Catfish with Fig Relish

Growing up, our vacation was to go to southern IL to visit my paternal Grandmother. My Dad’s best friend George lived at the end of the road. These were farms, so it was a distance.  He and George would go fishing and we’d all spend the evening at George and Loretta’s house eating fried catfish and turtle soup. Luckily I was not a picky eater. In fact, my Dad was pickier than me. All the vegetables served were just fresh from the garden and sliced. I have a feeling that dessert was strawberries. That is what I remember most is the fresh strawberries. To this day, catfish is still a favorite of mine. I don’t remember where I came across this recipe, but it is the only way I make it these days, unles I find something interesting in a magazine. It was billed as healthier as it is friend in EVOO and corn meal instead of grease and white flour. However the amounts will be relative as I fly by the seat of my pants not remembering where the recipe orginated.
Catfish fillets, I make 2 for Jim and 1 for me.
Buttermilk, enough to cover the fish (1C)
Cornmeal, enough to bread the fish
EVOO, tonight I used Lemon EVOO
Marinate the fish for about an hour in the buttermilk. Drain and after heating the EVOO, bread the fish. Cook until done and crispy.
Tonight I jazzed it up a little with the following:
Fig Relish from Eat Well Cookbook
Balsamic vinegar, 2 T
1 T shallot
Sea salt and ground pepper
Ripe mission figs, 8 oz., chopped
Mint leaves, 2 t chopped
Rosemary leaves, ¼ t minced
In a bowl combine all the ingredients. Jim really liked this on the catfish. The original recipe calls for grilled chicken breast. We have leftover and will try it with chicken. I think it would be good on anything.
We had salad and baked yams as an accompaniment. Jim served Alexander Valley Vineyards, Chardonnay, 2008. Very good.