I grew up poor, although like a lot of poor kids, I didn't really know we were poor until much later. I believe the politically incorrect term for us was "trailer trash". We lived in Florida, near the Banana River. And we ate a lot of seafood because (for us), it was free! We did our own shrimping on the causeway, and we fished for catfish and mullet in the river. Over the years, I've had a lot of catfish, and it has been mushy and muddy and not worth eating.
And then, I discovered one of the best things about being nice to people - sometimes they come to your house and bring you really, really freshly caught catfish!
I was going to share this with friends, but you will not be surprised to hear I cooked it all for myself (I did let Mr. Double Up have some). For me, there is only one way to eat catfish - you soak it in milk, coat it in fish fry, and deep fry it. Then you use the milk to make hush puppies, and fry them in the fish oil. Yeah, baby.... You know your friends are really, really good friends when they give you a bag of fish fry with the incredible fish filets.
I happened to have some fresh peaches on the counter, so no veggies were harmed in preparing this meal....The fish is firm, and bright - no muddiness. So fresh there is not actually any fish smell. I was going to make some tartar sauce but couldn't wait before digging in. Tomorrow, I am making catfish po' boys with a spicy Remoulade, and with the next gift, I am making baked catfish with a horseradish sauce (because, eventually I grew up and learned other ways to eat catfish!!!)
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