Smoked Bluefish Spread/Pate

Smoked Bluefish is a New England tradition, going back probably thousands of years.  Native people in the region often preserved fish for winter by smoking them....and Blue fish is about as good as it gets for smoking.  The early English colonists learned about this treat and added the cheese......a perfect marriage in my mind ( and to be sure it was probably thru marriage that this was passed down thru the years).

Smoked Blue fish can be purchased in many good fish mongers here in the northeast, or better yet you can catch and smoke your own, but that's a post for another time.
Take about a 1/2 pound of good cream cheese (you can try the low fat varieties but I have found they don't hold up). Let the cheese sit out till its soft or use your microwave to soften it.
Carefully flake about 1/2 lb of  awesome smoked bluefish, and fold it into the cream cheese. 
You can try this in a food processor (its a mess) but I use a fork. I like it to be completely incorporated, but you can also choose to leave chunks of the Bluefish.   At this point I often add some lemon juice, smoked paprika and ground black pepper.  Today I am adding some crumbled bacon ( its bacon, it goes with everything).   Transfer it to a container with a lid and let it sit for a few hours in the fridge.
Then spread it on crackers or toasted baguette slices with a topping of chopped chives, or eat it with your finger when no-one is around.
...this also works as a stuffing for mushrooms.....

CEVICHE...

so who's heard of Ceviche, or had some? If you like fish, citrus and spice this dish is for you. First off what the heck is it?
Ceviche is raw fish or shellfish "cooked" in highly acidic citrus juice with the addition of hot peppers, onions and other delectable things. The acidity breaks down the protein in the fish turning it from translucent to opaque, thereby "cooking it. that's the short answer.
Ceviche can be made with any fresh ocean fish with firm, white, non-oily flesh or with shrimp. scallops, squid or octopus. Do not use fresh water fish as the chance of parasites it multiplied tenfold. typically I will freeze fish for 2-3 days before using it for this dish as this reduces the chance of any parasites. please remember that Ceviche is not cooked, it is raw fish.
here in the northeast a very good fish for ceviche is Scup or porgy; fluke, and black seabass are also good. so you want to make your own Ceviche?

1 lb firm white ocean fish fillets, or shrimp
1/2 red onion
4-5 limes
1-2 green chilli peppers (or what ever hot peppers you have
1 stalk celery
1 small bunch of FRESH cilantro
1 orange
1 tsp salt

dice the peppers, onion and celery into 1/8" cubes (or finely slice the onion into very thin strips)
1/4 the limes and the orange and squeeze them into a non reactive glass or plastic bowl
finely chop the cilantro...NOTE this is one recipe where you have to use fresh cilantro, if you don't have it don't substitute.
slice the fish fillets or shrimp into 1/2" pieces
1/4 the peppers and remove the seeds and pulp. (you may need to add more peppers depending on their heat, you want a bite but not so hot you can't taste anything).
mix all the items together and refrigerate for 2-3 hours ( you can also keep this over night).
when the fish has turned white and firmed up, serve over a bed of fresh lettuce, preferably with a chilled wine or a margarita.

this is one dish that feeds your senses, the colors, taste and smell are amazing....

Bluefish, oh you amazing yellow eyed devils

bluefish, often maligned, cursed and tossed away. Next to dogfish, the plague of many fishermen in the northeast. The yellow eyed devils cut lines, shred bait and bite fingers. There's an old joke that goes..."whats the best way to cook a bluefish? fillet it, rub it all over with garlic, black pepper and other spices, tack it to a cedar plank, and grill it over an open fire till its done. Throw away the bluefish and eat the plank"...Oh what poor fools they are who do this. Bluefish is a delicious food when prepared and cooked properly. There are three things to remember when you want to eat bluefish and enjoy it. 1) size (like everything else it matters). 2) freshness and handling (again see size)...3) cooking method....Ok we'll go in order
1)never ever eat a bluefish over about 10lbs, they are extremely oily. Here in the northeast the bluefish show up to feast on schooling fish,mostly herring and Menhaden. They do this for a reason, the high oil (fat content) that they need to make their fall migration both off shore and south. The bigger the fish the more oil. A perfect size is between 4 and 8 lbs, smaller fish called skipjacks are good too.
2) this is probably the single most important step in eating bluefish. Because of the high oil content they do not keep well. Never EVER buy a bluefish at the market, unless its been smoked. Bluefish do not keep well as the oil will start to flavor the meat with in hours and cause it to get soft and mushy. Fresh caught is the only way to go, and once caught it must be bled and put on ice. It makes me gag every time I see some tourist throw their bluefish on the sand where it sits baking in the sun, covered in sand for 3 hours. as soon as you can fillet it, and unless you are smoking it, skin it and cut out all the dark meat along the lateral line.
OH and please do not freeze it, it will thaw out into a mushy mess (unless you do a dry salt brine fist...more on that later)
3) Ok preparation. You have, lets say a 5lb bluefish, properly cared for, filleted, skinned and all the dark meat cut out.....now take some good kosher salt and rub it all over the fillets front and back and let it sit in the fridge for about a hour.....When you come back to check on it you'll find it sitting in a pool of oily liquid. This is good the salt has drawn a lot of the water and some oil out making the fillets firm and less oily. rinse the fillets under cold water quickly to remove the salt and pat them dry. Now you can cook them like any other thick flaky fish, baked, grilled etc with you favorite seasoning....or poached in white wine with dill.....OR you can freeze them ( for only about a month) or better yet smoke them to make ambrosia from the heavens....but that's for another time...:)