Read Home Cooking With Trisha Yearwood: Stories and Recipes to Share With Family and Friends for Free Online Page B

the liquid is absorbed.

saucy bass
    My great-grandmotherMary Paulk had a large farm pond in Willacoochee, Georgia. She liked to paddle a boat out into the dark waters and fish for bream with a cane pole. Mygrandaddy Paulk fished for bass with a rod and reel, often taking my mom along to paddle for him. I’ll bet they never cooked bass this way!
    SERVES 4
    2 teaspoons salt
    1½ pounds largemouth bass fillets (8 fillets total)
    ½ cup ketchup
    ½ cup mayonnaise
    1 tablespoon yellow mustard
    1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
    ¼ cup brown sugar
    2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
    ½ cup olive oil or salted butter, melted
    ½ cup chopped sweet onion
    1 lemon, sliced
    Preheat the oven to 300°F.
    Line a 9 × 13 × 2-inch casserole dish with aluminum foil. Salt the bass and transfer it to the dish.
    Make the basting sauce by mixing the ketchup, mayonnaise, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, olive oil, and onion. Pour the sauce over the bass and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until the meat flakes easily with a fork. Spoon the sauce over the fish at 20-minute intervals as it bakes. Using pancake turners, carefully remove the fish to a platter and garnish with lemon slices.

    My daddy proudly displaying his largemouth bass!

    Mary Paulk with her catch.
    Try substituting other fish, such as whole rainbow trout. Adjust the baking times by testing flakiness.

pete’s catfish
    My eighty-eight-year-old cousinPete Yearwood is an experienced fisherman and catches large catfish. My daddy, Jack, was an only child, so his few remaining relatives are very special to me. Pete reminds me a lot of my daddy, from the sparkle in his eyes to his great sense of humor. When my dad built our house in 1970, he found a fresh spring down in the woods. He built a pond out of that spring, and he would often take Beth and me fishing. He baited our hooks for us and removed them from our catches long after we were old enough to do it ourselves. We never caught a fish as big as Pete’s, though!
    SERVES 6
    6 large catfish fillets
    1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon salt
    1 cup cornmeal
    2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
    ¼ teaspoon black pepper
    2 quarts peanut oil
    Put the catfish in enough water to fully cover. Add a tablespoon of salt, cover with plastic wrap, and soak overnight in the refrigerator.
    Mix the cornmeal, flour, 1 teaspoon salt, and black pepper in a plastic bag. Drain the water from the catfish and transfer the fish to the bag with the cornmeal. Shake the bag to coat the fish.
    Heat the oil in a deep fryer or Dutch oven to 300°F. Drop a few pieces of fish into the hot oil. Do not overcrowd. Cook the fish until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Remove the pieces with a slotted spoon and keep warm in an oven while frying the remaining pieces.
    FROM GWEN: A steak from one of these fish is more than a serving. Pete says the key to a good piece of fish is in the way it’s cut. He cuts 1-inch slices, crosswise, from the largest part of the fish, then fillets one side of the remaining tail portion and leaves the bone in the other side.

FROM BETH: Serve this fish with a side of Jalapeño Hushpuppies .

    Pete holding a 45-pound flathead catfish that he caught in 2008, when he was eighty-seven years old! He was fishing in the Oconee River near his home in Greensboro, Georgia, with a rod and reel. He had to have a little help holding this one!



okra and tomatoes
    If you only like okra fried, you may be surprised at this pretty combination dish. Choose small okra pods. They’re the most tender.
    SERVES 6 TO 8
    1 small onion, finely chopped
    1 bell pepper, finely chopped
    2 garlic cloves, minced
    1 tablespoon butter
    ⅓ cup ketchup
    ½ cup grated carrot
    1 teaspoon dried basil
    2 large tomatoes, diced
    1 10-ounce can tomatoes with chiles, such as Rotel brand
    3 cups sliced fresh okra, in ½-inch pieces
    In a medium skillet, sauté the onion, bell pepper, and garlic in the butter until tender. Add the ketchup, carrot, basil, and fresh and