All my life I've been an outdoorsman, if not subsistence then very close to the edge of it. If I haven't eaten wild things, then I've made a partial living off of them. UTILIZE,UTILIZE,UTILIZE is my mantra.
Fish are no different....if it's caught then it's used. Carp are dog food and trap line bait, gar are deboned to make 'poor man's lobster....all other game fish are fried, stewed,chowdered,grilled,smoked, broiled( speaking of which I have a broiled trout with cream recipe that'll make your wife do things that are illegal in most states and certainly a felony in Oklahoma),poached.....love the whole 'from field and stream to table'way of life. And it is a way of life gentlemen.
I thought I knew all of the ends and outs of wild game cooking. The perfect wine matches, the correct configurations of sauteed ingredients to make the dish 'pop',what spice rub to use with what species and dinner plan.
Oh yes,friends ,I was in the know.
But something vexed me...this smoked fish dip conglomeration. Quite frankly ,it sounded like a mess on a cracker. But through the years I've listened to you guys rail about it and Sheri Daye swooning how she shot a certain species that makes great dip...on and on and on. Bleeh ! ,says I.
Not along ago ,mrmike posted a recipe for smoked fish dip seemed doable. I'm reading over it and thinking " Holy crap ? Is it possible that this isn't some kind of regional quirk that's actually good?" . So ,I made a comment about it on Mike's thread. One thing led to another, PM's were exchanged, yada yada yada....
Tonight, I came in from work after a long 16 hour day to see a rather unassuming box sitting on the table from a Mike out of Florida. I smelled the box ....did you guys know everything from Florida smells like oranges ? It's true. You probably don't notice it since you live there ( kinda like smokers can't smell shit, either) and for that I feel sorry for ya. Everything coming out of Oklahoma smells like meth and stockyards.
I tore into the box and eventually came upon this container of this ...mess. Looked like mashed potatos with the works. An off white mush. With spices for color.
Tentively( forgot how to spell that), I dredged a big ass Wheat Thin through it and threw the pile in my mouth with a Red Stripe close at hand in case I had to wash it down like a Wheat Thin sized aspirin.
Fear immediately gave way to bliss, eyes that had been closed tightly with dread snapped open with surprise and joy....It wasn't a lump of coal in my stocking !! It was awesomeness on a freaking 'Thin !!! The joy ! Oh rapture and hallelujah !!
" Alissa !!" I cried, calling to my dear wife. "You've gotta try this shit that I just threw together from last Spring's crappie" says I.She orged immediately...swept away in the bliss that only firing tastebuds can provide.She fell to the floor and kissed my feet , and then washed them with her flaming red hair.
After she had composed herself and left me to snack alone...I wept for the knowing that this method of cookery had escaped me for over 30 years. But I vow to utilize (UTILIZE ! UTILIZE ! UTILIZE!) this method of preparation from here on out.
You make a damn fine dip, Mike. Damn fine.
And here's the recipe.
http://spearfishing.world/foru…3634-smoked-fish-dip.html
Now, I want to try that smoked fish dip baaad!