Fried Catfish Fillets

My friend Richard White refuses to give away his best fishing spots at Lake Oconee, but he did share his dinner plans afterwards!

He recently caught this whopping 35-pound catfish and filled his freezer for many more meals to come.  The first meal from this monster is a southern favorite, Fried Catfish Fillets.

Richard didn't have an "official" recipe, but here's one that is very close to the way we all make it around our house:

Ingredients:

Vegetable Oil
4 medium freshwater catfish fillets*
1 cup cold milk
1 cup yellow cornmeal
2 to 3 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
Lemon wedges

* To clean a whole catfish, remove skin from the catfish, then slice the fillet across to a thickness of no more than 1/4 inch. The secret to frying catfish is using thin fillets less than 1/4-inch thick.

HINT:  An hour-long soak in buttermilk washes away the muddy flavor from freshwater fish such as catfish and tilapia.

Preparation: 

Rinse the fillets under cold water and dry thoroughly with paper towels. In a pie plate, lay fillets and pour milk over the top. In another pie plate, combine cornmeal, salt, pepper and cayenne pepper.

Remove the fillets one at a time from the milk and roll in the cornmeal mixture to coat evenly. Place on a large platter to dry, leaving space between them. Let dry at least 5 minutes.

Heat the oil or butter in a large skillet. Add the coated catfish fillets and cook for 5 to 7 minutes on each side, sprinkling additional salt on the catfish after each turn. Cook until golden brown and fish flakes easily with a fork. Drain on paper towels. After draining, place the fillets on another platter covered with paper towels. Place in preheated oven to keep warm while frying the remaining fillets. The fillets will remain hot and crisp for as long as 35 minutes. Serve with lemon wedges.

Richard served his with cole slaw, corn on the cob, fresh sliced tomato, and roasted potato wedges.  

I know your mouth is watering!