Recipe: Blackened Redfish Creole with Bacon Fat Popcorn

Read more about Six Mile Farms heirloom popcorn, Crop to Pop, in our November 2023 issue. 

Recipe by Austin Kirzner, Executive Chef at The Venue at Covey Rise

Ingredients

Serves 4

4 oz. butter 

2 bay leaf 

2 onions, small dice 

1 bell pepper, small dice 

2 stalks celery, small dice 

1 jalapeño pepper, small dice

1 oz. garlic, minced 

2 oz. tomato paste 

16 oz. roasted skinless heirloom tomatoes, medium diced 

1 1/2 quarts seafood stock (Can sub vegetable stock.) 

2 oz. hot sauce 

1 oz. Worcestershire sauce 

2 tbsp. cane sugar 

2 oz. parsley 

Salt and pepper to taste 

4 oz. corn starch slurry (corn starch and water) 

4 large pieces redfish (can sub any white, flaky fish) 

4 oz. blackening seasoning

¼ cup vegetable oil

½ cup of Crop to Pop popcorn

1 tsp. Iodized Salt

3 oz. crispy bacon 

1 oz. bacon fat  

Directions

Blackened Redfish Creole

In a large pot, sauté onions, celery, garlic, and peppers in butter until translucent. Roast tomatoes on a pan in the oven at 350 degrees, until skin is easily removed (about twelve minutes). Add tomato paste to the pot and sauté until vegetables are coated. Add shrimp stock, and bring to a simmer. Add the bay leaf, garlic, hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, sugar, and parsley. 

Bring to a boil, then add the corn starch slurry. Once thickened, bring down to a simmer for 30-45 minutes. In a cast iron pan, heat a small amount of oil on high. Coat the redfish in the blackening seasoning and sear on both sides until fully cooked. Remove from heat. Once the creole is cooked, season to taste with salt and pepper, pour it over cauliflower rice, and place the fish on top. Garnish with the bacon-fat popcorn and green onions. 

Bacon-Fat Popcorn

In a large pot with a lid, heat the oil on high. Just before the oil begins to smoke, add the popcorn. Once the kernels start to pop, shake back and forth vigorously, stopping to let the kernels settle to the bottom. Reduce the heat to medium, and keep shaking until the kernels are almost done popping. In another pan, heat the bacon in the bacon fat. Turn off the heat and transfer to a large mixing bowl. Add the salt, toss in the hot bacon with the fat, and mix until incorporated.

njoy! Note—At Delta Meat Market, toppings vary—including bacon jam, relish, tomato conserve, or smoked onion jam.

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Try Chef Austin Kirzner's dishes for yourself at The Venue at Covey Rise Lodge.