How do super-crunchy tortilla crusted catfish fillets with a tart sweet fruit and cucumber salsa sound? Good? Well, read on. I like to cook with what’s in season and Clementines are in the stores now, so I figured why not? I love salsas with a sweet note and the crunchy apple and juicy Clementines really work together. The colors are nice, too.
Grinding tortilla chips is a great way to get a crunchy gluten-free coating and they go with the Tex-Mex theme of this dish, too. The catfish fillets are dipped in rice flour, then egg, then the tortilla crumbs, which stick nicely to the fillets and form a perfect crunchy crust when pan-fried. A heavy skillet like cast iron gives a nice even heat to uniformly brown the crust. Use a medium to medium high heat. You don’t want it scorching hot or the crust will tend to burn (been there/done that 🙁 ).
The American Heart Association recommends eating fish once to twice a week. This Tortilla Crusted Catfish with Apple, Clementine, Cucumber Salsa is a tasty way to get those omega-3 fatty acids!
- Salsa
- 2 Tbsp canola oil
- ¼ cup rice vinegar
- 1 Tbsp honey
- ¼ tsp salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1 small apple, diced
- ½ a cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
- 2 Clementines, peeled, sections separated and sliced in half
- ½ cup finely chopped red onion
- ¼ cup finely chopped parsley (or cilantro if you prefer)
- 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded, deveined and finely chopped (optional)
- Catfish
- 4 catfish fillets
- ⅔ cup rice flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp cumin
- freshly ground pepper
- 2 eggs
- 1 ½ cups tortilla chip crumbs (the easiest way to make these is to grind tortilla chips in a mini chopper or mini blender)
- Mix the dressing ingredients: canola oil through black pepper in a small bowl.
- Mix remaining ingredients in a medium bowl and toss with the dressing.
- Preheat oven to 200 degrees F.
- Rinse fish and dry with paper towels.
- Get 3 shallow bowls.
- In 1 bowl combine the rice flour and seasonings: salt through pepper.
- In another bowl whisk the eggs until uniform.
- In the third bowl, place the tortilla crumbs.
- Heat 3 Tbsp oil over medium to medium high heat in a heavy skillet (cast iron works great).
- Dredge fish first in flour mixture, then in egg and then in tortilla chip crumbs pressing them on to the fish.
- Cook in the heated skillet about 4 minutes per side covered until crust is browned and fish flakes when cut.
- If you need to do them in batches or even one at a time, just keep the ones that are done warm in the oven while you finish cooking them.
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