Oven Fried Catfish Recipe

One of my favorite meals is good ol’ Southern fried catfish with hush puppies, black-eyed peas and collard greens.  The only thing that would make this meal better would be if the catfish could be made a bit more healthy.  My recipe for an oven baked catfish is a wonderful alternative to pan fried catfish.  You will have the crispiness of pan frying but you are able to eliminate the oil that you can get with frying.

Ingredients:

4 boneless catfish fillets
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup of buttermilk
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 cup of flour
1 cup of yellow corn meal
1 teaspoon of  celery salt
1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon of onion powder
1 teaspoon of thyme
Pinch of cayenne

Instructions:

Season the catfish filets on both sides with salt and pepper.  Place your buttermilk in a large casserole and then place your catfish fillets in the buttermilk, making sure they’re completely covered by the liquid.  Then place your catfish in the refrigerator and let sit for an hour.

After your hour has elapsed, you will ant to preheat your oven to 475 degrees F.  Now, coat a baking sheet with the olive oil and then place it in the oven.

Next take a round cake pan and add in your flour, cornmeal, celery salt, garlic powder, onion powder, thyme and cayenne and whisk your ingredients together.   Now remove the catfish from the buttermilk, letting excess buttermilk drip off, and then dredge your catfish in the cornmeal mixture being sure to coat both sides.   Open your oven and place your four coated catfish filets on your heated baking sheet.   Close your oven and bake for 6 minutes.  Then open your oven and carefully flip your catfish fillets and then cook until golden brown and the fish can flake easily with a  fork.  This should take an additional 5 to 6 minutes.