Cream Cheese
Smoked Fish Dip From MeatEater
- Prep time 2 hours 10 minutes
- Cook time 45 minutes
- Serves 4
Author Notes
Smoked fish dip and crackers is always a huge hit at parties. It’s also a great way to clean out the freezer or use up leftovers.
I use white bass here, which smoke well because they’re more strongly flavored than other delicate warmwater fish like crappie or bluegill, but pretty much any flavorful fresh or saltwater species will work. Pike, trout, salmon, catfish, grouper, mackerel, bluefish, striped bass, gar, whitefish, bass, carp, drum, and eel all come to mind. The same applies to the smoking wood: I use pecan and oak because there are plenty of free twigs right outside my door, but hickory, alder, apple, peach, or cherry will all impart a nice smoke, too.
Potato chips, thinly sliced radishes, crackers, and toasted bread all work as serving vehicles. Don’t overlook slathering fish dip on an everything bagel with some capers and chopped red onion, or as a sandwich on toasted white bread with sliced ripe tomato and butter lettuce. - Jesse Griffiths —Food52
Test Kitchen Notes
This recipe was originally published on MeatEater and republished with permission. MeatEater is committed to fueling human connection to nature. They educate and inspire folks to connect with the natural world through the lens of hunting, fishing, conservation and preserving wild places for future generations, and harvesting wild foods for use in the kitchen. —Food52
Ingredients
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4 teaspoons
kosher salt
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2 teaspoons
brown sugar
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1 teaspoon
granulated garlic
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1/2 teaspoon
dried thyme
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1 pound
white fish fillets
-
8 ounces
cream cheese
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2 tablespoons
prepared horseradish
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3 tablespoons
pickled peppers, finely chopped
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3 tablespoons
onion, finely chopped
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1 piece
celery, finely chopped, plus some celery leaves reserved for garnish
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4 sprigs
fresh parsley or dill, finely chopped
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2 teaspoons
paprika, for garnish
Directions
- Combine the salt, brown sugar, granulated garlic, and thyme in a small bowl. Season the fillets generously with the mix and set aside in the refrigerator for one or two hours.
- Meanwhile, heat a smoker to 225°F. Smoke the fillets until they are nicely browned, lightly crisp at the edges and flake easily. This takes about 40 to 50 minutes.
- Mix the cream cheese, horseradish, pickled peppers, onion, celery, and parsley together in a medium bowl. Once the smoked fish is cool enough to handle, crumble it into the bowl and mix to just combine. If you prefer a finer texture, mix the fish more and break it up to your liking.
- Serve cold with parsley and celery leaves as garnish with a dusting of paprika on top.
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