Whew that's a big recipe name, huh? Well let me tell you, tautog with creamy tomatoes and cornmeal fried okra will soon be your new best friend.  

Fall in New England always brings a big sigh of relief.  The busy summer tourist season is behind us and tautog (also called blackfish) are biting well. 

Being the wife of a fisherman, I am usually updated on the migratory patterns of tautog each year on a daily basis. And when the blackfish arrive in good numbers, sayonara husband! Thankfully for me this means fresh caught tautog - which are delicious eating.  

Tautog are a white flakey fish with a rich, buttery texture that holds up really well. No matter what recipe you are following, with tautog you can grill it, bake it, pan sear it - you name it! 

When preparing the tautog fillet, make sure to remove all the skin and pat it dry with paper towels before seasoning with salt and pepper. Then you are ready to add the fillet to the pan.

The addition of okra (one of my favorite vegetables), along with creamy tomatoes, is what makes this dish so darn magical - yet so darn easy to prepare.  

Thanks to my Mom and her Oklahoma roots, I will always have a love affair with okra all things southern. Aside from okra some other southern favorites of mine include hush puppies, beans, BBQ, cornbread, biscuits, sweet tea, fried green tomatoes, and pimento cheese. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!

Some people think okra is slimy, but I want you to forget all about slimy okra, because my quick and easy pan fried technique takes any sliminess out. What you are left with are little nuggets of pure okra heaven.

Preparing The Okra

If you've never cooked with okra, it's very simple.  Start by washing the okra. Next, trim off the okra stems, and cut the okra into 1/2 inch pieces.

The most authentic way to fry okra is to dredge it in egg. Next roll the okra into a mixture of flour, cornmeal and seasonings. The last step when frying okra the authentic way, is to gently drop each okra into super hot oil to let them crisp up. 

However, my method uses a lot less oil, and you'll still get a nice crispiness to the okra. The end result will be little morsels of goodness that go perfectly with creamy tomato sauce (which I'll show you how to make below).

Simmered Tomatoes in a Creamy Sauce

The sauce for the tomatoes is a light, creamy sauce, flavored with a little lemon juice and fresh rosemary. If you have rice on hand, then go ahead and serve that too, because this sauce goes perfectly with rice!

Pan sear the tautog separately, and then place it ontop of the creamy tomato sauce. This allows for you to fully taste the flavors of the fish.

This recipe also works with just about any other white flakey fish, but if you can get your hands on some tautog, the buttery, rich taste of this firmer white flakey fish will really knock your socks off.

Have I made you hungry yet? I sure hope so! You can check out my detailed recipe below. 👇