Recipe: Fried Fish With Hushpuppies and Cheese Sauce

Barnyard Buffet hand-batters their white fish in their signature fish breading before frying. Our famous hushpuppies use sweet corn for a touch of sweetness and extra crunch. Of course, Southerners love to dip their homemade fish and hushpuppies in a delicious cheddar cheese sauce. Barnyard Buffet shows you how to make a cheese sauce roux from scratch, including a key ingredient: Rotel diced tomatoes and green chiles.

INGREDIENTS:

Hushpuppies:
1 1/2 cups self-rising yellow corn meal
1/2 cup self-rising flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sweet corn, drained
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1 egg
3/4 cups buttermilk
Oil for deep frying
Cheese Sauce
Butter: Salted or unsalted. I prefer salted.
All-purpose flour: Using equal parts (by volume) of flour to butter helps thicken the cheese sauce.
Milk: You can use any percentage milk you’d like in this recipe, but the higher fat the milk, the smoother and creamier your sauce will be.
Cheddar cheese: Be sure to use full-fat cheese and start with a block of cheese that you shred yourself. The anti-caking additives in bagged, pre-shredded cheese can make your sauce lumpy.
Rotel dip aka diced tomatoes with green chiles.

STEPS:

Hushpuppies:

• Bring oil temperature to 350°F. Watch closely to maintain temperature.

• Combine all but egg & buttermilk in a mixing bowl.

• Beat egg before adding it to dry ingredients. Add egg to dry mixture, along with about half of buttermilk; stir to combine. The batter should be thick.

• Little by little add more buttermilk until you have consistency of a wet bread dough. You may not need entire amount of buttermilk.

• Allow batter to sit for 10 minutes before using. You will see it rising in bowl. Spoon batter into hot oil a teaspoon at a time.

• Fry hushpuppies until golden, making sure to stir them so that they cook on both sides. Remove when finished and place on paper towel lined plate. Keep in warm oven until all hushpuppies have been fried. Serve immediately.

Cheese Sauce:

• You start with a roux made by melting the butter in a small pot and whisking in the flour until you get a lightly golden paste. Cooking the flour with butter first cooks the raw flour taste out of the mixture.

• Then slowly pour in the milk, being careful to whisk out any lumps as they form, and stir until you have a nice bubbly, creamy sauce.

• Once the sauce is thickened, turn off the heat and stir in the cheese a handful at a time. Add salt, pepper, and optional cayenne to taste, and voilà. All that’s left is a can of Rotel dip. Mix it in, and it’s ready to serve!

ABOUT THE BUSINESS:

Barnyard Buffet
1020 Saraland Blvd S
Saraland, AL 36571
Lunch & Dinner Buffet
Sunday-Thursday 11am-8pm
Friday-Saturday 11am-8:30pm
Breakfast Buffet
Saturday-Sunday
8am-10:30am
www.Barnyardbuffetsaraland.com

Barnyard Buffet is a family-owned and operated homestyle buffet located in Saraland, AL. They’ve been ranked the #1 Buffet in Alabama by iHeartRadio and The New York Daily News. We feature tons of southern favorites like fried chicken and meatloaf, but we also have a full salad bar, dessert bar, and ice cream fountain.

SPECIAL EVENT INFORMATION:

Every Saturday, we run a special from 11am-7:30pm of Wings, Ribs, Shrimp, and Catfish. The buffet price is $19.99 with drink included, or you can also take home a carryout plate for $11.99/lb. We feature 2 flavors of bone-in wings such as Teriyaki, Lemon Pepper, Garlic Parmesan, and Sweet Chili. We also have Boneless Buffalo Wings. Our BBQ Ribs are marinated and cooked in-house with our spicy rub and Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce. The crowd favorites, though, are our Fried Whole Catfish and Fried Shrimp, which are served from 11-close on Saturday only.

Friday night we also feature Steak, Seafood, & Gumbo for the same price from 4pm-7:30pm. Our sirloin steak is carved and marinated in house, and we serve seafood favorites like Fried Whole Catfish, Baked Fish, Fried Shrimp, and Stuffed Crab Shells. Don’t forget to try our shrimp & okra gumbo, made with Gulf Shrimp and a tomato base.

Sunday from 11am-6pm, we have our famous Sunday Dinner for $17.99 (drink included). This includes all our normal favorites plus specials like Ham, Turkey, Dressing, Ham Hocks, and Turkey Necks. Plus special sides like Sweet Potato Casserole, Collard Greens, Creamed Corn, and Broccoli Cheese Casserole.