Smoked Catfish Pate Food

SMOKED CATFISH PATE

Steps:

• Brine and smoke catfish according to recipe. While still warm, break fillets into pieces, removing any bones. Add cream cheese and mix well. Add ½ cup of the sour cream and mix well. Add the shallots, capers, caper juice, garlic and Tabasco. Taste for seasoning, add more sour cream and/or cream cheese at this point if the pate is a little dry or tastes a little salty. Adjust Tabasco and add freshly ground pepper to taste.
• Note: Do not add any salt to this dish because the brine and the smoke "salts" the fish before it is mixed into the pate.
• Let chill for at least 3 hours or preferably overnight. Taste once more before serving and adjust seasonings if necessary. Serve on the cold side of room temperature on homemade melba toast (slice a loaf of French bread in small rounds, lay out on a cookie sheet and bake in a 250ºF oven until golden and the bread is dried out) or your favorite crackers. Top with a dollop of sour cream and a bit of caviar if desired.
• Serves 4-10 as an appetizer.

HOW TO SMOKE FISH

Steps:

• Make the brine: Combine water, sugar, and 1/2 cup salt. Place fish in a nonreactive dish; cover with brine. Refrigerate for 2 hours.
• Heat charcoal grill to medium, piling coals on 1 side to set up direct and indirect heat zones. Set a drip pan under the grill grate in the indirect heat zone.
• Soak wood trimmings in water for 30 minutes. Drain (if smoking whole trout or char, leave 1/2 cup wood in water); add to coals.
• Smoke the fish: Once smoke develops, place fish in a lightly oiled grill basket. Transfer to grill rack, and set over drip pan. Open lid vent, and position over fish. (This will direct smoke to impart maximum smokiness.) For the trout fillets: Smoke fish until cooked through but not dry, 12 to 15 minutes.For the whole trout: Smoke for 10 minutes. Flip basket. Drain remaining 1/2 cup wood; add to coals. Smoke fish until cooked through but not dry, 8 to 10 minutes more.For the side of arctic char: Smoke for 10 minutes. Drain remaining 1/2 cup wood; add to coals. Smoke fish until cooked through but not dry, 13 to 15 minutes more.

SMOKED FISH DIP

Steps:

• Place whitefish, mayonnaise, and sour cream in the bowl of a food processor. Season with Old Bay ™ seasoning, hot pepper sauce, Worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke, and cracked black pepper. Blend all ingredients until consistency reaches a spread.

STOVE TOP SMOKER BEER-BRINED SMOKED CATFISH

Steps:

• Dissolve salt and sugar in hot water.
• Add cold beer, pepper and bay leaves to make brine.
• Whisk well to remove carbonation.
• Add two medium-size bowls of ice cubes to cool brine and add more volume to the brine.
• Add more cold water if more liquid is necessary to cover all the fillets.
• Place fish in brine when the brine is cool to the touch.
• Brine fish 2-4 hours covered, in the refrigerator.
• Remove fish from brine, rinse in cold water and air dry for 10 minutes before smoking.
• When ready to smoke, set stovetop smoker up with 2 tablespoons of chips between the smoker and the drip pan.
• Replace cooking grate.
• Brush fish lightly with oil, place skin-side down on the cooking grate with about an inch between each fillet.
• Slide top of smoker into place.
• Place smoker on the stovetop and center it over the burner.
• Turn the burner on high.
• Smoke for 20-30 minutes.
• The fish will be a dark caramel color.
• (Alternatively you may smoke cook on an outdoor grill for 1 hour or until fish is cooked through, caramel colored and smoked.).
• Serve at warm or room temperature or make into a smoked catfish "pate" by adding cream cheese, sour cream, shallots, capers, garlic, Tabasco and a dash of pepper to taste.