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.

Belated Valentine's Dinner

This was supposed to be our Valentine's dinner, but we ended up stuffing ourselves elsewhere on Sunday. This then became our President's Day dinner.

These beautiful Berkshire pork chops came from John Priske of Fountain Prairie Farms. I originally had my eye on their brisket, but a 7lbs brisket for the two of us was way more than we'll ever need. I went for the appropriately sized pork chops instead.

I barely ever make pork chops. I tend to either undercook them, or dry them out. I like to slow cook my pork. Ribs and butts are best for this. But now that I had these chops, I wanted to make sure I didn't ruin them. I found this recipe - and followed along, making a few changes along the way.


I finished my chops under the broiler: 2 mins on each side giving them a nice char. The end result was delicious. The pork was cooked perfectly - moist and juicy. I topped it with some caramelized onions and the left over salsa from lunch. The potato pancakes was a nice spin on the regular side of potatoes. I roasted the carrots separately - with a bit of honey and Italian spices. Next time I'll go for green beans instead of the carrots - as per Ken's suggestion.

Bon Appetit!