Captain Kofi's Candlelight Catfish

Y'all, this is Kofi Moyo

That's me. Y'all, Kofi is the author of Real Men Cook. He's gonna change my world

And first, we're gonna make Kofi's signature candlelight catfish. I don't know which I like the best, catching them or eating them

I hear you. Along with his hearty, spicy collards. And I'm gonna serve up my delicious carrot souffle

Well, turn me on. I will, honey. and for dessert, y'all, a citrusy treat

It's orange toffee almond sandies with an orange spice chai. I'm in the kitchen with a hot man

I love your cookbook, Real Men Cook, writes rituals and recipes for living

Recipes for living, indeed. The men who have participated in our event over these 20 years

are the heart and soul of this book. I love that. I love that

We gotta get cooking. I could stand up here and talk with you all day long

I've got Kofi peeling and chopping some carrots for me because I'm gonna make a carrot souffle for us

And I'm gonna turn on this eye, Kofi. Well, turn me on

I will, honey. You like carrots. I love carrots. Oh, good, because it's gonna go great with your candlelight catfish

So you've got some wet ingredients over here. Right. Soy sauce. Why don't you do about a half a cup of that

Half a cup. Believe this or not, Kofi's got a son that lives here in Savannah

Right. He went to Savannah State, and he liked Savannah so much he just hung around, so that worked out great

You could come be in the kitchen with us today and get to visit with your son

All right, tell me how much of this olive oil. About the same thing? About the same on the olive oil. Okay

This is an extra virgin. Okie doke. So there we go. And you got the carrots about done

Yep. Let me put a little salt in that, okay? Well, I tell you what, Kofi, while you're getting your lemon juice, I'll get the catfish out. Okay

Woo! Now this is a size catfish I like to catch, Kofi

All right. Yeah, I like them big. My dad did a lot of fishing

Look at these, y'all. The way this works best is that the bones will hold it together

I don't do those fillets. I don't like fillets either. I like the bone in my fish

Kofi, can you grab that lid, please, and put it on the carrots? Thank you. I love fishing for catfish

I'm from southwest Georgia, and we've got a lot of wonderful ponds there

And I would fish for catfish and brim. I don't know which I like the best, catching them or eating them

I hear you. I hear you. They've got a tray back there on the..

Okie doke. Why don't you get that out? Right here. That's the one. And we can put the catfish right on in there

Okie doke. Did you used to cook this dish with your daddy? Where did this recipe come from

It's an improvisation that I brought to it. I started grilling and smoking this stuff

But daddy, you did more frying than anything. You did a lot of dishes with me

Do you mind if I just sort of do some of this kind of stuff? No, honey, this is your recipe. Because this is sort of kind of the way you want to get the lemon in there

You know, lemon and fish, the lemon helps to break the protein down, makes it tender, that kind of stuff

And that looks like a half a cup of lemon juice. Then we put a little oil on it

We've got to have a little olive oil. Okay. I'm giving this back to you so that you can now get the sprinkle on

Do you want me to put this on fairly heavy? Yeah. And this is Kofi's homemade seafood rub, y'all

Okie do. And then once we get it on, we want to turn those over so it can start soaking up that wonderful lemon and get all these herbs

Right. All right, so there we go. So just pour that soy sauce over them

Right. I'm sure you want this covered, don't you? Absolutely, as it goes in the refrigerator

Now how long do we marinate this? Optimally for 24 hours. If you don't have that kind of time, 20 minutes

Yeah, exactly. All right. Well, I'll put this in our fridge. Okay. So, Kofi, for our carrot souffle

we're going to need six eggs thrown into our food processor. I'm going to measure out a cup and a half of sugar

Tell me when we're ready. Okey-doke. We are ready. I'm not just a big issue. So we're really going to beat this up good

because you'll find that this part of the souffle really needs a lot of whipping

because we've got to get the air in it. sort of come up. Yeah. I'm going to add a half a cup of flour to our souffle now. And then we're

going to add a tablespoon of baking powder. I'm going to add a fourth of a teaspoon of cinnamon

This is going to be a great way to get your children to eat carrots So before we add our three sticks of butter Let just incorporate that good So you can just put that butter I cut him kind of cubes

So you can just drop him over in that hole. How's that

That sounds good to me. All right, so that's got all of our ingredients together

All we need is our carrots. The carrots, I'm on it. Yeah, the carrots. All right

I was about to forget the carrots, y'all. That is great. That is great

So we're just going to pulse those in. Oh, look at it, y'all

It's starting to take on a pretty color. And that was three pounds of carrots that we cooked

All right, so, Kofi, if you want to get our pan back there with our souffle dishes

I'm going to just move this right over here. and then we can just divide this

Good evening. I need you so bad. Well. Here, you know what

We may have to take the blade out first. There we go

All right, so we're just going to separate that between our two souffle dishes

I want to eat this now. Well, you can, honey. Pour you up a bowl

A separate bowl, and you can have some. Okay, let's go. So, Kofi, we're going to put this in a preheated 350-degree oven

and we're going to bake it for one hour. So in we go

Coming up, Kofi's going to grill up his catfish. Looking pretty good

Then this kitchen heats up with our spicy collards. Y'all come back to see if Paula's on fire or not

