My sumac catfish recipe came about because I could not wait to get off on my fishing trip to Red River. It was always that way; throw the camping gear in the truck and then carefully inventory all my fishing gear. I dont want to forget any fishing tackle ... grab the water jug and race to the river.
As I sat there dehydrating in the evening sun, catching supper, it dawned on me that I had forgotten to bring any grease. How will I fry my catch?
I soon had a nice 3 pound channel cat staked out on the stringer and I set out to gather some sumac. Sumac heads are so tart it only takes a few churned up and down in a 5 gallon GOT cooler to make the most delicious drink you ever drank? Much better then lemonade!
I know what I will do, I thought as I picked sumac heads for the sumacade I planed to make, I will fry Mr. Catfish in sumacade.
I dug a long, narrow, trench in the dirt about 6 inches deep, and kindled a small fire in the trench. Next I put the skillet on the trench and put in it about 2 tablespoons of sumacade. When the sumacade started boiling furiously I added the two fillets from the channel cat. Just as the last of the sumacade disappeared into steam they began to brown.
Wow ... fry fish in water... pretty neat, I thought.
When I tried to flip them over they fell apart but they were brown on one side and done through and through and very delicious. The onion I forgot would have been nice. Needless to say I never carry any grease since that day, when sumac is available.
TO MAKE SUMACADE: Put a sumac head into a quart of water, shake vigorously and let set for a few minutes. Strain through cheesecloth into a tall glass, add sugar and ice ... enjoy!