Fried Catfish

For health and practical reasons, I've generally opted more for pan-frying than deep-frying.  Fried catfish is totally worth a shot in my book, though.  I had to range a little farther than Morton Williams across Second, but Food Emporium had the seafood and Kalustyan's (an incredible place) had other key elements like cornmeal and smoked paprika.  The Internet provided these guidelines.  Note that the recipe is as I did it for just one medium-to-large fillet; multiply out as needed.

Recipe

1 catfish fillet
<1/4 cup fine-ground cornmeal
<1/4 cup flour (you need a bit less than the cornmeal)
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp paprika
1 sprinkle cayenne pepper
milk
salt
oil (they recommend peanut; I used vegetable)
hot sauce (optional/to taste)

• Heat about a half-inch of oil in a skillet - until anything you put in it sizzles.
• Soak the fillet in milk.
• Mix the cornmeal, flour and spices.
• Sprinkle the fillets with salt and dredge through the meal mixture.
• Fry maybe up to 5 minutes a side (flip carefully!).
• If you have a big batch, keep the already-fried catfish warm in the oven at 200 degrees until ready to serve.
• Serve.  (With hot sauce, if desired.)

Notes

Once again, you can't take cooking times at their word.  I got an awesome sizzle when I put my fillet in the fryer, but at 3-4 minutes a side the thick part was still a little underdone.  Next time, I wouldn't worry about overcooking until the coating starts to look it.

I made it with a sandwich in mind, but ended up serving it over spinach-pepper jack mashed potatoes instead:

For once, my version actually looked like the pictures!