in need of comfort: pan-fried catfish with black-eyed pea salsa

I have to be honest: I'm a little down these days. It's normally a great time to be in this wonderful city--festivals, sno-balls, seafood everywhere you look--and of course, that's the reason for the blues. The seafood. No fried oyster po-boys, no raw oysters. Fishing folk shuttling executives out to the rigs instead of pulling in hundreds of pounds of shrimp. It's a crying shame.

I haven't even felt much like cooking lately, though I've been desperate to eat something homey and comforting. I just couldn't think of what that was. So yesterday I started scribbling, doodling, trying to get down to the basics of what would make me feel better, and I came up with one of my favorite childhood meals: fish sticks, peas, and mac and cheese. Have you ever had this, or something like it? With a little ketchup on the plate, it looks beautiful, in a Crayola kind of way: crunchy golden fish sticks, a big splotch of red ketchup, bright green peas (cooked from frozen in nothing more than salted water), and orangy-yellow mac and cheese from the blue box. Every time my mom pulled the ingredients out for this feast, I got so excited. It was happiness in one of its purest forms: looking forward to something. Plus, I liked the challenge of getting one of those straight macaroni on each of my four fork tines before I took a bite.

I have to be honest again: Paul and I have had this exact dinner pretty recently--the kid version. We both enjoyed the thought of it, and then when we ate it...well, it was less than satisfying, as so many foods enjoyed by our younger palates become. But yesterday, I needed to recreate the heady anticipation of a meal much like that one, and I think I came up with a keeper: pan-fried catfish, cool and crunchy black-eyed pea salsa, and serious mac and cheese (coming soon). This is a comfort plate my taste buds can agree with, and it truly did help me go to sleep happier. I hope it helps you too.

pan-fried catfish with black-eyed pea salsa

for salsa:

2 15-oz. cans black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained
1 small red onion (or half a large one), minced
1 bunch scallions, sliced thinly
1 clove garlic, minced (optional)
1 red bell pepper, minced
2 jalapeno peppers, minced (leave as many seeds in as you like for heat)
1/4 to 1/2 cup minced fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
Tabasco, salt, and black pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients, and season with Tabasco, salt, and black pepper until it tastes really good.
Cover and chill for about an hour (or longer is fine).

for catfish:

4 fresh catfish fillets (cut them into smaller pieces if you like)
2 to 3 tablespoons of seafood seasoning, like Seafood Magic, or Creole seasoning, like Tony Chachere's
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup masa harina*
1/2 cup vegetable oil (olive oil is too strongly flavored)

Rinse fillets and pat dry. Season both sides well with seafood or Creole seasoning.
Combine flour and masa in a shallow dish; add about 1 tablespoon of the same seasoning to the flour (or you can leave the seasoning out, if you think it will be too strong or salty--you know your seasoning!). Dredge fillets through flour mixture.
Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium heat, until the fish sizzles when you start to add it to the pan. If the end of a fillet touches the oil and it doesn't start sizzling, put the fillet back on a plate and wait for the oil to heat up more. You may need to adjust the heat throughout the cooking to prevent burning but keep the sizzle.
Fry in hot oil for about 5 minutes per side, until crispy at the edges and golden. The thickness of the fillets will determine how long they need to cook, and the color of your seasoning will determine how dark the final product is. If you're unsure, just try flaking into the thickest portion with a fork. They'll be fork-tender, juicy, and almost pure white when they're done.
Serve black-eyed pea salsa on top of or alongside the fish (or together inside a taco shell--yum).

Serves 4. Actually, the salsa serves more like 8, but it's a great healthy snack for the next day.

* Masa harina is corn flour used to make tortillas, tamales, and pupusas, and I recommend buying some so you'll be more inclined to make all of those! It's very inexpensive and sold in the baking or Mexican foods sections of supermarkets, or in specialty markets. But if you can't find it or don't feel like buying it, you can substitute an equal amount of regular old cornmeal, and the fillets will have a crunchy texture (as opposed to crispy), but they'll be oh-so-southern.