Gravadlax Temptation Food

GRAVADLAX

Steps:

• Pat the salmon dry with kitchen paper and run your hands over the flesh to see if there are any stray small bones - if there are, use a pair of tweezers to pull them out. Set the salmon fillets aside.
• Tip the salt, sugar, peppercorns, lemon zest, juniper and dill into a food processor and blitz until you have a bright green, wet salt mixture or 'cure'. Unravel some cling film but keep it attached to the roll. Lay the first fillet of salmon skin-side down and then pack the cure over the flesh. Drizzle with gin, if using and top with the 2nd fillet, flesh-side down. Roll the sandwiched fillets tightly in cling film to create a package.
• Place the fish in a shallow baking dish or shallow-sided tray and lay another tray on top. Weigh the tray down with a couple of tins or bottles and place in the fridge for at least 48 hrs or up to 4 days, turning the fish over every 12 hours or so. The longer you leave it, the more cured it will become.
• To make the sauce, tip all the sauce ingredients into a blender. Blitz until you have a thickened dressing.
• To serve, unwrap the fish and brush off the marinade with kitchen paper. Rinse it if you like. You can slice the fish classically into long thin slices, leaving the skin behind, or remove the skin it and slice it straight down. Serve the sliced fish on a large platter or individual plates with pumpernickel bread, dill and mustard sauce.

GRAVLAX WITH MUSTARD SAUCE

Steps:

• Cut the salmon in half crosswise and place half the fish skin side down in a deep dish. Wash and shake dry the dill and place it on the fish. Combine the salt, sugar, crushed peppercorns, and fennel seeds in a small bowl and sprinkle it evenly over the piece of fish. Place the other half of salmon over the dill, skin side up. Cover the dish with aluminum foil. Place a smaller pan on top of the foil and weight it with some heavy cans. Refrigerate the salmon for at least 2 and up to 3 days, turning it every 12 hours and basting it with the liquid that collects.
• Lay each piece of salmon flat on a cutting board, remove the bunch of dill, and sprinkle the top with chopped dill. With a long thin slicing knife, slice the salmon in long thin slices as you would for smoked salmon. Serve with dark pumpernickel bread and mustard sauce. You can also serve with chopped red onion and capers, if desired.
• 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon ground dry mustard
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
• Combine the mustards, sugar, and vinegar in a small bowl. Slowly whisk in the oil and stir in the chopped dill. Serve with the gravlax.
• Yield: 3/4 cup

SIMPLE, HOMEMADE SALMON GRAVLAX

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Rinse the salmon fillets and pat them dry thoroughly.
• Use tweezers or pliers to pull out any pin bones, if necessary.
• Drizzle the aquavit or vodka evenly over the flesh of each fillet.
• In a small bowl, combine the salt, sugar, and pepper.
• Divide the mixture into 3 even piles within the bowl.
• Divide one of the thirds of curing mix in half and place on a rimmed baking sheet or baking pan in the shape of one of the fillets.
• Lay a fillet skin-side down on the mixture. Spread a third of the curing mixture on the flesh of that fillet.
• Spread the remaining third of the curing mixture on the flesh side of the other fillet. Sprinkle the dill, if using, over both fillets.
• Lay the second fillet flesh to flesh on the first fillet. Sprinkle the remaining curing mixture over the skin of the top fillet.
• Cover the fillets and baking sheet or pan with foil or plastic wrap. Place a cutting board or second baking sheet on top of the covered fish and top it with something heavy (cans, pots, or pans) to weigh the fish down. Place it all in the fridge and let chill for about 12 hours or overnight.
• Remove from the fridge, unwrap, and discard the accumulated liquid in the pan. Turn over the fillets so the bottom one is on top.
• Cover the pan, weigh down the fish again, and return to the refrigerator. Let chill another 12 hours.
• The fish is now cured and ready to serve, but it will continue to benefit from another 12 to 24 hours of being weighed down and chilled, so feel free to repeat these steps a second time around.
• When ready to eat, pat dry, and thinly slice the gravlax against the grain using a very sharp knife.
• Serve and enjoy.

GRAVLAX

Steps:

• Cure the salmon: Lay salmon skin-side down, flesh-side up in a glass or stainless-steel baking dish. (A large lasagna dish works well.) In a small bowl, toss together the salt, sugar and pepper until blended. Sprinkle the mixture over the salmon evenly, with abandon, until fully covered, as if under a blanket of snow. Use all of it.
• Spread all the chopped dill on top of the cure-covered salmon to make a thick, grassy carpet.
• Lay plastic wrap or parchment paper over the salmon to cover and press down, then place a heavy weight - such as a 2-gallon zip-top bag filled with water - on top, to weigh heavily on the curing fish. Refrigerate just like this, without disturbing, for 5 days, turning the salmon over midway through the cure - on Day 3 - then covering and weighting it again.
• To serve, mix together the softened butter, dill, shallot and mustard until well blended.
• Remove salmon from the cure, which has now become liquid, brushing off the dill with a paper towel, then set fillet on a cutting board.
• With a long, thin, beveled slicing knife tilted toward the horizon, slice salmon thinly, stopping short of cutting through the skin. Generally, you begin slicing a few inches from the tail end and you slice in the direction of the tail, moving your knife back, slice by slice, toward the fatter, wider belly portion of the fillet. The last slices are always hard to get. Once you have shingled the fillet, run your knife between skin and flesh, releasing all the slices, then transfer them to parchment until ready to serve.
• Spread the compound butter on bread, then drape sliced gravlax on top, and eat as open-faced sandwiches.

GRAVLAX SAUCE

Steps:

• Whisk together the Dijon mustard, honey mustard, whole-grain mustard, ground mustard, sugar, and vinegar in a medium bowl. Combine the olive and grapeseed oils in a small measuring cup. Slowly add the oil mixture to the mustard mixture, whisking constantly, until emulsified. Stir in the dill and salt.

GRAVAD LAX

Steps:

• Place salmon on a parchment paper-lined work surface. Remove any remaining bones. Wipe salmon with a damp cloth, being careful not to tear fish.
• In a medium bowl, combine salt, sugar, and peppercorns. Select a shallow dish big enough to hold one fillet; place one-third of the dill in the bottom. Place 1 salmon fillet, skin-side down, on top of dill. Rub one-third of the salt mixture into flesh of fish, and top with half of remaining dill. Rub half of remaining salt mixture into flesh of the second half of salmon, and place, flesh-side down, on top of dill. Rub remaining salt mixture into skin, and top with remaining dill.
• Wrap dish tightly in plastic wrap. Place a small board or baking dish on top, and weight it down. Refrigerate for at least 36 hours and up to 48 hours.
• Scrape off seasonings; discard. Slice salmon on the bias, and serve garnished with pumpernickel bread, cucumber slices, hard-boiled eggs, salmon roe, and sour cream.