Brendan Handy enjoys a plate of grilled catfish and tomatoes. Photo by Josh Rouse.
On Friday, June 17, I decided to grill some catfish. I didn't have any leftover catfish fillets in my freezer, so instead I used storebought catfish nuggets.
These nuggets were unbreaded and were basically just fillets of farm catfish cut in half. I put the frozen nuggets in a bowl of hot water to defrost them, also putting some lemon and lime juice in the bowl to get soaked up, then lit up the grill. By the time I was done lighting it up and letting it heat up a bit, the nuggets were ready. For the first batch, I took about six or seven nuggets and covered them in Lawry's Lemon Pepper. I am a big fan of this seasoning on catfish. Usually, I take a couple fillets, cover them in lemon pepper and wrap them in aluminum. This time I decided to try cooking the nuggets without aluminum foil.
I put the nuggets on the grill and quickly found out this wouldn't work well. As I suspected, the fish easily fell through the grill (I lost three nuggets in the coals). However, I cooked the remaining nuggets about 15 minutes over the direct heat and they tasted pretty decent, though they could have been cooked longer.
For the second batch, I brought out the aluminum foil. I took 4-5 pieces, put it on the aluminum foil and, since I ran out of lemon pepper, covered them in Mrs. Dash original blend seasoning.
These nuggets were unbreaded and were basically just fillets of farm catfish cut in half. I put the frozen nuggets in a bowl of hot water to defrost them, also putting some lemon and lime juice in the bowl to get soaked up, then lit up the grill. By the time I was done lighting it up and letting it heat up a bit, the nuggets were ready. For the first batch, I took about six or seven nuggets and covered them in Lawry's Lemon Pepper. I am a big fan of this seasoning on catfish. Usually, I take a couple fillets, cover them in lemon pepper and wrap them in aluminum. This time I decided to try cooking the nuggets without aluminum foil.
I put the nuggets on the grill and quickly found out this wouldn't work well. As I suspected, the fish easily fell through the grill (I lost three nuggets in the coals). However, I cooked the remaining nuggets about 15 minutes over the direct heat and they tasted pretty decent, though they could have been cooked longer.
For the second batch, I brought out the aluminum foil. I took 4-5 pieces, put it on the aluminum foil and, since I ran out of lemon pepper, covered them in Mrs. Dash original blend seasoning.
Grilling your catfish with tomatoes on top can be a wonderful way to enjoy one of nature's tastiest treats. Photo by Josh Rouse.
Next, I took a small tomato and cut it into fourths. The easiest way to do this is to cut the tomato in half, then turn the tomato and cut both halves at the same time. I then took the tomatoes and put them on top of the nuggets. I also put a few slices of tomato under the nuggets. There was a bit of tomato juice on the foil, but I kept it in there for flavor.
I then took the top and bottom sides of the foil and folded them over the fish and tomatoes. Then I took the ends of the foil and folded one end under the fish and the other over the fish. The goal is to make the foil lie as flat as possible. I put the foiled fish on the grill and cooked it about 45 minutes, flipping 3 or 4 times in the process. You can usually tell which side is getting the most heat because the foil will start to brown or even blacken. Try to evenly heat the fish, not just having all the heat on one side.
When I took the fish off the grill, I was pleasantly surprised by the end result. I had never tried grilling fish and tomatoes together, but it turned out really well. The tomatoes flattened out quite a bit and sort of looked like marinara sauce on top of the fish. The catfish was tender and flakey, perfectly cooked. To this day, I would say it was the best tasting catfish I've ever had. I usually eat catfish with ketchup or barbeque sauce, but this even tasted great plain as the tomatoes added flavor.
As a side note, I also tried using Adabo seasoning on a few of the nuggets, which was disgusting. Don't try that.
I then took the top and bottom sides of the foil and folded them over the fish and tomatoes. Then I took the ends of the foil and folded one end under the fish and the other over the fish. The goal is to make the foil lie as flat as possible. I put the foiled fish on the grill and cooked it about 45 minutes, flipping 3 or 4 times in the process. You can usually tell which side is getting the most heat because the foil will start to brown or even blacken. Try to evenly heat the fish, not just having all the heat on one side.
When I took the fish off the grill, I was pleasantly surprised by the end result. I had never tried grilling fish and tomatoes together, but it turned out really well. The tomatoes flattened out quite a bit and sort of looked like marinara sauce on top of the fish. The catfish was tender and flakey, perfectly cooked. To this day, I would say it was the best tasting catfish I've ever had. I usually eat catfish with ketchup or barbeque sauce, but this even tasted great plain as the tomatoes added flavor.
As a side note, I also tried using Adabo seasoning on a few of the nuggets, which was disgusting. Don't try that.
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