This recipe was wonderful!! I varied it just a bit to fit my family's preferences though. I used flavored tortilla chips (I think they were salsa flavored?) skipped the cilantro and instead of the chipotle pepper I used 1/4 cup of mild salsa and 2 Tbsp milk for the cheese sauce. It was EXCELLENT - this one is definitely going in the recipe box!
I had the same issue as another reviewer...my fillets were thick and needed about 5-6 mins longer in the oven. I only had real cheddar cheese so I added a little milk salsa and a small spoon of sour cream to a handful of cheddar cheese cubes instead of the chipotle and processed cheese spread. Otherwise everything else was the same and the dish was very good.
Very 'gourmet' with a southwestern flair. I loved it! Love the chips and catfish combo. Thanks for the inspiring dish (:
I may try this again and re-review it but for now it's a 3 only b/c you have to time things right. My husband followed the recipe but should have followed the standard fish cooking guidelines b/c our fillets were thicker than maybe the recipe allows and he had to put it back in the oven to finish cooking. Meanwhile the queso which was ready when he first pulled it out of the oven hardened. We were not able to recover the queso.
The beer (used a good beer) and lime gives an interesting (in a good way) flavor to the catfish. I also added a little garlic powder to the breading as it just sounded good. Didn't bother with the cheese sauce. Took longer than the recommended baking time even with increasing the temperature. Coating finish with a nice crunch and fish was good but still prefer pan frying.
Because many people had problems with the cooking time I read the directions on the package of my fillets. They suggested 20-25 min at 375. It definitely took a full 25 minutes probably a couple more. Overall I thought the recipe was okay. I would have liked more crunch. I may try again and omit the rack and place the fillets directly on my baking sheet. I had some leftover nacho cheese from a gathering of teenage girls at my house so that was a very easy way to do the cheese sauce.
I guess i should have cooked mine longer something wasn't right the cheese sauce that goes on top is good!
Just like other folks I had to cook this twice as long before the fish was flaking. The crust was crunchy and just a bit spicy (my 8 yr old complained). I cheated on the queso by melting cheese and adding in salsa...same effect. A nice change of pace. I'll probably make it again.
Not bad. My fish took 15 minutes (probably would have been even better at 20 mins). The sauce is tasty but gets thick and paste-like really quickly as it cools. Good bones to the recipe though. The fish coating was great.
