Guest Post - Blackened Catfish with Corn Succotash

Hi crop share members - Erin here - you may have met me up at the register or seen me on the floor obsessively adjusting recipe cards. I've commandeered this blog for a post because my family has been part of the crop share program for a long time and I wanted to share one of our favorite recipes with everyone.

The corn we've been getting in the store has been amazing recently, and we recieved beautiful green peppers and onions in our crates last week, so I knew I had to make this catfish with succotash. I discovered this recipe in New Orleans, where my sister lives. Other than Mardi Gras, the best thing to experience in Louisiana is the amazing soul food. Usually soul food does not equal healthy food, but there are enough veggies in this succotash to excuse the bacon.

You know a recipe is good when it starts with bacon. 

Best thing about the recipe? It’s easy! All you have to do is dice up your vegetables, fry them with the bacon, and cook the catfish. Dizzy Pig's Bayou-ish seasoning also gives you that great Cajun flavor, and makes it easy to blacken fish without burning it. To keep your corn as fresh as possible, refrigerate it in the husk and shuck it just before cooking. You can also be flexible with these ingredients. Use white, yellow, or bicolor corn and try substituting tilapia or any firm white fish for the catfish.

Make sure you've got a big enough cutting board for all those veggies.

Now that the weather is getting warmer, try cooking your catfish on the grill. Yeah, it's not summer (or even Spring) yet, but I can dream right? Season the fish and place it on a well-oiled grill at 100° for 3-4 minutes on each side. Also during the summer, throw in shelled butter beans with the veggies. A lot of southerners say it's not real succotash if it doesn't have lima beans. So put on some Louis Armstrong, break out the Tabasco, and sit down to this simple New Orleans-style family supper!

Most of the snow is gone, that means it's time to grill right?

Catfish with Corn Succotash

Ingredients:

• 2 strips of bacon, chopped
• 1 1/2 pounds of catfish
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 2 bell peppers, seeds/stem removed and diced
• 1 small sweet onion, diced
• 2 stalks celery, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons of thyme
• 4 ears of corn
• 2 tablespoons Dizzy Pig Bayou-ish or your favorite Cajun blackening spice

Directions:

1. Heat large skillet over medium-high heat. Add bacon to the pan; cook 3 minutes or until crisp, stirring frequently. Remove bacon from the pan to a paper towel.

2. Add onion, bell pepper, celery, and thyme to the pan. Cook for 5 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender. Add minced garlic, cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly. 

3. With a sharp parring knife, strip the kernels off of the ears of corn into the pan. Stir to mix all the vegetables together. Cover, reduce heat to low, and cook 8 minutes - stirring occasionally. Add the bacon back into the corn mixture.

4. Pat the catfish dry with paper towels. Rub spice mixture evenly over fish. Heat another large skillet over medium-high heat, add olive oil to the pan. Cook the catfish for 4 to 5 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily with a fork. Serve over the corn mixture.

Servings: 4

Cook Time:  30 minutes

And now back to your regularly scheduled programming!