I had the pleasure of participating in the “Latitude 45 Innovative Kitchen” campaign, and it was a delicious and fun experience. I received a variety package filled with amazing prime cut cold-smoked salmon filets and slices, along with a recipe to create. The product was extremely high in quality, and it came packed in dry ice. The recipe that I received was called the “Smoked Salmon Dubliner Cheese Dip.” Immediately looking at the ingredients, I thought the dish sounded amazing. Oh, was I definitely right! I mean, cheese, smoked salmon, garlic…how could you go wrong?

I decided to make the dip for a dinner party I was hosting. I created a large platter filled with toasted gluten-free baguette slices, smoked salmon slices from Latitude 45, avocado, apples, cucumber, salami, and the dip of course! I cannot tolerate gluten, so I made a couple of substitutions in the recipe. I used gluten-free flour and also almond milk to lighten it up slightly. However, the rest of the recipe I followed just as it was written. I bought some Dubliner Cheese by Kerrygold and use butter from Kerrygold as well. I whipped up the dip, which took hardly any time at all. I filled up a ramekin and topped off my platter!

I didn’t say much about the campaign to any of my guests. I simply put the appetizer platter out to enjoy. I walked away for about 10 minutes, and when I returned the ramekin was empty! Everyone was raving about how delicious and fresh the dip was. Luckily, I had more to refill. Needless to say, the dip along with the whole platter was gone by the end of the night. Not only that, but I had 4 guests asking for the recipe! I told them about my collaboration with Latitude and they were super enticed. The next day I got a message from a friend of mine with a picture of the dip, he went out and bought all of the ingredients to make it for himself.

What I really enjoyed most about this campaign was that it gave a structured opportunity to get creative. I create my own recipes daily, and sometimes it is nice to have some guidelines to follow. I made the recipe, but I did it in my own creative way. Next time I make the dip, I may serve it straight out of my cast iron pan with some crackers and veggies for dipping. I hope that I get to collaborate more with Latitude because it has been a very enjoyable experience. In the meantime, I’ll be hunting down their salmon!