Tyler's Taste of Texas Style Catfish

Ingredients

• 6 eggs
• 3 teaspoons Texas champagne hot sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 pounds catfish fillets
• 1 cup medium-grind cornmeal
• 1/2 cup flour
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• Cayenne pepper, to taste
• Peanut oil, for pan frying

Directions

Mix the eggs, hot sauce and water to make the egg wash. In a shallow dish, place the catfish fillets in the egg wash and refrigerate the fillets for at least 1 hour and up to several hours. Combine the cornmeal, flour, paprika, salt, pepper, and cayenne in a shallow pan. Pour enough oil into a cast iron skillet to reach halfway up your fillets. Heat the oil to 300 degrees. While the oil is heating dredge the fillets, in the cornmeal mixture one at a time, coating both sides well. Gently place a few pieces of fish in the skillet, frying them in batches. Fry the fillets a total of about 5 minutes per 1/2-inch of thickness, turning them once. Adjust the heat as necessary to get a deep golden brown crust and a flaky interior. Drain the fillets. Serve the fish immediately, with lemon wedges, pink tartar sauce, Texas Champagne sauce, hushpuppies, cole slaw, corn on the cob and a green onion and you have a tasty Tyler's Taste of Texas plate.