Smoked Fish Dip

Between giving the boat some TLC and the constant rain this week my time on the water was limited. I still wanted to post and possibly make this section about much more then just fishing reports. So for this week I am sharing one of my favorite appetizers with you, guaranteed to wow your friends.

For my fish dip, my fish of choice is King Mackerel “kingfish” but you can substitute it with a variety of other species, two other popular options in SWFL are Mackerel or Mullet.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds of smoked kingfish
• ½ cup mayonnaise
• ½ cup cream cheese, softened
• 1-2 fresh jalapeño, finely chopped (remove the seeds)
• ¼ cup fresh onion, finely chopped
• ¼ cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped
• 1-2 stalks of celery, finely chopped
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• ½ teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon of hot sauce

Directions

First, peel off the skin and place the fish in a food processor and pulse about 3 – 5 times to break it up a bit. Now, add the remaining ingredients into the food processor and pulse until smooth. You can eat it right away, but if you refrigerate it and eat it the next day, I promise you that it will taste even better.

When ready to eat, garnish the fish dip with diced red onions, sliced pickled jalapeños. Serve with crackers or corn chips, I prefer saltines.