We're out here at the duck ponds fishing for dinner, and I hope I snag a catfish because I have a killer fried catfish recipe.

You don't want to miss.

Nothing's bitin' yet Well, the catfish weren't really biting down at the ponds, but luckily I have a couple filets here ready to fry up for us.

I'm Trace Barnett, and welcome to Garden Party.

So, frying catfish just pretty much comes innate to every Southerner, and it's pretty self-explanatory.

So I have a cup of cornmeal here, and it's your choice.

Chef's choice on whether you want to use yellow cornmeal or white cornmeal.

I'm going to throw in a cup of all purpose flour, and I'm just going to season this mixture with some salt, some pepper.

And I'm going to add a little bit of Creole seasoning just for that little bit of bite and extra flavor.

Give that a good stir.

We really just want all those dry ingredients to mix together, because we don't want of our filet of catfish to have too much Creole seasoning, etc.

so just get it evenly distributed throughout the bowl.

And I can already tell that I'm really liking how this batter is coming together.

It looks like the perfect catfish batter.

I'm going to set that to the back here and let's get to our fish.

So if you're shopping for catfish, shop for ones that are farm raised in the US and preferably from the state that you live in Today we're using these beautiful farm fresh Alabama catfish here, and I'm going to lay those on our platter.

I'm going to do our filets first and then I'm going to do my favorite which is the whole catfish.

I love when those fins fry up and you can pick them off.

And they're so perfectly crunchy with a bite of fish.

It's my favorite.

So pat dry your catfish.

And whenever I buy fish, if I'm going to let it linger in my refrigerator, I always put it in a stainless steel container of any kind, and then I just pack it with ice We don't want it getting too hot in the refrigerator and altering that good catfish flavor.

This is the secret that is going to really make the difference to your catfish.

So rather than dredging your catfish in a buttermilk or just putting your batter on directly, I like to take just regular yellow mustard.

And I'm just going to brush that right on my catfish filets here.

Now what the mustard does is it's going to get that batter really good and bonded to the fish.

But it also gives another little Little unexpected bit of flavor.

Whenever you have the opportunity to use something that's flavor packed versus no flavor at all.

Always go with that little bit of flavor really makes a difference at the end of the day.

And you know, the best thing is to keep the catfish simple.

So no Dijon, nothing fancy.

Regular old yellow mustard.

When you are looking for whole catfish filets, just make sure that your catfish filets are sufficiently cleaned.

Look inside the cavity there.

Make sure there's nothing lingering, anything unsightly, anything you're not going to want to eat, and make sure that all of the fins are sufficiently cleaned.

I've went ahead and washed this catfish before I put it on ice in my refrigerator, and we're going to do exactly the same that we did with our filets and take it all the way through the fins.

Because like I said, the fins are the best part.

Now it's time to batter up our fish.

So you don't want to overly bread your filets or whole catfish.

You kind of want that happy medium there of just enough crunch on the outside, but not overly crunchy, not overly battered.

You don't want your catfish to come across almost as fried chicken.

The batter is just there to enhance the fish flavor.

Don't worry about getting any batter inside the cavity of the fish, and be aware if you're cooking the whole catfish, that there are bones in there.

All right, that looks sufficiently battered up and ready to go in the frying pan.

Meet me at the stove.

So now's the time to put our catfish in the frying oil.

And I've heated my grease.

Just so it's that fish is ready to go in there and immediately start to sizzle.

Like I said, you don't want your fish swimming around in the grease, and you also want to just gently move it when you first put it in there, just to not disturb the batter.

Also, be sure and lay whether you're doing a catfish fillet or a whole catfish.

Just be sure and lay your catfish flat in the pan.

I prefer to cook mine in cast iron just simply because it has better heat retention, and it also just cooks a little more evenly.

You're probably going to want to brown your batter on both sides five to seven minutes.

This is one of those things that's going to vary depending on what kind of pan that you're using, and also the top of the stove.

And whenever you're frying anything like fish, whatever it may be, it's one of those things you need to stand by your stove and keep watch over.

Don't run into the next room while you've got fish on the stove.

Now's the time to flip our catfish over.

I'm just going to go gently in with a pair of tongs and flip that directly over, and I can see that our batters really batterin' on there Now's the time to get our catfish out of the grease and on to our platter.

I'm gonna use a spatula to remove it because I don't want to disrupt any of our delicious batter.

And whatever side is down, when you take them out of the skillet, put that face down on whatever you have draining to soak up that grease, and then we'll flip it.

I guess I have been frying catfish for as long as I can remember.

I've been frying everything as long as I can remember.

And I really think simpler is best for catfish, simply because you don't want to overpower the fish with this thick breading.

And there's other variations of catfish, of course, like pecan crusted or roasted or broiled.

So there's a ton of different ways.

But I think the quintessential southern, especially in Alabama, is fried catfish.

All right.

Let's try this little bit of seafood.

I mean pond food.

I think that's more appropriate.

You know, here in Alabama, you also can't have any fried catfish without a piece of Vidalia onion, too.

So I'm going to dive right on in I'm not going to waste any time here.

Just how you want catfish to taste the flaky fish on the inside with the crunchy batter on the outside.

It's just like the perfect bite.

And if this catfish don't lure all of your friends in I don't know what will.

Whoa!

We got something big.

Just kidding.

I'm going to stir it up so you... You can't see it.

All right.

And that's it.

That's all.

That's all that crap And now we wait.

It's of course it's at that tartar sauce.

Where else would it be.

Anybody else have anything else clever?

Because I don't.

Didn't even have a piece on it that time.

Oh, I got it, I got it.

Oh, no.

Oh.

Oh, well, the crawfish aren't biting either, is that it?

What'd y'all think?

Okay.

Well that's a wrap!