Roast Salmon Gravlax Style Food

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.

ROAST SALMON GRAVLAX-STYLE

Steps:

• Grease bottom of a medium roasting pan with the oil; spread with lemon slices in a single layer.
• Pile dill in center where you will place the fish; place fish on top of dill, skin side up.
• With a sharp knife, score fish.
• Combine brown sugar, salt, and pepper; rub mixture all over fish, pushing into the cuts; let fish rest about 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 475 degrees F and roast fish until it is just cooked through and the skin is crispy, about 20 minutes.
• Remove fish to a serving platter, leaving the lemons and dill in the pan.
• Place pan on stove top over one or two burners and heat on low until lemons sizzle, remove from heat; slowly stir in vodka, or other spirits, and loosen browned bits on bottom of pan.
• Return pan to heat and cook off most of the liquid; stir in mustard and cream.
• Allow to bubble gently, cooking and stirring, until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon (a couple of minutes).
• Taste for seasonings, adjust as necessary, and pour over fish.

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.

EASY SALMON GRAVLAX

Steps:

• Remove the zest of the lemon with a vegetable peeler in fat strips and toss in a bowl. Add the salt, sugar and dill and crush or "muddle" them together using a mortar or a big wooden spoon to release the oils in the lemon rind and the flavor of the dill.
• Select a sheet pan with sides that will hold the fish, line it with plastic wrap and place the fish in the sheet pan. Pack the salt mixture on top of and around the salmon. Cover with plastic wrap and place another sheet pan of the same size on top of the fish. Cover a large concrete paving brick that fits in your pan with plastic wrap (to protect your pan) and place it on top of the top pan to compress the fish to press the moisture out of the fish. Refrigerate for 36 to 48 hours depending on the thickness to cure the fish. Scrape the salt mixture off the salmon and lightly rinse the fish under cool water, pat dry with paper towels. You can serve the whole gravlax at a party on a cutting board, or slice into 4 inch sections and vacuum seal and refrigerate until you need them.

GRAVLAX

Steps:

• Mix together all the ingredients except the salmon. Place the salmon, skin side down, on a large sheet of plastic wrap. Cover the flesh side of the salmon with the salt mixture, being sure to coat it completely (there will be lots of salt mix; just pile it on).
• Wrap the fish well in plastic. Refrigerate for at least 24 hours and preferably 36.
• Unwrap the salmon and rinse off the cure. Dry, then slice on the bias. Serve plain, with lemon wedges, or with Mustard Dill Sauce (page 608), thinned with a little sour cream.

CITRUS-CURED SALMON GRAVADLAX

Steps:

• Tip all the ingredients for the salt mix into a food processor and whizz until everything is combined and the spices are completely ground.
• Stroke your hand along the salmon fillet to check for any stray bones. If you find any, pull them out with a pair of tweezers or small pliers.
• To skin the salmon fillet, lay the fish skin-side down with the tail end closest to you. Insert your knife at an angle at the tail end and cut through the flesh to the skin. Turn the blade so it's almost flat against the skin, then take hold of the skin with the other hand. Pull and wiggle the skin towards you so as to cut the fillet away. Halfway through removing the skin, hold the knife firmly and flip the fillet over. Gently lift the fillet away from the skin and discard the skin. Trim away the thinner part, plus any fat around the edges, so that the fillet has an even shape.
• Scatter about a third of the salt mix onto a large tray in a line about the size of the salmon fillet. Lay the salmon, skinned-side down, over the salt and pack the rest of the salt on top. Cover with cling film, put another tray on top and weigh it down with a few cans or an empty casserole dish. Leave in the fridge overnight or for at least 10 hrs.
• Under cold running water, wash the salt mix off the salmon fillet, then dry with kitchen paper. Finely chop the dill. Lay the salmon on a board and cover with the dill, pressing it down to pack it onto the salmon.
• If serving as a plated starter, use a sharp carving knife to cut the salmon straight down into fine slices, allowing 6 slices for each plate.
• To make the horseradish cream, whisk together the cream and crème fraîche. Add the horseradish, lemon juice and seasoning, then continue to whisk until thick. Dress the salad leaves in a little olive oil. You are now ready to plate up.
• Arrange a neat pile of baby salad leaves in the centre of each plate. Curl slices of the salmon into bow shapes around the leaves. Continue all the way around the plate in a petal fashion. Use 2 teaspoons to make small quenelles of horseradish cream and spoon each into each bowl.

SALMON WITH GRAVLAX SAUCE

Steps:

• In a small glass or stainless-steel bowl, whisk together the mustard and water. Let sit for 10 minutes.
• Whisk in the mayonnaise, honey, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon dill.
• Heat the broiler.
• Rub the salmon on both sides with the oil.
• Put the pieces in a broiler pan or on a baking sheet, skin-side down, about 2 inches apart.
• Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon dill, and the pepper.
• Broil the fish until golden brown and just barely done (the fish should still be translucent in the center), about 6 minutes for a 1-inch-thick fillet.
• Serve the salmon with the sauce alongside.
• NOTE:.
• Fish Alternatives,.
• Because it goes so well with the sauce, salmon is hard to beat for this recipe. However, other thick fillets, such as grouper, sturgeon, or halibut, can be substituted.
• Tip:.
• If you broil or roast salmon fillet with the skin and want to serve it skinless, cook the fillet skin-side down and then simply slide a large spatula between the cooked flesh and the skin and lift the fillet. It's especially easy if you don't oil the skin or pan so that the skin sticks to the pan. Line the pan with aluminum foil for easy clean up.