Make Mine Fried

The other night, I decided to try the Weight Watchers recipe I had for fried catfish to see if it compared favorably with my usual. It did. I tipped the balance way out of favor with the WW program with the accompaniments, however. I made fried okra, fried green tomatoes and spoonbread to go with it. It was all good and I really didn't use much oil...it was olive oil, at that. I should say it was all good except for the spoonbread because I don't think very highly of that dish at all. But my darling wife, who was raised on it, whose mother claimed it as one of her specialties, proclaimed it "perfect!" So, if you like that sort of thing, I guess this is a pretty good recipe for it. To make the okra & tomatoes, you just slice them (pretty thick for the okra, real thin for the maters), dip them in egg wash, dredge them in well-seasoned cornmeal and fry golden.

Fried Catfish

1/4 c. cornmeal (some people use white, I'm partial to yellow)
2 tbsp. plain dried breadcrumbs
Salt & pepper
1/8 tsp. cayenne (I tend to dash a little more in)
1 egg
1 tbsp. water
1 lb. catfish, cut in 4 pieces
1 tbsp. olive oil
Lemon wedges, if desired

Mix all the dry ingredients together. Beat the egg with the water. Dip the catmeal in the egg, then dredge in meal, shaking off the excess. Spray skillet with cooking spray and heat on medium-high. Add oil and swirl to coat bottom of skillet. Add fish and cook 3 minutes. Flip and cook until opaque and nicely-browned on both sides, another 3-4 minutes. Serve with lemon. Serves 4, 6 Points each.

Spoonbread Like Lucy's

1 1/4 c. light cream (or half & half...I used the fat-free kind)
1/2 c. cornmeal (again, you can use white, but J's mama always used yellow)
1/2 tsp. salt
3 tbsp. butter
3 eggs, separated

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Heat the cream in a deep pan. When hot, slowly add cornmeal, stirring constantly. Cook on very low heat, stirring, until very smooth. Do not boil. Add salt and butter and mix well. Remove from heat. Add the yolk of each egg, separately, beating well after each addition. Beat the egg whites until they are stiff. Slowly and gently fold whites into meal mixture. Pour into a buttered casserole dish. Smooth the top. Bake 30 minutes or until golden. Serve hot, slathered with a ton of butter, says my wife. She also says it's good for breakfast with butter, milk and white sugar. I'd rather have Cream of Wheat at breakfast and soft parmesan polenta at dinner. But, that's just me.