Salmon Gravlax With Buckwheat Blini Recipes

BUCKWHEAT BLINI

Steps:

• Over medium-high heat, bring the milk and butter to just below a boil. Cool until lukewarm.
• Combine the buckwheat flour, sugar, and salt. Set aside.
• In a separate small bowl, combine the yeast and lukewarm water. Allow the yeast to activate for 5 minutes in a warm place (see Cook's Note*).
• In a large bowl, beat the egg yolk until light yellow. Drizzle the milk and butter mixture slowly into the yolk while whisking. Add the dry ingredients and stir to combine. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and put in a warm place until doubled in size.
• Whisk the egg white until soft peaks form. Fold the egg white into the batter. Cover the batter again and allow it to regain its original volume, about 10 to 15 minutes.
• Preheat a skillet and lightly brush it with the clarified butter. Spoon 1 tablespoon portions of the batter into the skillet (see Cook's Note**). Lightly brown on both sides.
• Spoon 1 teaspoon of the smoked salmon cream cheese mixture over a blini. Garnish with fresh dill and serve.
• In a medium bowl cream together the cream cheese, dill, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Gently fold in the smoked salmon.

BARNEY'S KING SALMON GRAVLAX

Steps:

• Combine sugar, salt, and peppercorns in a bowl and mix well. Sprinkle about 1/3 of the mixture over the bottom of a glass baking dish. Place 1 salmon fillet on top, skin-side down. Sprinkle 1/2 the dill on top. Cover with another 1/3 of the sugar mixture. Sprinkle remaining dill on the second fillet and place skin-side up on top of the first fillet. Cover with remaining sugar mixture.
• Wrap baking dish tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 18 hours. Turn fillets over and spoon the syrupy liquid over fish before covering again with plastic wrap. Refrigerate another 18 hours.
• Rinse fillets lightly in cold water to remove salt. Pat dry. Slice fish thinly at an angle.

BUCKWHEAT BLINIS WITH SMOKED SALMON AND CRèME FRAîCHE

Steps:

• Whisk first 5 ingredients in medium bowl.
• Place milk and butter in small saucepan. Stir over low heat until butter melts and thermometer registers 110°F (if mixture gets too warm, cool until temperature returns to 110°F). Pour warm milk mixture into flour mixture and whisk until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
• Whisk buckwheat batter to deflate; then whisk in eggs. Do ahead Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Transfer to large bowl. Cover; chill (may increase in volume; rewhisk before using).
• Preheat oven to 200°F. Heat griddle or large skillet over medium heat. Brush lightly with melted butter. Working in batches, pour 2 tablespoons batter for each blini onto griddle, spacing apart. Cook until bubbles form on top and begin to pop, about 1 1/2 minutes. Turn blinis; cook until golden brown on bottom, about 1 1/2 minutes. Transfer to baking sheet. Tent with foil and place in oven to keep warm while cooking remaining blinis. Do ahead Blinis can be made 1 day ahead. Cool, cover, and chill. Brush blinis lightly with melted butter and rewarm on baking sheet in 350°F oven 5 minutes.
• Arrange warm blinis on platter. Spoon 1 rounded teaspoon crème fraîche atop each. Top with smoked salmon. Garnish with salmon roe and dill sprigs and serve.

SMOKED SALMON ON BUCKWHEAT BLINIS

Steps:

• In a medium-size bowl, combine the flour, oil, beer, salt and pepper. In another bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks are formed. Fold into the first mixture.
• Set a large skillet over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of the butter and drop in spoonfuls of the batter, each about the size of a half dollar. (To prevent overcrowding, cook the batter in several batches.)
• Cook the first batch of the rounds until they bubble, about 2 minutes. Turn them over and continue cooking until they are nicely browned, about 2 minutes. Remove the blinis and let them cool on paper towels. Repeat with the remaining butter and batter.
• Top each blini with a bit of the smoked salmon, then a dollop of the creme fraiche or sour cream. Garnish with the fresh dill.