low smoking point, and canola oil's is higher. Now I can blacken with no smoke. We eat this at least twice a month because it's so fantastic and easy. Also, catfish is a very economical fish. Since we live in Houston, it's never hard to find huge, juicy catfish filets.