I feel that way about fish, too.
I know a fair number of outdoorsy-type people, or at least people who profess to love hunting and fishing and have all the requisite equipment. I have, at various times, requested venison, bear, turkey, duck, rabbit, and/or any kind of fish whatsoever. Never once have I gotten any of these. However, Hope Springs Eternal and I will continue to ask. Surely, SURELY someone must be catching fish these days?!?!
When your outdoorsy friends don't come through for you, sometimes Costco will. While I'm not holding my breath for a haunch of bear at the local warehouse store, I do stroll through the fish coolers periodically and do a wee bit of impulse buying, which is how I recently ended up with quite a large amount of catfish recently.
Here's how it went in my head: Oooh, catfish! Yum! First I'll make this lovely Lee Brothers catfish pate and serve it to guests while David's birthday dinner is cooking, along with all these other delightful appetizers. Then I'll make this scrumptious Caesar salad with catfish croutons during the week - we love our dinner salads! - and round it out with some fish tacos with all the trimmings.
Here's how it really went: Oooh, bourbon! Batch cocktails! My part in cooking David's birthday dinner is done so I'll just have a wee nip with our guests. Five hours later: Now that everyone is gone and we've torn through all the bourbon and put a hurt on the wine, this catfish pate sounds perfect as a midnight snack - best of all, I don't have to share! (evil laughter) Three days later: Wow, that's a lot of catfish in the fridge. I should do something with it.
Naturally, the Lee Brothers have come to the rescue once again, with Fish Man's Fish Stew. Have I told you about the Lee Brothers? They're on my personal bucket list of People I Want To Meet, a couple of Yankee boys who got transplanted to the South during their teenage years and fell in love with the food. Some years ago I was lunch at Zingerman's Roadhouse with my BFF from grad school, and thanks to an upcoming event there was a display of Lee Brothers cookbooks handy. I was browsing through one while waiting for our lunch and the waiter offered to have a copy signed for me at the upcoming event. A week later I got the book in the mail, beautifully wrapped and with an actual personalized message, not just a scrawled signature (not that there's anything wrong with that, mind you) that inspires me to hospitality every time I read it. Let's also give a great big customer service shout-out to the Zingerman's waiter, who - ok, yes, made a sale - but also went out of his way to make sure I got this book that I have since fallen in love with - hard. I cook from it more than any non-Mark Bittman cookbook I own, and I've never once been disappointed in any recipe from them since. In an alternate life, I get to have dinner with them sometimes.
So, here are two recipes for catfish, and I promise that neither will disappoint. Both are taken, with very teeny adjustments, from The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook, the book that also brought sour orange mojitos, pickled shrimp, and pimento cheese into my life.
Lee Brothers Catfish Pate
1 cup plus 1 tbsp dry white wine
1 cup chicken broth
2 bay leaves
3/4 lb catfish fillets
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
1 tbsp olive oil
8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
1 tbsp capers
1/2 tsp Tabasco, Durkee Red Hot, or Sriracha
1 tsp cognac, bourbon, or dark rum
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp kosher salt
In a medium skillet, bring the cup of wine, broth, and bay leaves to a simmer. Add the catfish and poach, uncovered, for about 10 minutes, flipping once halfway through.
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a small skillet and cook the onion until soft but not brown, about 6 minutes.
When the fish is done, chop it coarsely, then drain in a fine strainer, pressing once or twice to release all the liquid.
Cut the cream cheese into pieces, add it to a bowl with the remaining ingredients and the chopped fish, and mix well with a fork. Refrigerate at least one hour or overnight before serving with crackers or toast and lemon wedges.
Fish Stew Man's Red Fish Stew
1/4 lb bacon, diced
1 1/2 lbs Yukon Gold or other waxy potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1/4-inch thick moons
2 cups chopped yellow onion
1 1/2 cups broth (ideally fish or shrimp, but I used chicken)
1 cup full-bodied white wine
3 bay leaves
1 28-oz can whole peeled tomatoes
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp mustard seeds, ground to fine powder with a mortar and pestle (or cheat and use mustard powder)
2 tsp whole coriander seeds, toasted and ground etc etc (see above re: cheating)
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp ketchup
1 1/2 lbs flaky white fish, cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks
1/2 cup half and half
1 cup fresh corn kernels, cut from the cob (about 2 ears)
Brown the bacon in a Dutch oven, then remove to a small bowl and pour off all but 2 tbsp of the fat. Add the potatoes and cook in the bacon fat for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. Add the onion and cook until they begin to soften, about 5 minutes.
Add the broth, wine, and bay and bring to a simmer. Cook until the liquid is reduced by about a quarter, 10 minutes or less. Add the tomatoes and their juice, crushing each tomato lightly. When it comes back to a simmer, reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook about 20 minutes.
Add the salt, pepper, mustard, coriander, sugar, Worcestershire sauce, and ketchup and cook an additional 10 minutes or until the potatoes are completely tender.
Add the fish and simmer another 5 minutes. Add the half and half and corn and simmer 5 minutes. Adjust the seasoning if needed with salt, pepper, and/or Worcestershire sauce.
Serve over hot white rice and garnish with the bacon.
