Fresh From the Bayou

"We can skin a buck, we can run a trot line, and a country boy can survive." - Hank Williams Jr. 

Our neighbors are the Williams.  No relation to Hank Jr. that I know of, but they can indeed survive by living off the land.  With the expansion in the neighborhood we talked about in this post, they have decided to purchase some land further out in the country to escape the encroaching sprawl.  We pray daily for all our neighbors and our rural neighborhood.

The neighbors have hoop nets on Bayou Nezpique and catch lots of catfish.  They skin them and gut them and sell to local fish markets.  They bring some to us, too!  They brought us several 1 gallon ziploc bags of whole catfish.  On Saturday afternoon, I made a salt water brine and soaked the catfish for a couple hours.  Then I drained the brine and patted the fish dry.

I had an idea in my head.  We love to eat smoked salmon.  Catfish is not salmon (or maybe it is the redneck salmon), but I don't see why it can't be smoked.  I searched around and found a recipe.  I made up a rub and coated the sides of the whole catfish.  I got the smoker fired up to 225 degrees, filled the water bowl and set the largest catfish on the bottom rack.

And the smaller catfish on the top rack.  I added some pecan wood on top of the coals and closed up the top.

Smoke was pouring out of the top vent.  I kept my eye on the temperature and adjusted the vents to keep it steady.

After an hour, I checked the internal temperature with my meat thermometer and 'flake tested' it.  They were done!

We brought them inside and asked God's blessing on our meal.  The smoked catfish was delicious!

We are thankful for good neighbors and their ability to "live off the land."  You never know, that may be a crucial skill in our brave, new world...