And later, Kofi's partner, Yvette, joins us for the perfect dessert duo

Hey, y'all. I'm back, and I'm here in the kitchen with Kofi Moyo

Moyo means from the heart, y'all. Kofi is here sharing some of his recipes with us

And we're getting ready to grill his candlelight catfish. I'm going to pass that over there to you so you can put that on

because you've got me some little chores to do over here. And y'all, I'm fixing to grind up about a half a teaspoon of fennel

And this is going to go in Kofi's spicy collard greens. Look at that, just grinding up those fennel seeds

Oh, and look at that fish, y'all. Where's the foil, Paula? Where's the foil? Right there, baby

These are big cloves. Next, Kofi needs me to mince up five cloves of garlic

Garlic is good for the heart. Yes, it is good. Leave that right there

Good time being. And I'm going to get started on these onions. I got your pan

Okay. How long are we going to cook that? We're going to cook that on this first go around, maybe about 15 minutes

Okay. And then we're going to turn. Good. Well, I'm with you. So, Kofi, tell everybody what the idea is behind Real Men Cook

I'm Yvette Moyo, my partner, and I are both activist people. We've been involved in community stuff

We needed to come up with a concept of something that we could give back through our company's activities

And so Real Men Cook became that vehicle. Well, I think that's a fabulous idea

All right, what kind of seasoning do we use? Well, we're going to use a little olive oil

We need about a quarter of a cup there. We don't want to get too... Okay, that looks about like a quarter of a cup

All right, now, if you'll put in the onions then... Sweat those down a little bit

And you've got a jalapeno. I'm using a jalapeno. We seed them, the seeds is where the heat is

We can throw our garlic in now as well. Okay, so in it goes

This is smelling good. Like I said... Okay, in just a second. Have you had a chance to eat it, the lady and sons, while you've been in dance

Of course. So you ate our collard greens? Of course. You'd think those are sissy collards, wouldn't you

Not bad. Okay, now this is a quick collard thing. We're using collard greens that are frozen

Ooh, I love the smell of onions and garlic cooking. I always tell some of my guys that are new to cooking and what have you

If they're dating and that kind of thing, you know, that cooking at home is the cheap date stuff

Even if you don't know how to cook, you can fake it by just sauteing onion

You sure can. You know? You're exactly right. So the onion and garlic looks ready to me, Kofi

Right. All right, so pass me those collards. Okay. I'll just dump these in

All right, now tell everybody how many collards we're using. Okay, real easy

Two pounds of collards. I sure do like the idea of using this frozen collard We going to go with our jalapenos at this point in time Okay Again the idea here is quick Oh my husband would love this You can get things hot enough for him

He likes to sweat. How about salt and pepper? Here we go

Or you're just going to use the seasoning salt. Just the seasoning salt, that's all

All right, well, I'm going to... Ooh. Okay. Now, let's not forget our channel

Oh, the fennel? Be careful. All right, let's see. And we're going to use a half a teaspoon

Yeah, that's fennel thing. I'm starting to lock on fennel right now. Oh, my gosh, that's hot, Kofi

That's good for you. You said you wanted to sweat. No, I said my husband

Well. My husband. I don't like. Fat girls don't like to sweat

Let's put a little of that balsamic in there. Okay. How much of that? Well, we're going to sprinkle, sprinkle, sprinkle

Let's go. We're not trying to change the flavor. It just adds a little bite to it

Okay, so about a half a teaspoon, y'all, we added. Okay, right at the end of our collard preparation, of course

we're going to drop some nice, fresh tomato in right at the end of that

So how long would you say we're going to cook those collards all total

This is a 15-minute deal from the freezer to the plate. 15 minutes

I like that. And this is going to be delicious along with the catfish and the carrot souffle

So how about if I turn these catfish? Certainly can. Well, you're getting the tomato in there

We didn't spray the pan because of the oil that we had in the fish, y'all

Look at that. Looking pretty good. Okie doke

Ok let's get the tent back on it Everything I'm putting my fingers on

Is odd as blue blazes Y'all come back to see if Paula's on fire or not

Up next Yvette shows up Just in time for dessert You can see this makes a lot of cookies

You're gonna be so glad it did And stick around for the big taste

That is so good. This is Yvette. This is Kofi

And they are the co-founders of Real Men Cook. I'm going to tell you what we're doing

We're making a wonderful orange-laced toffee almond sandies. That's a long name for a little cookie, isn't it

Going to be delicious. Now, in this bowl, we need a cup of butter, a cup of sugar, a cup of powdered sugar, and a cup of oil

And you can get that creamed for me. And Yvette is down here, zesting an orange, and we're also going to start our chai tea

Yes. So, if you would start that, too. Okay. I'm giving you a lot of jobs, honey

No problem. All right, let me get down here and cut on that eye for you. Now we're going to add four cups of water, y'all

