Cooking Louisiana  -  Catfish Boulettes
Catfish Boulettes (boo-LETS) or patties are a South Louisiana Favorite. The recipe closely resembles that of stuffed crab but uses potatoes instead of bread as the filler. Boulettes go well with fried fish and can even be used to make sandwiches.

Ingredients:

2 large onions
4 med. size red potatoes (cubed and boiled fork tender)
1 large green pepper
3 or 4 stalks of celery
1/2 cup green onions
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 lb. Catfish meat (nuggets are good for this since they're cheaper)
1 tsp. creole seasoning
Salt & pepper or whatever seasoning you may want to add, as desired

Makes approximately about 30 to 40 boulettes.

Chop the vegetables by hand then chop a little more in a food processor. Don't process them so much that they turn to mush, a few pulses is plenty.

Broil, grill or panfry fish until it begins to flake.

Place all ground up veggies, Catfish and potatoes in a large bowl. Season then mix together thoroughly.

Let sit for about 10 minutes, stir well and taste. Everything is already cooked except the vegetables so tasting it is not dangerous. Add seasoning as you like.

BoulettesForm the boulettes into balls or patties. Fry a couple of them to be sure they don't fall apart.

If they do fall apart add 1/4 cup of corn starch, remix and try it again. What happens is sometimes too much liquid is formed in the mix. The corn starch soaks it up and keeps the boulettes together.

Heat a pan of oil to 340ºF. Carefully place the boulettes in the oil and fry till brown.

Whatever mixture is left over can be frozen for future cookouts.

Bon appetite...