Catfish yum

First Catch Fish Market

Yesterday I drove past the "tea pot house" off Route 60 near Buena Vista, VA. Its a funny looking little place, and for the longest time it seemed empty.

Now, however, it is a fish store. So on a whim we swung by. They had a variety of fish, but I decided to go for the catfish, since Im thinking of getting some catfish for my polyculture outdoor aquaponics system.

Took the fillets home, coated them with chili powder, salt, and pepper, then sauteed them in olive oil.

My daughter prefers salmon. But I cant raise salmon in my backyard...

I served up the fillets with a crisp garden salad and fresh berries. Very lovely!

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Yum Basil Chicken Salad

How to Chiffonade, from Dreamy Dish

The point of growing food in a garden is to eat it.

Tonight we had a wonderful chicken salad, with fresh basil and beet leaves from the garden. Im lucky enough to have a former chef for a son-in-law, so he was able to just throw everything together. But heres an approximation of the recipe (so I can replicate this myself sometime in the future, if for no other reason!):

1-2 boneless chicken breast(s)
chicken broth
1-2 Granny Smith apple(s)
2 stalks of celery
1/2 cup basil leaves
2-4 beet leaves with red stalks
1 cup mayonnaise
1-2 cloves crushed/diced garlic
1 tsp mustard
salt & pepper to taste
handful of raisins and pine nuts (optional)

Cook the chicken in the broth.
While the chicken is cooking, dice the apple and celery.
Chiffonade the basil and beet leaves.
Remove the cooked chicken from the broth and set the broth aside to use in some future meal.
Cube the chicken.
Mix the apples, celery, chicken, basil, beets, and garlic. Add the raisins and pine nuts if youre using them.
Add the mayonnaise and mustard, and mix well.
Salt and pepper to taste.

I liked it between soft slices of whole grain bread.

And on a slice of mozzarella.

And on toast...

Yum!

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