Catfish Creole


This is from the sunset seafood cookbook (1981). we make it frequently. it's quick and tasty. feel free to spice this up if you'd like to. the original calls for the lemon to be sliced thinly and laid on top. if you do this, use a sweet lemon. if it's not sweet, it will make the dish bitter. we've tossed out a few batches because of this, so we started zesting the lemon and using the juice.

Steps


Melt butter in wide frying pan or dutch oven over medium heat.
Add onion , celery , green pepper , and garlic.
Cook until soft.
Add tomatoes , lemon zest and juice , worcestershire , paprika , bay leaf , salt , thyme and tabasco.
Cook , stirring occasionally , for about 15 minutes until sauce is slightly thickened.
Press fish pieces down into sauce.
Spoon some of the sauce over the top of fish.
Cover pan and simmer gently until fish flakes readily when prodded in thickest portion with a fork.
For a 1 1 / 2 inch-thick piece of fish , allow 15 minutes.
To serve , spoon fish and sauce over cooked rice or add a bit of rice right to the pan.

Ingredients


butter, onion, celery, green bell pepper, garlic clove, lemon, diced tomatoes, worcestershire sauce, paprika, bay leaf, salt, thyme leaves, tabasco sauce, catfish fillets, cooked rice