Smoked Albacore appetizer

I wanted to show you the smoked Albacore tuna we got in our SLO Veg box a few weeks back. Instead of the fresh catch of the week which had run out, SLO Veg opted to substitute this tuna. It's local albacore caught from the "Capriccio" fishing boat out of Morro Bay, CA. Cool, huh? Here is their website: http://eatalbacore.com/

When I opened up the first can, I was pleased to see big, flaky chunks of fish. It looked so appealing! It's smoked albacore, so it has a pretty strong taste and I can only eat it in small bites. I tried making tuna salad sandwiches out of it one week and it was good, but just different. Lee could only eat about half the sandwich, I think because you get this smoky flavor overload and then you are just done. I think the smoked tuna might be better just plain, with a little piece on a cracker or on a cucumber slice, or maybe added into a casserole or something. Smoked tuna gnocchi sounds kind of good (and I have a recipe for that someplace).

You have to remember I am not a real well-rounded fish eater. I rarely cooked fish (if you don't count shrimp) before signing up for the SLO Veg tote and adding on the fresh caught fish component. (Best thing we ever did for ourselves!) On rare occasions I would pick some kind of fish out from the grocery store fish counter. Usually I bought frozen fish and frozen shrimp. Most of my fish-eating experiences were in dining out and then I usually get the fried fish and chips. I have discovered halibut and I really like that grilled or baked. One time my Uncle Bob sent us some fresh-caught salmon from Alaska and my cousin barbecued it for us. I thought it was way too strong of a salmon taste. The meat was bright red and intensely flavored. I kind of thought I preferred the washed out pink stuff from the grocery store. I know, my fish palate really needs to have it's taste buds examined. I am working on it.

There was a recipe on Slofreshcatch.com for fish tacos with this stuff that I was thinking of trying also. Then I found a recipe for a smoked tuna appetizer dip made with cream cheese. Yah! That's it.  I guess I will try it out on Lee and Taylor and see how they like it.

Actually what happened is that I made the appetizer real quick before heading out to a dinner party last night. I felt confident it would be okay. I had Taylor taste it before I headed out and he was intrigued. He wanted me to save some for him. I told him I would just make more later...


Note: I blogged about making tuna gnocchi back in January using store-bought, premade gnocchi. Today I watched Giada's show, "Happy Birthday, Raffy", and she shows you how to make your own gnocchi. I guess I will try it with my casserole and the smoked tuna and let you know how it turns out!
http://www.giadadelaurentiis.com/tv/giada-at-home/417/happy-birthday-raffy