Fish sticks and corn nuts seem more like convenience store fare than fine dining. Not so in the case of these Catfish Sticks with Corn Nuts from Bluestem. In this inspired preparation, catfish fillets are coated in crunchy, salty corn nuts, giving them a crispy crust that's deeply corny in the best possible way. More

Until I ran across this fish sticks recipe in Canal House Cooking Volume No. 6 by Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton I was pretty sure these little logs of breaded fish were born in a box. I'd always equated them with childhood dinners and could perfectly envision them sliding out of the box and onto the toaster oven tray. But one look at those panko-coated fingers of cod in Canal House Cooking and it was clear that fish sticks didn't have to exist only in the frozen foods aisle. More