“That’s my husband,” the very pleasant voice from the Farm Bureau Office in Dorchester County said. Mystery solved!
I had searched many cookbooks for a catfish stew recipe and found one in “The Golden Taste of South Carolina” published by the South Carolina Farm Bureau in 1994, and now I was trying to find the Charles Jackson who submitted it.
“Is he a Baptist?” was my next question (what with this being a Baptist newspaper and all). “No, but I used to be before I became a Methodist,” answered Pat Jackson. Close enough. She also said it was her recipe originally but that when Charles retired from Holcim Cement in Harleyville, he began cooking the stew and made some changes.
Pat was formerly a member of Canaan Baptist Church, Cope, in Orangeburg-Calhoun Association. She and Charles have been married about 35 years and have one son, Lee, who lives in Eutawville.
Charles makes this stew maybe a dozen times a year, she said. If he is going to serve it on Friday, he will make it a couple of days ahead, allow it to cool, refrigerate it, then reheat it before serving. She emphasizes that this making ahead and reheating is necessary for the flavors to blend for the best tasting stew. It also freezes well.
I am giving you Charles Jackson’s recipe and I’m also including my adaptation (forgive me, Charles), which makes a much smaller amount. This stew is great for a casual gathering of friends or a large family on a cold day for … Sunday Dinner.
Catfish Stew
By Charles Jackson, Dorchester County
10 pounds catfish fillets
1½ packages (16-ounce package) frozen hash brown potatoes
2 quarts fresh tomatoes, stemmed and mashed
1 32-ounce bottle ketchup
2 10½ounce cans cream of tomato soup, undiluted
½ cup Worcestershire sauce
1 gallon water
1 pound slab bacon, cut into ½-inch pieces
1 pound onions, chopped
¼ cup sugar
2 tablespoons hot pepper sauce, or to taste
Salt and black pepper to taste
½ cup butter
Cook fish until flaky. Drain, remove any bones, and set aside. Combine potatoes, tomatoes, ketchup, soup, Worcestershire sauce and water in a stock pot and cook over medium heat. Meanwhile, sauté bacon until golden brown and add to vegetables. Sauté onion in bacon drippings until golden brown and add to vegetables. Stir in sugar, pepper sauce, salt and black pepper. Simmer for an hour.
Transfer to a double boiler, add fish and simmer for 1 to 2 hours or until thickened, stirring occasionally. Add butter just before serving. Yields 11 quarts.
Catfish Stew (easier version/smaller amount)
2½ – 3 pounds whole catfish or fillets
4 cups cooking liquid from catfish
8 ounces frozen hash brown potatoes
1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes (basil, garlic or other flavors)
1 cup ketchup
¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
4 slices thick-cut bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 large onion, chopped
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon hot sauce
½ teaspoon each salt and pepper, or to taste
Cover fish with water, cook, debone, and set aside. Save cooking liquid. In a large pot, combine the 4 cups cooking liquid from the fish with the vegetables, etc., adding the cooked bacon and onion. Follow cooking instructions above. Makes 4 or 5 quarts.