Smoked Fish Dip

One of my favorite dishes to serve at parties is my dad’s fish dip. In fact, in the past few months I’ve been a part of this exchange no less than a dozen times, most recently at the Rosemond Family Reunion last weekend:

Them: What’s that?

Me: It’s fish dip.

Them: Fish dip?

Me: Try it!

Them: OH MY GOD FISH DIP.

It really is that good. And since I’ve had a lot of people ask me for the recipe recently I thought I’d bring it up from the archives, dust it off a little, and share it with you. Just in time for all your summer cookouts.

Smoked Fish Dip

4 cups flaked smoked fish, such as kingfish or mackerel

1 cup whole milk

1 cup Greek yogurt

8 ounces light cream cheese, softened

1 finely minced onion

3 stalks finely chopped celery

1/4 cup finely minced parsley

12 finely chopped cornishon pickles

Juice of 2 lemons

7 shakes hot sauce

1 tsp cayenne pepper

Salt & pepper

With a fork, flake the smoked fish off the filet. You can flake it finely or coarsely depending on your preference. Discard the darker meats that you find in the center of the filet. Put the smoked fish in a medium bowl and pour milk over it. Cover and soak in the refrigerator for thirty minutes. Drain the milk using a fine strainer and place the fish back in the bowl.

Stir in remaining ingredients.

Cover and chill 2-3 hours to allow flavors to blend. Serve with crackers or fresh vegetables.