Catfish With Pecan Brown Butter

NcMysteryShopper's Note:

Catfish fillets are sauced with a lemony pecan brown butter and served with grits and greens for a wonderfully satisfying & quick down-home Southern meal. Quick, Soft, Sexy Grits #133161 are a perfect accompaniment to this catfish. Use a mix of greens for the vegetable dish, selecting your favorites such as kale, collards, escarole, mustard, Swiss Chard and beet greens; kale and collards will take slightly longer to cook. Simply pile greens in to a sauce pan with butter and small amount of water, cover and cook over high until wilted and tender, 2 - 3 minutes. Drain and keep warm. Point up the lemony and nutty flavors in this catfish dish by serving a full-bodied but bright Pinot Gris.

• Total Time: 21 mins
• Prep Time: 8 mins
• Cook Time: 13 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 4 (6 ounce) catfish fillets
• salt
• fresh ground pepper
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper
• 1⁄3; cup all-purpose flour
• ½ cup pecans , halved lengthwise
• 1 finely grated lemon, zest of
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• lemon wedge , for serving

Directions:

1. Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet. Season the catfish fillets with salt and pepper and the cayenne. Coat the catfish fillets lightly with flour, then add them to the skillet and cook over moderately high heat, turning once, until golden brown on both sides and cooked though, about 10 minutes. Transfer the catfish fillets to a platter; tent with foil and keep warm.
2. Melt the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter in the skillet. Add the pecans and cook over moderately high heat, until the pecans and butter are browned and fragrant, about 3 minutes. Stir in the lemon zest and juice and season with salt. Spoon the pecan butter over the catfish fillets and serve immediately with lemon wedges.

Reviews

[Gnat B. Myers]

So simple and so good! I would have given it five stars if I liked catfish more, and I'm going to try this recipe with other fish and maybe chicken.

[momaphet]

This had mixed reviews and it hovered between 3 & 4 stars. I loved the simplicity and ease of making this and it was nice not to have a heavy coating. It's makes a nice fish, not necessarily spectacular, but good. I didn't care for the pecans with it I found them to a flavor distraction. My DD did like the pecans, I think her uncertainy came from her not being sure is she likes catfish, which has nothing to do with the recipe. I think I will try this again with tilapia or dover sole. I served this with Recipe #203668, the two went very well together. Reviewed for ZWT3.

[TOOLBELT DIVA]

Whenever I see Catfish recipes, I immediately respond with "Gimmee". I was introduced to this delicious fresh water fish some years ago on a trip to Arkansas and Missouri. If I came away with nothing but a love for catfish, the trip was worthwhile. As it happens, I gleaned happy memories as well. I followed the recipe exactly as written and am delightfully surprised that the "cajun quality" was not so overwhelming as to spoil the succulence of final outcome. Not a grits fan, Cheryl, I compensated by increasing the selection of mixed greens, with mucho successo... Any nut who loves nuts as much as I, cannot be all bad. The Pecan Brown Butter is really special. Thanks Cheryl for a wonderfully simple, and tasty dinner.