Salmon Gravlax Recipes

GRAVLAX (MARINATED SALMON)

Steps:

• For the salmon, remove all bones with a pair of tweezers, but leave the skin on.
• Rinse.
• Mash the dill stems in a mortar with a little of the salt.
• Mix with the rest of the salt, the sugar and pepper.
• Save the dill leaves for the sauce.
• Cover the flesh side of the fillets with the mixture, and place the fillets flesh-to-flesh in a tray made of glass or stainless steel.
• Cover with plastic foil and put a heavy weight on top (e. g. the mortar or a brick).
• Keep refrigerated for 72 hours, turning the fillets every 12 hours.
• Do not discard the liquid that forms.
• Scrape off the spices and discard the liquid.
• The salmon will keep refrigerated for about a week.
• For the sauce, mix mustard, sugar and vinegar.
• Add the oil a little at the time (as for mayonnaise), constantly stirring.
• Just before serving, add lots of dill and salt and pepper to taste.
• Slice the salmon with a sharp, flexible knife in big, thin slices parallell to the skin.
• Arrange the ice-cold salmon on lettuce leaves with slices of lemon.
• Serve the sauce separately.
• Also serve toasted bread and butter.

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.

GRAVLOX

Steps:

• Drape plastic wrap over a glass baking dish. Cut salmon in half lengthwise, and place one half in dish, skin side down. Mix together salt, brown sugar and pepper. Sprinkle half of mixture over salmon in the dish, cover with the chopped dill, and pour the vodka over the whole mixture.
• Sprinkle the remaining salt mixture over the remaining half of salmon. Place over the salmon in the dish, skin side up. Fold the plastic wrap snuggly over the entire salmon. Place a board over the fish and weigh it down with a heavy object.
• Refrigerate fish for 24 to 36 hours, turning every 12 hours. To serve, separate the filets, and carefully brush off the salt, sugar and dill. Cut into very thin slices with a sharp knife.

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.

TEQUILA CURED SALMON GRAVLAX

Steps:

• Put the peppercorns in a spice mill and crush to a coarse grind. In a bowl combine the pepper, sugar and salt and blend well together.
• Place the bunches of cilantro, dill, and scallions together in the bowl of a food processor and process until finely chopped.
• Rinse some cheese cloth under cold running water. Unfold the cheese cloth and lay a large piece out on your work surface. The cloth will have to be large enough to wrap completely around the salmon several times.
• Choose the freshest salmon possible for this dish as this is a cured but not cooked dish and fresh really counts. Cut the fish fillet into two equal pieces and lay it, skin side down, in the center of the cheesecloth. Spread the sugar, salt, and pepper mixture evenly over the salmon flesh. Spread the chopped herbs in the same manner and then sprinkle the tequila over the herbs. The flesh of the salmon should be totally coated in this curing seasoning.
• Once all the tequila has been absorbed, sandwich the two fillets together, fleshtoflesh and skinsidesout. Position the fillet "sandwich" in the center of the cloth and wrap as you would a gift, pulling the cloth as tightly as possible around the fillets. Lay the package on a cake cooling rack set over a cookie sheet. The rack allows air to circulate for more efficient drying, while the cookie sheet will catch the liquid extracted during the threeday curing period. Put the weight in a second, smaller cake pan and place it on top of the fish. The weight must be properly and
• evenly distributed so as to press out the unwanted water.
• Place the entire curing setup in the bottom, the coldest area, of your refrigerator and begin the 3 day curing process. Remove the weight and flip the fish package over every 24 hours, replacing the weight each time. Drain off and discard any liquid that collects in the pan when you do this. At the end of the 72 hours the fish must be cleaned. Remove the cheesecloth and discard it. Drain any accumulated liquid, scrape off all of the used herbs and salt and pepper. Rinse the fish under cold running water and pat the fish totally dry.
• The salmon is now fully cured and as entirely edible as smoked salmon but must be kept refrigerated.
• To serve, finely chop one cup of fresh cilantro and cover the flesh side of the fish. Using a very sharp knife, slice the salmon as thinly as possible, at a 45 degree angle. Your first slices may look a bit rough, but be patient. With a little practice you'll soon be turning out elegant greenedged red ribbons of gravlax.
• Mix the mustard and confectioner's sugar and serve with pumpernickel and wedges of lime.
• Weight for weighing down the salmon as it cures, such as unopened plastic bags of dried beans, or gallon jugs of cooking oil .

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.

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.

EASY GRAVLAX

Steps:

• Combine the sugar, salt, peppercorns, and coriander seeds in a small bowl. Set aside. Place the salmon fillets on a parchment-lined work surface, and remove any remaining bones.
• Cover the flesh side of each with the spice mixture, gently rubbing it onto the flesh.
• Spread the dill on top of the spices; pour the aquavit or vodka over the dill.
• Place one fillet on top of the other, and wrap tightly in plastic wrap.
• Place the wrapped fillets in a glass or enamel pan. Place a heavy object, such as a canned good, in a smaller pan, and place on top of the fish. Transfer both pans to the refrigerator, and chill for 12 hours. Remove the fish from the pan; pour off the liquid that has accumulated in the pan and discard. Turn the fish over, and place the weighted pan back on top of the fish. Continue to refrigerate for 3 more days, turning the fish over every 12 hours.
• After 3 days, remove and discard the plastic wrap. Scrape the dill and spices from the surface of both fillets. To serve, slice each fillet on the diagonal, as thinly as possible. Wrap the remaining gravlax in plastic wrap, and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.