Four sticks of cinnamon. Six, eight, nine cloves. And then a teaspoon of cardamom

We're going to bring this to a bowl, and then we're going to cut it off and let it just steep

Now the great thing about this recipe, y'all, y'all can let it steep for ten minutes or ten hours

I'm going to start measuring out my flour, and I'm going to use four and a half cups, y'all, of all-purpose flour

Great. So tell everybody what y'all do out there. Well, we started on Father's Day with an event called Real Men Cook for Charity

Love that. And now it's intensities all over the country, and the whole thing is that children, you know, honor the real man in their lives

So it's just honoring fathers, celebrating families. That's wonderful. I'm going to add to my dry ingredients a teaspoon of bacon soda

a teaspoon of cream of tarta, and a teaspoon of salt. So that's my dry ingredients

You can see this makes a lot of cookies. But you know what

You're going to be so glad it did because they're phenomenal. All right

Now, to your ingredients, Kofi, I've got a fourth of a teaspoon of almond flavoring

And then I'm going to add a half a teaspoon of pure orange extract

It smells wonderful already. Doesn't it smell wonderful? Yes, yes. All right, now your two eggs, and we'll beat those in one at a time

I'm going to move these canisters out of our way. Okay. Because I'm going to start adding our dry ingredients

You know these cookies are gonna be good, y'all, because we talking about butter and all

So there are your dry ingredients. So how are you coming, darling

I'm doing great. We got lots of orange zest here. Okie doke. I gonna take your zest Okay And I gonna put it over here A little bit more Yeah let get every drop of that good old orange zest Mm Smells good Doesn it smell good

And we're going to put that in our batter. And Yvette, if you would just take all this stuff and put in the sink for me

You'll do. We're going to make us some room up here. Okay

Mm. That looks good, Kofi. I need two cups of sliced almonds and two cups of toffee bits

That's perfect. All right, so what we're going to do now is we're going to put them on a cookie sheet

All right, and our tea has started to boil, so we're going to just cut that off and let it steep

And we're going to have a fabulous cup of tea in a little bit. All right, so here's three spoons

And Kofi, since you've got the longest arms, honey, we're going to put the batter over here and you can reach

Boarding house reach. Yes, the boarding house reach. I've got one, too

Somehow it's like my arm grows. Now, the most important thing is that you will want to make sure that all of your cookies are the same size

Just a teaspoon. Yeah, so I'm just putting like a rounded teaspoon

You're doing a big one. Okay. Come on in there and do your thing. Okay. Mmm

Those toffee bits. Aren't they yummy? Yeah. So in the oven, those are going to go 10 to 12 minutes, y'all, at 350 degrees

Coming up, it's finally ready to taste, y'all. And we'll put the finishing touches on our orange spice chai

Wow. It's a perfect combination. All right, Kofi, let's get out that souffle

It's finally ready to taste, y'all. Wow. Look at that souffle. Is that beautiful or what

Yvette, you're going to bring us a plate over here. Oh, these smell wonderful

I will dip us up some souffle. Gosh, let's dig in. Y'all don't mind standing up and eating, do you

Not at all. Oh, I can't wait to taste that catfish. On a petite

I can't wait to taste the souffle. Is it good? Delicious. Mmm

I don't like that. Wow, that souffle is wonderful. Oh, that catfish

And collard grain. Y'all, look at that wonderful solid white meat. Is it spicy enough

That flavor is good, isn't it? It's not too spicy for me. Good. That is so good

We've still got our cookies, y'all. You mean there's more? Yes, there's more

Yep, we need to finish up our orange spice chai. Our spices, y'all, have been steeping in our pot

and now we need to drain and reheat our liquid. So how about one of you zesting that orange for me

Okay. And I just need some pretty orange peels. And y'all, I'm going to use a black tea

And I'm going to use about four bags. So there we go

And we're going to throw these into the pot. That's good enough, darling

We just needed three or four. All right. This, that smells so good

And I'm just going to throw that right in the pot. We're just going to steep that

Why don't you measure me out a cup of milk? Okay. I'll get the cups

Okie doke. So I'm going to pour the milk in. Now I'm not going to bring this to a bowl, but I'm going to scald it

And our sweetener is going to be honey. So I'm going to put two or three tablespoons

Really, it depends on how sweet you like things. And with me being a southerner, you know, I kind of like some sweet tea

All right, so this is getting hot. Why don't you, Yvette, plate us up some cookies

All righty. Now I'm just going to run this back through the strainer again

And our tea is ready. So there we go. Wow, it smells wonderful

Doesn't that smell delicious? Mm. Isn't that yummy? Oh, perfect, perfect. All right, y'all, help yourself to a cookie

Mm. Mm. Mm-mm. Oh, and the two together. Mm-mm. A good complement

It's a perfect combination. It's a perfect cake. Mm. Uh-huh. The three of us would really like to remind y'all, you know

get in that kitchen and cook with your children. Thank y'all for everything that y'all do

And we always send y'all loving best dishes from wherever we're to wherever you're cooking

Thank you, Paula. Thank y'all for being here. Thank you