Catfish Salad With Green Beans And Toasted Almonds With Champagne Raspberry Vinaigrette

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Happy St. Patrick's Day, Irish. I hope your eyes are smilin'!

I am, indeed, a goodly amount Irish, with some Scots thrown in, and, we've been told, a smidgen of Osage, but that's never been proven. These are on my mother's side. Along patriarchal lines: warm French, cool English and a bit of Dutch round out my Heintz 57 lineage.

Still, when St. Patrick's Day rolls around, I'm Irish.

And while I haven't gone and whipped up a quintessentially Irish dish today, I did go for the green with this tasty catfish salad which matches my mood for lighter fare.

Sprinkled with organic celery salt and the crushed leaves of Claudia's Herbs Fantastic Fish Blend, the filets are quickly sauteed then placed atop a bed of crispy spring salad greens, followed by hot buttery green beans and a sprinkling of toasted, slivered almonds. A champagne and raspberry vinaigrette drizzled over and around finishes the dish.

The organic herb blend used here is a combination of lemon basil, chives, dill, thyme and celery leaves, but the flavor that comes to the forefront is the celery. Pair that with celery salt and celery really speaks out loud in this dish. Nicely so.

Where does this herbal blend come from? Claudia's Organic Herbs is a local company run by Claudia Holzinger on her family farm in Orleans, a beautiful spot on the Klamath River about 35 miles as the crow flies from our coastline. She's famous for her green and dried garlic and her produce is widely sought after by local restaurant chefs. Fantastic Fish Blend is available locally year-round and Claudia doesn't have a web site. can now be ordered online their new web site.

Celery, which is rich in vitamin C, is recognized as a blood pressure reducer and may be helpful in reducing blood cholesterol levels. It was first used for medicinal purposes by the Romans and Greeks before it was used as a food.

One of three ingredients that serves as the flavor base for many French and Creole recipes, celery is found in the Holy Trinity - onions, bell peppers and celery - and is what every good jambalaya begins with, while a mirepoix, carrots, celery and onions, comprises the beginning of many a fabulous French stew.

Weekend Herb Blogging, which orginated with the wonderful Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen, is being hosted this week by Becky of Key Lime and Coconut. Click here to find out about this popular and fun weekly event.

The only thing left to do now is eat and enjoy!

Catfish Salad with Green Beans and Toasted Almonds
Drizzled with Champagne-Raspberry Vinaigrette
Christine's Original Recipes
Ingredients:


for the vinaigrette:
1 ounce champagne vinegar
1 ounce raspberry vinegar
1 heaping tablespoon dijon mustard
pinch kosher salt
pinch sugar (or Splenda)
several grinds black pepper
3 ounces roasted walnut oil
3 ounces extra-virgin olive oil
Preparation:
In a glass jar or measuring cup, whisk together the vinegars, mustard, salt, sugar and pepper.
Slowly whisk in the walnut oil, then the olive oil, until the mixture is thickly emulsified.
Set aside and keep at room temperature.



For the Salad:
4 fresh catfish filets
1/2 teaspoon organic celery salt
1-2 tablespoons Claudia's Fantastic Fish Blend, crumbled
Freshly ground black pepper or a good pepper medley
1 teaspoon good olive oil
1 teaspoon unsalted butter (or Earth Balance)
Enough organic spring salad mix for 4 plates
1 - 1 pound package frozen, organic green beans
1-2 tablespoons unsalted butter (or Earth Balance)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
Preparation:
The green beans may be prepared by microwaving or steaming.
This is what I did:
Place the frozen beans in a glass dish, dot them with Earth Balance and some kosher salt, place a lid on top and microwave on high for 5 minutes.
Remove the lid, give the beans a stir, replace the lid and microwave an additional 4 minutes on high or until hot and tender-crisp.
Sprinkle with the toasted almonds and set aside.


While the beans are cooking, place a teaspoon each olive oil and butter in a skillet large enough to hold the fish filets and bring to medium high heat.
Pat the fish dry with a paper towel and sprinkle 1/2 of the celery salt and 1/2 of the herb blend and a few grinds of the pepper on one side of each filet.
Place the filets in the skillet, herb side down, and saute for about 4 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish.
Flip the fish over and sprinkle with the remainder of the seasonings. Cook until the fish is done, about 4 minutes more.
Arrange the salad mix on plates.
Lay a piece of sauteed catfish on top of each salad, followed by a generous portion of green beans.
Drizzle with dressing and serve.

Copyright 2005-2007, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved. No content from this site, including text and photos, may be copied, re-located or otherwise reproduced, in part or in full, for personal or monetary gain, without the express permission of the author.

