Like I said a couple of times before I brought home a ton of bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix) from the County Pier. So, if you’re sick of bluefish at this point, I totally understand. Today I turned the last 5 bluefish I had into a big bowl of smoked fish dip. This is a tried-and-true way of turning any oily and fishy fleshed fish into a crowd-pleaser for gatherings and parties. By first brining and then smoking the bluefish, the oils that a lot of people don’t enjoy work in your favor by absorbing the smoke very well. Then by shredding the smoked bluefish and mixing it with some other ingredients, I’m going to make a delicious smoked bluefish dip today. This recipe is based on Wade’s smoked tuna dip recipe off of the PensacolaFishingForum and differs from Ms. Pat’s famous recipe, which I’ve covered before, by being cream cheese based instead of a dressing base. So, this dip is a good bit thicker and less like a tuna salad.
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Ok I’m going to be brief, I’ve shown y’all how to clean bluefish two times before now and this is pretty much the same again. You don’t need to scale the bluefish this time, we are not leaving the skin on. Take the head and collar of the bluefish off.
Start on one side of the fish, run the knife along the bones, and take the fillet off, repeat for the other side as well. You need at least 3 lbs of fillets for this recipe.
Debone the fillets, take off the rib cage, and cut out the pin bones.
Take your fillet knife and take the skin off the fillets. Start at the tail and keep your knife flat as possible to the cutting board.
Cook your Catch – Smoked Bluefish Dip
Smoked Bluefish Dip
- 10 Boneless Skinless Bluefish Fillets – About 3 pounds
- 1 1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
- 1/2 Cup Sea Salt
- 1 1/2 Cup Filtered Water
- 1 tbsp Red Chili Flakes
Put the brown sugar, sea salt, water, and chili flakes either in a bowl big enough to hold the brine fillets or a gallon ziplock back. Mix the brine till all the sugar and salt is dissolved. Note about the water and salt, everyone I’ve talked to said to avoid chlorinated water for brining fish, hence the filtered water. And stick to sea salt or kosher salt, Iodized salt is too fine and would be too salty in the same volume.
Once the brine is well mixed, add in the bluefish fillets and make sure they are all well coated. Cover them and put them aside in the fridge to brine for at least an hour.
While the fish is brining prepare your smoker or grill. Make a two-zone smoker with the coals on one side, we are cooking around at least 300f for a quick smoke. For wood choice stick with fruitwood, nut woods, and mesquite are too strong for smoking fish. Once the fish is done brining, place them in the grill and let them sit for about another hour so they form a pellicle, this will absorb the smoke flavor better.
Smoke the bluefish for at least a couple of hours, you want a nice dark color to the fillets before pulling them off the grill. You can eat the fish as is or on a cracker after this but that’s not what I’m doing here today.
Smoked Bluefish Dip
- 3 Pounds of Smoked Bluefish
- 2 bunches of green onions
- 1 jar Fire Roasted Sweet Bell Peppers
- 1 Cup Mayo
- 3 blocks of Cream Cheese
- 1/2 Cup of Diced Pickle Jalapenos
- 1/4 Cup Sweet Relish
- 1/4 Cup Fill Relish
- 2 Limes
- 1 tsp Garlic Powder
Start off by draining the bell peppers, and the Pickled Jalapenos, dice up both, and then put back in the strainer. Measure out the two relishes as well and add to the strainer and drain as well.
Dice up both bunches of green onions finely then put aside. It seems like a lot right now but once in the mix it’s not.
Put all three cream cheese blocks into a big mixing bowl, if you have a hand mixer use it here. Start creaming the cream cheese and then add in the cup of mayonnaise. Keep mixing them till smooth.
Now it’s time to break up the smoke bluefish, you can crumble this by hand till its all small flakes. If you have a hand mixer, use that instead starting at a lower speed.
Once the bluefish is crumbled add all the ingredients into the big mixing bowl of cream cheese and mayo. Squeeze in the two limes and add their zest if you have a zester, also add the garlic powder too. If you want a little more heat, you can also add in some hot sauce now. Mix all of this well until homogeneous. Once it is mixed, cover it up and put it in the fridge overnight for all the flavors to mix properly.
Serve the smoked bluefish dip with some tortilla chips and crackers. When serving this you’ll need a spoon to scoop it. The cream cheese makes this fish dip pretty thick and it’ll break the chips and crackers.
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