A couvillion is in the same family of the Creole/Cajun court-bouillon and the French court-bouillon. The major difference is that couvillion starts with a medium dark roux and is thick and almost stew-like.
There are many different recipes, but mine is traditional and very good. It’s not difficult to make, but the roux takes time and can’t be rushed. If you burn the roux it is unusable and you will need to start over. So once you start the roux, keep stirring. Here’s a step by step to make the roux. Types of Roux: From White to Dark
Here’s another easy catfish dish, Spicy Cajun Fish Recipe-Easy One-Pot Meal
Or a Cajun classic, Smoky Chicken and Sausage Gumbo Recipe
The perfect rice dish, Jambalaya Recipe: A Taste of Louisiana’s Best
And a chicken version, Smoky Chicken Jambalaya-Taste of Louisiana
Here are my “go to” recipes, My Favorite Recipes
Ingredients:
3 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
3 Tbsp Butter
6 Tbsp Flour
1 Onion, minced
1/2 Red Pepper, minced
1/2 Green Pepper, minced
2 ribs Celery, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup White Wine
1 28oz can of Crushed Tomatoes or a large 24 oz jar of Passata
2 cups Seafood stock
1 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground Black Pepper
½ tsp Cayenne Pepper
1 tsp dried Thyme Leaves
2 Bay Leaves
1 1/2 lb pound Catfish filets
2 Tbsp scallions, chopped
Rice for serving
Preparation:
Prepare your onion, celery, red and green peppers and garlic and set aside. You don’t want to be worrying with this, while you’re making your roux.
Make a dark roux by adding the butter, oil and flour to a cast iron pot. It will take between 30-60 minutes to get it the right color. I cooked mine slowly, so it took a full 60 minutes.
Add your white wine and reduce slightly, 5 minutes and then add your tomatoes, stock and spices and cook until thick. About 60 minutes. I always remember the advice from my very old Creole cookbook. “The mo slow it cooks the mo better it be”. Bless her.
Lay your catfish gently into the sauce, spooning a little sauce over each filet, cover and cook until firm. My filets took about 6 minutes.
Serve with rice sprinkled with your chopped green onions.
This article is part of The Pasadena Chef Cooking School. Explore more cooking lessons, techniques, and ingredient guides here. The Pasadena Chef Cooking School
How to Make Authentic Cajun Couvillion: A Step-by-Step Guide
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Prepare your onion, celery, red and green peppers and garlic and set aside. You don’t want to be worrying with this, while you’re making your roux.
- Make a dark roux by adding the butter, oil and flour to a cast iron pot. It will take between 30-60 minutes to get it the right color. I cooked mine slowly, so it took a full 60 minutes.
- When it is the color of dark milk chocolate, add your onion, red and green bell pepper, celery and garlic and sweat it down. Throw in a little salt, and give it 15 minutes to soften it up.
- Add your white wine and reduce slightly, 5 minutes and then add your tomatoes, stock and spices and cook until thick. About 60 minutes.
- Lay your catfish gently into the sauce, spooning a little sauce over each filet, cover and cook until firm. My filets took about 6 minutes.
- Serve with rice sprinkled with your chopped green onions.
My Mawmaw Guillot would cook this a few times a month. Until the end of her life, she would cook supper every night for all of us to go eat as a family. And this was one of my favorite meals she did. She cooked the whole catfish, head and all. Something about the whole thing in there makes the sauce so much more rich in flavor.