An attorney writes about stuff she'd rather be doing: cooking, eating, wining, dining and traveling.

Monday, February 16, 2009

Cornmeal Crusted Catfish

Let me preface this by saying that I despise catfish. I never know what to do with it, and I don't much care for the texture. I *thought* I was buying tilapia at CostCo, but I didn't read, just grabbed and we ended up with yucky catfish.

I figured Emeril would be a good authority for what to do with the fish. I read and combined a few of his recipes and came up with this. I think next time (if there is a next time that I mistakenly buy catfish) I will try searing and baking rather than pan-frying.

Cornmeal Crusted Catfish
2 catfish or other fish fillets
Cayenne pepper
Black pepper
Garlic powder
Paprika
Sea salt
Juice of one lemon
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
3/4 c. cornmeal
1/4 c. flour
Oil

Sprinkle the fish fillets on both sides with the cayenne, black pepper, garlic powder, paprika and sea salt. Place the fillets in a baking dish.

Add the lemon juice, garlic and parsley to the dish. Turn the fish several times to coat well. Set aside for 10 minutes to marinate.

Mix cornmeal and flour together on a plate. Dredge the fish in the cornmeal mixture, pressing it so it adheres to the fish.

Heat enough oil in a skillet to cover the bottom. Fry the fish for 3-4 minutes per side, turning once.

I served this with Zatarain's red beans and rice mix (I use the low sodium doctored with half an onion, chopped and a good amount of Tabasco) and a green salad with red wine vinaigrette.

2 comments:

What's Cookin Chicago said...

This looks like an awesome recipe! You've reminded me that I have cornmeal I need to use up so I hope to make this soon!

The Legal Foodie said...

Thanks Joelen! It is actually not bad at all as far as catfish is concerned. It has a great crust to it that is sometimes hard to get without deep frying.