Catfish Fillets with Homemade Tartar Sauce & Mashed Potatoes

Nothing seems to satisfy your appetite like a delicious piece of southern fried catfish unless of course it comes with homemade tartar sauce and some southern style mashed potatoes.

Since I'm not a big fan of spending hours in the kitchen to get a good southern-style meal I made it as easy as possible on myself.

This picture and the one below shows the size and color of the (cooked) catfish fillets really well.



Also, I tend to like my mashed potatoes somewhat "thicker" and the pictures show the "thickness" of the mashed potatoes really well.

I used a paper plate (so there were fewer dirty dishes) and seasoned the fish with season salt and some pepper then breaded it with a standard 'seafood' breading.

Also, I used a paper towel to pat my fillets dry.  You can tell from the picture to the left they've been dried off a bit.

I used a pair of tongs to flip the fillet around in the batter and get a good coating.

Make CERTAIN your grease has reached the frying point before beginning to cook your fish.  Otherwise, your batter may come off and your fish could be greasy.



After battering the fillets fry them in about a 1/4 inch of vegetable grease.  You only need enough to cover the bottom of the skillet really well.

Once you notice the bottom edges are a golden brown (or as brown as you prefer) it's time to flip the fillets and continue cooking on the other side.

Cook for 3-4 minutes on the opposite side keeping a check on the bottom until they are a golden brown color.

Now it's time for the Homemade Tartar Sauce:

You will need equal parts of mayonnaise and sweet relish.  If you prefer a "chunky" tartar sauce you can use more sweet relish than mayo.  If you like a tart/tangy taste to your tartar sauce use a 1/2 tablespoon of lemon juice for every cup.

And for my potatoes, I used red potatoes (not peeled) and boiled till done.  Mash with a potato masher (or mix with a mixer) and salt and pepper to taste.  Add milk and butter to make your potatoes as creamy as you prefer.  When I'm eating mashed potatoes with seafood I like to add about 2 Tbsp. of Horseradish.  It gives the potatoes a nice "kick" and adds a punch of flavor that I especially enjoy with seafood.