This recipe is from one of my all-time favorite restaurants in the Boston area — Hungry Mother. After eating and loving their catfish dish more than once, I was over the moon to find that the recipe was shared online! I actually found this recipe about a year ago and ever since have been looking for Creole mustard. Literally, every.single.grocery trip I stopped to survey the mustard selections and could never find it. Well, folks, this weekend I found it. Waaaay too excited to find mustard, let me just tell you. On the way to a friend’s house, we stopped for espresso and stumbled upon a fantastic gourmet food store called The Cook Shop. Along with the Creole mustard (yay), I grabbed some whole wheat cavatappi (also an impossible find), a rockin’ Microplane pizza wheel, and a few other fun kitchen gadgets and food stuffs.
I’m so glad I finally found this mustard. I’m sure I could have easily substituted another mustard, but because I was trying to replicate a restaurant dish, I really wanted to try to make it as authentic as possible. This dish was amazing, and well worth the search.
Cornmeal-Crusted Catfish with Collards and Creole Mustard Vinaigrette
Serves 4
Just the Tip / Inspired by Hungry Mother
Here’s what I used:
For the vinaigrette:
- 1 tbsp minced shallot
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 1/2 tbsp Creole mustard
- 1 1/2 tsp drained capers
- 1 tsp honey
- 2 tbsp canola oil
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
For the catfish:
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup cornmeal
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
- 4 6-7 oz catfish fillets
- 1/4 cup canola oil
For the Collards:
- 1 pound collard greens
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 large garlic clove, thinly sliced
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
Here’s what I did:
For the vinaigrette:
- In a small bowl, combine the shallot and vinegar and let sit for 10 minutes.
- Whisk in the Creole mustard, capers, honey, and season with salt and pepper. Gradually whisk in both oils and set aside.
For the catfish:
- Preheat the oven to 300.
- Beat the milk and egg in an 11×7 baking dish.
- In a pie dish, whisk the cornmeal, flour, salt, pepper, and cayenne together.
- Lay the fish in the milk mixture in a single layer; turn to coat.
- Dip each fillet into the cornmeal mixture and coat well on both sides. Place the coated fillets on parchment paper and set aside (this can be done 2 hours ahead of time).
- Heat the canola oil in large non-stick saute pan over medium-high heat. Place 2 fillets of fish at a time in the pan and cook until opaque and browned, about 4 minutes on both sides. Remove to a baking sheet and place in the oven to stay warm while you cook the remaining fillets.
For the collards:
- Strip the leaves from the stems and stack them into two piles. Roll each pile like a cigar and thinly thinly slice them into strips.
- Melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the slice garlic and cook for about a minute. Add the collards and toss until coated and heated through, about 2 minutes. Stir in the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper.
- To serve, plate the collards on a dish and top with a catfish fillet. Drizzle a little vinaigrette over top and enjoy!
[…] Go to Recipe […]