Food prepared, styled and photographed by Brooke Echols
Cooks of the Month: Elmer and Jean Vick, Baldwin EMC
Elmer Vick is fond of Cajun and Creole food, and likes to come up with his own recipes. He tinkered with his recipe for Catfish Etoufee about three times before he settled on the winning combination of flavors. “It’s like making a gumbo, you put in a little of this and a little of that,” he says. “The key is not to over-season it.” His wife Jean helps out by verifying they have the needed ingredients and for this recipe, chopping the vegetables. “The main ingredients are the trinity (bell pepper, onion and celery), the seasonings and the roux,” he says. The recipe calls for seafood stock, which can be found in grocery stores next to the chicken, beef or vegetable stock. But if it’s not available you can make your own, Elmer says, using “shrimp shells and heads, fish bodies and stuff like that and just let it cook down and then strain it real good.” Jean is retired from a software company and Elmer taught school and ran a heating and air conditioning business before retiring to work on his farm and enjoying more time for cooking. The Fairhope couple is looking forward to serving his winning etouffee to friends who also enjoy reading Alabama Living magazine. —Lenore Vickrey
Catfish Etouffee
- 1 cup rice, prepared
- Parkay margarine, squeeze bottle
- 1½ pounds catfish filets
- 1-2 tablespoons Creole seasoning of choice
- 1 stick butter
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- ½ cup onion, diced
- ½ cup bell pepper, diced
- ½ cup celery, diced
- 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1 15-ounce can petite diced tomatoes
- Seafood stock
- 1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon green onion or parsley, chopped, for garnish
Prepare rice according to package directions. Using a small brush, coat each side of catfish filets with margarine and Creole seasoning, return to the refrigerator. In a large frying pan, melt the butter and add paprika and diced onion, bell pepper and celery, cooking until soft. Add garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Sprinkle flour over vegetables and combine, cooking for 4-5 minutes for a roux. Add tomatoes and seafood stock to form a thick gravy. Add Worcestershire sauce and bring to a medium simmer; add parsley, cook about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Check for seasoning and add more to taste.
Heat a griddle or large frying pan to about 350 degrees. Cook filets until flaky (about 5-6 minutes per side). Check etouffee for consistency. If too thin, mix cornstarch and water and slowly mix until desired consistency. If too thick, add more seafood stock. Serve over rice and filet of fish. Garnish with green onions or parsley.
Pepper Jack Crappie (or Catfish) Patties
- 1 pound crappie or catfish fillets, cooked, cooled, and flaked
- 1/2 cup red bell pepper, finely diced
- 1/2 cup yellow bell pepper, finely diced
- 1/2 cup orange bell pepper, finely diced
- 1/2 cup onion, finely diced
- 1 cup crushed crackers (saltines or buttery crackers)
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 1 cup shredded pepper jack cheese
- 1½ teaspoons Old Bay seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons parsley, chopped (optional)
- 2 tablespoons butter or oil for frying
Cook the fish by baking, grilling, or pan-frying or smoking (my favorite) until it flakes easily. Let cool and break into small flakes. Sauté the peppers and onion in a skillet for 3–5 minutes until softened. Let cool. In a large bowl, combine mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, egg, Old Bay seasoning and black pepper. Stir in the sautéed vegetables, pepper jack cheese and crushed crackers. Gently fold in the flaked fish until evenly combined. Form into 6 to 8 patties. If the mixture feels too wet, add a few more crushed crackers. If too dry, add a tablespoon of mayonnaise. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Heat butter or oil over medium heat and cook the fish cakes for 4–5 minutes per side until golden brown and crispy. Garnish with parsley (optional).
Lemon-Dijon Sauce: (optional)
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
Mix well.
Christy McClendon, Wiregrass EC
Beer-Battered Bass
- 6-12 fillets of fresh-caught bass
- 1 bottled beer, your choice
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon seasoned salt
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 tablespoon pepper
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup oil (vegetable, olive, peanut)
- Homemade tartar sauce:
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon vinegar
- 1 teaspoon dill
- 1 tablespoon dill relish
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
In a bowl, mix the flour, onion powder, seasoned salt, salt and pepper, garlic powder and paprika. Stir in just enough beer to make a wet batter. Heat skillet on medium heat with the cup of oil. Dip fillets in wet batter and put in skillet, flip when browned and crispy. Do the same on the other side. While waiting to flip the bass get another bowl and add the mayonnaise, vinegar, dill, dill relish, salt and pepper, paprika and cream of tartar and stir well. Serve bass with homemade tartar sauce and wedges of lemon.
Cook’s note: Can use something like a Fry Daddy, but I don’t recommend using an air fryer because the wet batter sticks.
Shay Johnson, Sand Mountain EC
Seafood Casserole
- 2 cups boiled shrimp, peeled and deveined, cut into bite-size pieces
- 2 cups crab meat, cooked
- ½ cup celery, chopped
- 4 tablespoons onion, chopped
- 3 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon lemon pepper
- 1½ cups saltine crackers, crushed and divided
- 1½ cups mayonnaise
- 1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
- 3 tablespoons butter, melted
Mix shrimp and crab in large bowl. Add celery, onion, lemon juice, salt, pepper and lemon pepper. Stir into shrimp and crab. Stir in one half of cracker crumbs. Add mayonnaise and cheese and mix into shrimp and crab mixture. Divide this mixture into 6 au gratin individual serving dishes that have been sprayed with butter cooking spray. Add melted butter to remaining ½ cup of cracker crumbs and sprinkle these over mixture in au gratin dishes. Place dishes onto a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes until bubbling and lightly browned.
Louis Rowles, Baldwin EMC
Grilled Shrimp Pasta Salad
- 1 pound medium fresh Gulf shrimp, peeled
- 1 large onion, sliced
- 1 each: green, yellow, red bell
- pepper, cut in pieces
- Brianna’s Blush Wine Vinaigrette Dressing
- 4 cups penne pasta
Grill sliced onion and peppers in a little olive oil; add shrimp for last 3 minutes.
Boil pasta until “al dente” – about 11 minutes, drain.
Combine all ingredients, toss with vinaigrette dressing to taste. Add fresh ground pepper and salt, if desired. Can be served warm or cold.
Nancy Sites Sizemore, Baldwin EMC
The Buttered Home
I am a huge fan of simple recipes. I believe that the best dishes we often make are the ones that don’t require fancy ingredients or a lot of complicated cooking methods. Fresh fish is a great option to showcase this. Most fish don’t need a ton of seasonings and don’t require long cooking times. Let’s not forget how healthy fish is for us, too. We are sharing one of our favorite fish recipes with you this month and it is also one of our most popular. It cooks up quickly in one pan and uses spices that can be found in just about any cook’s kitchen. It is simple and delicious and the spices can be used on just about any type of fish! We hope you love it as much as we do. To find it and more recipes like it, give us a visit at thebutteredhome.com.
Pan-Fried Cod
1 1/2 pounds fresh cod
½ teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
½ teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon celery seed
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Dried parsley for garnish
Prepare fish by patting dry. Combine garlic, paprika, onion powder, salt and celery seed in a small bowl. Mix well. Sprinkle over both sides of fish and allow to rest.
In a large skillet, melt butter and olive oil over low to medium heat. When hot, add fish and cook for 2 minutes. Carefully flip the fish and add lemon juice. Cook 2 minutes more until browned and flaky.
Serve warm garnished with parsley and drizzled with pan drippings.
