Potato Crusted Catfish w/ Lime & Cilantro Oil

I've been home all day watching day time television. What sucks more that day time television? Day time food network programming. Why? Giada De Laurentiis, that's why. She always on! She annoys me. Its the way she can be speaking normally, but the minute she hits an Italian word, she sounds like she just got of the boat. Gelato! Mozzarella! Risotto! This is exactly what Brain Regan was talking about...

Anyway, Giada was making Purple potato crusted Tilapia, which did look pretty tasty. My refrigerator had neither Tilapia or purple potatoes. However, I had catfish and regular potatoes. So I improvised!

Potato Crusted Catfish w/ Lime & Cilantro Oil

1 med. potato, thinly sliced (mandolin works best, it makes even slices)
Catfish fillets
Fresh cilantro, chopped
Lime juice
EVOO
Salt/pepper

Pat dry your fillets and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Arrange potato slices evenly on the fillets, overlapping slightly


Carefully transfer to a non-stick pan on low heat - potato side down.
Let this cook slowly, adding evoo as necessary. Be careful - it splatters!


Once potatoes are browned, flip the fish very carefully.
Brown the fish side.
To make the lime oil - whisk together the cilantro, lime and evoo with a dash of salt.
Drizzle over the fish and serve.

I paired the fish with steamed broccoli and wild rice (It takes a long time to cook wild rice! I gave up and ended up eating it al dente - not a good idea). I think the fish stands alone pretty well. Maybe a green salad would be a better side for it. Next time.

Catfish Cakes

So here is the catfish I had mentioned earlier. I managed to get 4 equally sized thick square pieces out. I saved these for next week. Its the uneven pieces that I used to make catfish cakes. Fish catcakes? Cat fishcakes? Hmm...

My idea for the fish cake marinade was "chimichurri goes to Asia". Chimichurri is an Argentinian meat marinade made with chilies, garlic, parsley, lime and many other things. I swapped out the parsley with cilantro and added some ginger to it.


I need to get a blender. A real blender. A personal smoothie maker is NOT a blender. Although it does come in handy in pinch. It took a while, but it did blend my ginger, garlic, onions and jalapenos into a nice "smoothie". I kept it pretty thick, added very little oil, but lots of lime. It looked more like my coconut chutney than a chimichurri.



I paired the fish cakes with sauteed red chard. I figured we didn't need any carbs. No quiero ningun carbs esta noche. (Did I mention I'm learning Spanish?)



Catfish Cakes

Marinade
Blend the following:
Onion
Garlic
Ginger
Cilantro
Jalapeno
Salt, Pepper
few drops of EVOO
Lime juice (Use the lime juice to turn it into a smooth paste, don't add water)

Fish Cakes

Catfish, cut into small pieces
Marinade (recipe above)
Panko (Japanese breadcrumbs, regular is fine too)



Marinate minced fish with the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for about an hour.
Mix in a handful of panko and form into round cakes.
Pan fry in a bit of oil.

NOTE: You can reserve some of the marinade, mix it in with some plain yogurt and serve it as a sauce for the cakes)

Red Chard

Wash Chard thoroughly, chop.
Saute garlic in a pan, till golden brown.
Add chard, add a splash of chicken stock, salt. Allow chard to wilt.
Do not over cook.

Serve with the fish cakes

Bon Appetit!