Southern Pecan Catfish

  Catfish for supper. One of Bettie’s favorite foods. I like it also, though not as well done in cornmeal. This recipe from Taste of Home Busy Family Favorites called for pecans with the cornmeal and a lemon, butter, heavy cream sauce to go with it.

  It was very good. The fillets I bought were quite large and took a few extra minutes to get done, but were moist and delicious. I will make them this way again. I didn’t mind the cornmeal as much because the nuts and butter helped with the taste, and without any flour the cornmeal was just a light coating. There is no egg or milk in this recipe and we thought it was better than a batter type coating. 

 Southern Pecan Catfish

1 cup finely chopped pecans, divided

½ cup cornmeal (⅓ is plenty)

1 teaspoon salt, divided

1 teaspoon pepper. Divided

½ cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 to 2 tablespoons minced parsley optional

  In a shallow dish, combine ½ cup of the pecans, cornmeal, ½ teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper. Coat the catfish with the pecan mixture.

  In a large skillet, melt ¼ cup of the butter. Over medium heat, fry fillets for 6 to 8 minutes on each side. Keep warm and in the same skillet melt the remaining ½ cup of butter. Stir in the remaining pecans and cook stirring for one minute. Add the lemon juice and whipping cream remaining salt and pepper. Cook for one more minute. Pour over the catfish fillets to serve.