Catfish with Fennel and Orange Salad

Vanessa and I went down to Edinburg, TX, which is about 15 minutes away from the Mexican border, to visit her Aunt Mary. Eventually, lunchtime came around and we really didn't have much of a plan together, so I offered to go grocery shopping to see what was good. We ran into some fresh Gulf catfish which looked suitable and I got to thinking about classic pairings with seafood: fennel and citrus.

The wrinkle is that Aunt Mary's oven and stove don't work. All she has is one little plug-in electric hot plate burner, which produces a staggeringly low amount of heat.

Fans of the blog know of my recent trials in BOQ in Dahlgren (see previous post entitled: EXTREME Cooking) and know that I have been training up to make it work in less-than-ideal situations.

The pan simply did not get hot enough to put a good sear (or any real color at all) on the catfish. That said, it did cook through and tasted wonderful. The fennel + citrus + seafood combination overcame my equipment shortcomings just fine.

CATFISH WITH A FENNEL AND ORANGE SALAD

CATFISH
3 fillets of catfish, skinned and boned
olive oil
salt
lemon pepper

SALAD
olive oil
1 large shallot, minced
1 clove garlic, smashed
3 bulbs fennel, cored, sliced very thinly, small handful of fronds reserved
1 small bunch parsley, chopped
salt and pepper
2 oranges, peeled and segmented into supremes (google it!),
supremes set aside, juice squeezed out of what's left of the oranges and reserved

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. While it is getting hot, drizzle the catfish with olive oil, then season well with salt and lemon pepper.

Heat another skillet over medium heat. When hot, add a drizzle of olive oil and then the shallots and garlic. Saute, stirring occasionally, until the shallots have softened somewhat. Add the fennel and continue to saute until starting to soften up a bit. Reserve nine orange segments, and add the rest to the pan, along with the reserved orange juice, the parsley, some of the fennel fronds and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Saute for a few more minutes and adjust the seasoning as necessary. Take off the heat and set aside.

When you are ready to do the fish, put the fish in the other hot pan and let it cook for 3-4 minutes, until the fish has browned some. Watch the color of the fish change as it cooks from the bottom up. When the color has moved 2/3 the way up the fish, flip it over and cook for another 30 seconds or so, then remove from the heat.

Put some fennel and orange salad down on a plate. Top with the fish, then top each fish fillet with three orange segments and a bit of fennel fronds. Drizzle with olive oil and serve.