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.  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.