Spicy Peanut-Encrusted Catfish

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Fully intending to cook catfish for dinner last night, I'd set the frozen fillets on the counter to defrost as I left the house to do some grocery shopping. Life being what it sometimes is, I didn't get home until way after dark - not due to anything dire, just out in the "shopping zone" where one path can lead to another - and, needless to say, the fish didn't get cooked. Because even though we're both guilty of eating dinner as late as 10 PM, I couldn't bring myself to start cooking at 10:30 so back into the fridge they went.
At noon today, there they were, all defrosted and ready to go and I'm sure unable to withstand another day uncooked. Thinking outside the "catfish is for dinner" box, I cooked them up for a quick, protein-rich lunch, guided by organic, dry-roasted, salt-free peanuts and George Stella's Blackening Spice. Yum. So very good and it took just 15 minutes to make.
Spicy Peanut-encrusted Catfish
Ingredients:
3 catfish fillets
1 cup dry-roasted, salt-free peanuts, chopped fine
2 tablespoons blackening spice
2 tablespoons olive oil or peanut oil
2 eggs, lightly beaten
Preparation:
Pre-heat oven to 400-degrees and have a baking sheet ready.
Blot fillets with paper towels until thoroughly dry. Set aside.
With a chef's knife, chop the peanuts until they're in very fine pieces. You could use a small food processor but I like to chop such a small amount with my knife, avoiding the possibility of turning them into peanut butter.
Combine the chopped peanuts and the blackening spice and place on a flat plate.
Pour the beaten eggs into a wide bowl.
Heat a cast iron skillet to medium and add the oil. The oil should just shimmer in the pan, not smoke, or you could burn the peanuts (hmmm, how do I know that...?).
Dip a fillet into the eggs to coat, then into the peanut mixture, coating both sides and pressing lightly to make the peanut pieces adhere. Repeat with the remaining fillets.
Place in the hot skillet and, keeping them from crowding each other, saute for about 5 minutes on one side then flip and saute the other side for another 5 minutes.
Remove fillets to a baking sheet and place in a 400 degree oven to finish - about 5 minutes more.

The fish was warmly spicy with a delicious peanut crunch on the outside and meltingly tender and juicy on the inside. For a perfect low-carb meal, pair this with a tomato and cucumber salad for lunch and add a vegetable or two if you're making it for dinner.
And for good measure, because herbs are used in the blackening spice (even though they're dried and not summer fresh as they should be this time of year), this will be my entry for Kalyn's Weekend Herb Blogging #39. Do pay a visit to her blog for delicious, beautifully photographed, low carb recipes, gardening delights, blogging information and informative writing.

Dinner at Erika's: Pan Fried Catfish with Onions, Ginger, and Cilantro

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This past weekend while in the Sacramento Valley, not only was I able to take many, many photos of my friend Erika's garden, which are being featured right now at Raven Ridge Gardens , but my husband and I were treated to one of her delicious dinners. Standing in her kitchen, wine glasses in hand, the four of us chatting as she made her preparations, the heady aromas that wafted through the air had me salivating in eager anticipation.


Catfish with onions, fresh cilantro and grated ginger, accompanied by nutmeg-coated steamed carrots and asparagus, created a visual delight on our plates. The juicy, perfectly cooked catfish was superb. A salad of cucumber, tomato and scallions that had been marinating in a divine dressing was at the side.

Erika is my dearest friend and a wonderfully creative cook. And when I asked if I could share her recipes on my blog, she readily agreed. Our meal was not only made from fresh, organically produced ingredients, it was soooo very good and simple to prepare. A whimsical bonus for me was that it was all low carb. Well, except for the deep, dark Valhrona chocolate we had for dessert and the delicious white wine we consumed. Sigh.

Measurements in the recipes below are approximate, as the lady cooks by intuition!

For the fish:
4 catfish fillets
1 onion, sliced
1/3 cup packed fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
2-inch piece of fresh ginger, grated
olive oil (Erika and I both use a Portuguese Saloio, available at Tuco's Wine Market and Cafe in Davis)
salt
water or white wine
ground pepper
wedges of Meyer lemon at the table to squeeze over the fillets

Place olive oil in skillet (large enough to hold the catfish all at one time) over medium-low heat. Add onions and a bit of salt and saute slowly until onions are tender and caramelized. A small amount of water may be added to keep them from sticking to the pan. Meanwhile, grind pepper generously over one side of each fillet. (Erika likes McCormack Peppercorn Medley in a jar with its own grinder.)

When the onions are done, move them to one side of the skillet and lay the fish fillets on the bottom of the pan. Cover the fish with the onions, sprinkle with the chopped cilantro, the grated ginger, a bit of salt and place over medium to low heat. Add a small amount of water or white wine to the pan and cover with a lid, cooking the fish slowly until done. Remove from heat.
For the veggies:
1 pound young carrots, peeled and left whole
1 pound asparagus, ends trimmed
freshly grated nutmeg
salt to taste

Grate the nutmeg generously over the carrots, adding a bit of salt. Place carrots in a steamer pot and steam for about 10 minutes, add the asparagus on top of the carrots and continue steaming until both veggies are just tender.

Vinaigrette for the salad:
In a jar with lid, combine Meyer lemon juice and brown rice vinegar in a ratio of 2/3 lemon juice to 1/3 vinegar. Add at least 3 cloves pressed garlic, salt and pepper to taste and about 1 cup olive oil. Shake ingredients well to blend.
Pour dressing over cucumber and tomato slices and top with finely sliced scallions. Marinate in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

An evening with my dear friend and her sweetie Bill is special enough. Pair it with fine food and it is richness beyond compare. What could be better than that?