4 to 6 skinless Catfish Steaks (1" thick)


1 stick Dairy Butter


Sea Salt or Kosher Salt


Black Pepper



Use skinless catfish steaks that are about 1 inch or more thick. Thaw if frozen. Avoid using thinly sliced catfish steaks, as those can be too dry once cooked.



Cut butter into pats. Begin melting butter pats in a large non-stick skillet on medium-low heat.



Sprinkle salt on catfish steaks and place them in the melting butter.



Using tongs, grasp the steaks around it's outside edges (at the thickest side), and gently turn 3 to 4 times to coat both sides of catfish in melted butter. Handle them gently to avoid breaking them up. Don't put the tongs under the steaks, handle them by their outside edges, or use a spatula.



Allow the catfish steaks to sizzle about a minute on one side, then turn for a 1-minute sizzle on the other side. The trick to keeping them juicy is to briefly butter-brown both sides, turning after a minute, for a total of about 10 to 15 minutes. (15 minutes if the catfish steaks are large).



With a spatula gently transfer cooked catfish steaks to a warm plate, and cover to keep them warm and moist. They're ready to serve at this point, or you could deglaze the pan they cooked in to make some flavorful rice to accompany the buttery catfish steaks.



The Rice



In the same skillet the catfish cooked in, add 2 cups water and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Stir to work loose all the browned, bits. Once the skillet has been deglazed, bring the liquid to a boil. Once it's boiling, add 1 cup of uncooked rice. Stir to get the catfish broth and browned butter well mixed with the rice. Boil this for 5 to 8 minutes, depending on what type of rice is being used.



Dad had two ways to go from here:



If the steaks were small and well cooked by now, he'd keep the cooked catfish steaks covered on a warm plate while he cooked the rice above.



Instead, if the steaks were large or extra thick, he'd place the cooked catfish steaks on the boiling rice, cover the skillet and cook a minute more, then take the skillet from the heat. Keep it covered. Allow the heat and steam to cook the rice. This is a safety procedure on the off chance the thick, large catfish steaks need some additional cooking.



Once the rice has cooked, he'd place the rice and catfish steaks on the table to serve. And he'd crack some fresh black pepper over the catfish steaks right before serving.



Dad didn't always cook rice with the catfish steaks. Many times supper was just the butter browned catfish steaks, some salad and other sides. He was a master at making this, so the catfish rarely needed to finish cooking in the skillet with the rice. My preference is the catfish cooked to itself, the flavors and texture are the finest that way.



The catfish is juicy, slightly sticky from it's broth, buttery and luscious. The browned butter makes this irresistible. I always looked forward to Dad cooking this, it's my favorite way to have catfish.



When we lived in Texas, finding catfish steaks was quite easy. Not so much where I live now though. Avoid any catfish with the skin still on it, you want thick, skinless catfish steaks.