Catfish Sloppy Joe's

From Fish Without a Doubt: The Cook's Essential Companion by Rick Moonen and Roy Finamore.

These are just as sloppy and delicious as you could hope for. Soft, tender potato rolls are my choice for serving, but any hamburger bun will do. 

Serves 8

Accept Substitutes
Sloppy Joes are great made with tilapia, but you could try skinless salmon, char, or trout too.

1/2pound catfish fillet (bloodline trimmed; see book, page 37), cut into 1/3- inch dice
Coarse salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup diced onion
1 cup diced green bell pepper
2 teaspoons paprika
Barbecue Sauce for Fish (recipe follows)

For serving
8 hamburger buns
Softened butter
Potato chips

1. Season the catfish with salt. Let sit on the counter.

2. Heat a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. When the pan’s hot, add the oil, onion, and bell pepper. Sauté, stirring often, until the onion starts to soften, about 3 minutes. Stir in the paprika and sauté, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the catfish and sauté for 1 minute. Stir in the barbecue sauce and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 6 to 7 minutes, until thick.

3. Meanwhile, heat a griddle or cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Butter the buns and toast them on the griddle.

4. Fill the buns with the catfish mixture and pile some potato chips on top for crunch. Serve these Joes while they’re hot.

Barbecue Sauce for Fish

Fish deserves its own special barbecue sauce. This one isn’t aggressive in the least, so it’s perfectly suited to the soft nuances of seafood. The flavor of the clam juice wafts through the sauce. Makes about 1 3/4 cups

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup minced onion
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
Coarse salt
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/2 cup clam juice
1 cup ketchup
1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Freshly ground white pepper

1. Heat a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, add the oil, onion, garlic, thyme, and a pinch of salt and cook, stirring often, until the onion is softened but not browned, about 5 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, combine the sugar and water in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Cook, swirling the sugar in the skillet, until the sugar dissolves and the caramel is dark amber. Add the vinegar and clam juice and boil until the caramel has dissolved.

3. Add the caramel and clam juice mixture to the onion, along with the ketchup, Tabasco, Worcestershire, and white pepper to taste. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer the sauce for 20 minutes. Let cool.

4. You can make this well in advance. It will keep for days in the refrigerator.

Quinoa Anyone?

Quinoa (pronounced Keen-wah) is an ancient food that is not yet well known in North America. It has been cultivated in South American Andes since at least 3,000 B.C. and has been a staple food of millions of native inhabitants. The ancient Incas called quinoa the "mother grain" and revered it as sacred. Each year at planting time it was traditional for the Inca leader to plant the first quinoa seed using a solid gold shovel! Quinoa was used to sustain Incan armies, which frequently marched for many days eating a mixture of quinoa and fat, known as "war balls." Beginning with the Spanish conquest in the 1500s, there was a 400-year decline in the production of quinoa. It became a minor crop at that time and was grown only by peasants in remote areas for local consumption.

In Peru, Chile and Bolivia, quinoa is now widely cultivated for its nutritious seeds, and they are referred to as "little rice." The seeds are used in creating various soups and bread, and also fermented with millet to make a beer-like beverage. A sweetened decoction of the fruit is used medicinally, as an application for sores and bruises. Quinoa has been grown outside of South America for a relatively short time. It is grown in Canada and has been grown in the U.S., in Colorado since the 1980's by two entrepreneurs who learned of the food from a Bolivian. They developed test plots in high arid fields in the central Rockies and began test marketing in 1985. Quinoa can be found in most natural food stores in the U.S.

The quinoa seed is high in protein, calcium and iron, a relatively good source of vitamin E and several of the B vitamins. It contains an almost perfect balance of all eight essential amino acids needed for tissue development in humans. It is exceptionally high in lysine, cystine and methionine-amino acids typically low in other grains. It is a good complement for legumes, which are often low in methionine and cystine. The protein in quinoa is considered to be a complete protein due to the presence of all 8 essential amino acids. Some types of wheat come close to matching quinoa's protein content, but grains such as barley, corn, and rice generally have less than half the protein of quinoa. Quinoa is 12% to 18% protein and four ounces a day, about 1/2-cup, will provide a childs protein needs for one day. The 6-7% fat of quinoa is relatively high when compared to other grains, but it boasts a low sodium content and also provides valuable starch and fiber. Quinoa also contains albumen, a protein that is found in egg whites, blood serum, and many plant and animal tissues. The seeds are gluten-free which makes this a nutritious and flavorful alternative grain for those with gluten sensitivity. Quinoa would be a worthy addition to anyone's diet, supplying variety as well as good nutrition. The seed is also excellent feed for birds and poultry and the plant itself is good forage for cattle.

Quinoa and Black Bean Salad - from Whole Foods

For anyone who has tried the Quinoa and Black Bean Salad at Whole Foods and loves it like I do, I now have the recipe.  

1 1/2 cups quinoa
1 1/2 cups black beans, drained and rinsed (I used 2 cups)
1 1/2 Tbs red wine vinegar
1 1/2 cups corn, fresh, canned, or frozen (I used frozen without cooking them to keep their enzymes intact)
1 red bell pepper
4 scallions, chopped (I used 6)
1 garlic clove, minced (jar of chopped garlic was in my fridge)
1/4 cup fresh coriander leaves, chopped ( i used a tsp of coriander seed powder)
1/3 cup fresh lime juice
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/3 cup olive oil (I used 2 Tbs)

Rinse quinoa in a fine sieve under cold running water. Put quinoa into a pot with 2 1/4 cups water. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer 20 minutes, or until water is absorbed. Fluff it a bit with a fork now and then to keep it from sticking. While quinoa is cooking, toss the beans, vinegar, corn, bell pepper, scallions, garlic and coriander in a large bowl. In another small bowl, whisk the lime juice, salt and cumin and pour in the oil while whisking. When quinoa is done cooking, toss it with the beans and vegetables. Then, drizzle the lime mixture over quinoa and vegetables and toss well. Serve warm or at room temperature. (I like it better the next day when all the tastes have had a chance to combine and be absorbed.)

Great Tip For Zesting Citrus or Grating Fresh Ginger

For those of you who do not have a micoplane for zesting citrus or grating fresh ginger, here’s a great tip:

Wrap your grater in two layers of plastic wrap nice and tight (twice around the grater, leaving the top and bottom open but don’t worry about cutting the wrap.). Now, of course the trick here is to only do this on the small perforated side or what some folks call the "star" cut side with the metal punches outward. If you tried to do this on the regular grating side, you're going to end up with pieces of plastic in your ginger. But this way, you come off completely clean and you probably won't even have to wash the grater.