As a credit to Martha Hall Foose, author of Screen Doors and Sweet Tea, tonight's meal made it to my boyfriend's list of all-time favorites.
Along with the 3 Bean Salad and Blue Cheese Pecan Bread I made earlier, I added Crispy Baby Reds with parsley and dill salt (page 164) and Paper Sack Catfish (page 129). I will have to say that I have never been more precious with a potato recipe. Indeed, there is one step where I failed. After boiling the potatoes, I was to spoon them into a baking dish, one at a time, and coat with olive oil. Sorry, Martha, I did small batches instead.
I'm sure that they would have been even better if I followed the recipe exactly, but I had to move on to the next step, so I could get my catfish in the oven. The catfish was some of the best I remember having and I got to use some dill from our garden, but I will use a bigger baking sheet next time. My paper sacks were dripping olive oil over the sides and onto the floor before I got wise to the sitchyation. It's best to get fillets of a similar size and as close to the ones that the recipe calls for (6 ounces) as possible. It's mighty difficult to judge doneness from the other side of the paper bag, so I'll never be the hostess with the dramatic reveal of slicing the paper bags open at the table. I did the optional addition of blanched asparagus beneath the catfish and prosciutto on top. I forgot to add the pepper before cooking, but that didn't ruin the evening. Butcher's twine, by the way, is on the baking aisle, next to the spices at Farm Fresh, if you need to know.
All in all, it was a tasty meal, but the recipes I chose to put together made for a heavy plate. If I had to do it all over again, I would add in a fresh fruit salad and not have the bread and potatoes...just one or the other. So far, this cookbook has delivered the goods, and I look forward to telling you about other test runs. Perhaps something from the Mailbox Happy Hour section next?
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