SESAME CATFISH

It's another Saturday night dinner...the hubby was back home and I always like to make something "memorable" when that is the case :-)  Saturday's recipe was another from the Eastside's Inside Secrets cookbook.  It is described as "catfish fillet breaded with sesame seeds, parsley, and bread crumbs.  Grilled in butter and served with aioli".  You might recall my post about Eastside Cafe in Austin... they were the source of those fabulous jalapeno cheddar corn muffins I blogged about previously.  My side dishes were my homemade potato salad and some fresh green beans.  Yum.  I finally used the Basa fillets I purchased at the Delicious Seafood Market in Port Isabel back in January.  They'd been in the freezer patiently awaiting my use. 

So, here's the recipe to get started:

SESAME CATFISH
from Eastside Cafe, Austin, Texas
Eastside's Inside Secrets

CATFISH BREADING

1/2 cup fresh parsley, minced
2 cups plain bread crumbs (I used Ian's Brand whole wheat panko)
1 cup sesame seeds
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Place all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir to combine.  Yield:  3 cups

The Catfish Breading includes fresh parsley!

AIOLI

1/2 teaspoon fresh garlic, minced
1 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon Creole mustard

Place all ingredients in a small mixing bowl and combine with a wire whip.  Yield 1 1/4 cup

ASSEMBLY

4 eggs
2 cups flour
1 recipe Catfish Breading
3 pounds catfish fillets (8 medium fillets)
4 tablespoons butter, divided
1 recipe Aioli

Set up the dipping stations for easy assembly

Beat eggs in a medium mixing bowl.  Place flour in a second medium mixing bowl.  Place Catfish Breading in a third medium mixing bowl.  One fillet at a time, dredge catfish in flour, then egg.  Make sure that the whole fillet has a coating of egg on it.  Hold fillet over egg wash for a moment until excess egg has dripped off.  Place the fillet in Catfish Breading until it is lightly covered.  Pat breading gently until the coating adheres well to catfish.  Set breaded fillet aside and repeat process until all catfish is breaded. 

In a skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat.  Cook 4 fillets for 5 minutes on each side until lightly browned.  Remove and hold cooked fillets in a 200 degree oven.  Repeat with remaining butter and catfish.  Serve with Aioli.  Serves 4.

Use a large skillet to ensure even browning.  Keep a close watch - the 5
minutes per side is just perfect if the pan is not over-crowded

OK - so I only had one pound of fish... which is generally adequate for the 3 of us.  The teen could eat a pound by himself - but that is not necessarily the healthy thing to do.  So - one pound it was.  I basically made 1 third of the recipe and cut my two extremely large fillets into 2 pieces each which worked perfectly...allowing the teen and his Dad to half the extra piece between them if they desired - which they didn't - because the one piece was large enough.  We decided not to make the aioli but instead served it with a side of Dijonnaise...which is similar minus the garlic.
What a great dinner.  The Basa was very mild yet tasty, the recipe was different than our traditional cornbread crusted fried catfish...I think everyone enjoyed it.  I think the teen prefers the plain crust we usually have - but he did eat his entire serving.  Both of the adults loved it.  A very unusual crust - really delicious.  You should try it!

As mentioned above, our dinner tonight included fresh green beans, homemade potato salad, and some deliciously different yeast rolls...you'll see posts on the potato salad and rolls over the next couple of days.  Keep an eye out for them!

Bon Appetit, Y'all!!!