T Marinated 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.

GRAVLAX (FRESH SALMON MARINATED IN DILL)

Steps:

• For the sauce, mix the mustard, vinegar and sugar in a small bowl.
• Gradually whisk in the oil.
• Stir in the dill.
• Refrigerate, tightly covered, up to three days.
• Whisk again before using.
• Serve slightly chilled.
• Run your fingers down the flesh side of each fillet to locate the small pin bones and remove them with tweezers or needle-nose pliers.
• Wipe the flesh with a damp paper towel.
• Combine the salt, sugar and peppercorns in a small bowl.
• Rub the mixture onto the flesh side of both fillets.
• Sprinkle the dill evenly over 1 fillet and lay the other fillet flesh-side down on top, placing the thin end of one over the thick end of the other.
• Place the salmon in a large plastic bag, press out the air and seal tightly.
• Put the salmon on a platter and lay a cutting board or baking sheet on top and weight it down with three 1- to 2-pound cans of food.
• Refrigerate 36 to 48 hours, turning the bag of fillets over every 12 hours.
• Lift fillets from the bag and discard the bag and accumulated liquid.
• Scrape the seasonings off the fish and pat dry. (Fillets can be wrapped in plastic and stored in the refrigerator up to 10 days before serving -- see note below.)
• Place one fillet, skin side down, on a large serving platter (with head end to the left for right-handed people).
• Hold the knife blade tilted so you'll be slicing down through the fillet at a 45-degree angle (rather than straight up and down).
• Begin slicing at the head end, making a 1/8-inch-thick slice.
• At the bottom of slice, turn the knife blade gently to separate the slice from the skin.
• Using the knife, turn the slice over to the left as if turning the page of a book.
• Continue cutting 1/8-inch slices on the angle, separating each from the skin and turning each slice over to partially overlap the previous one.
• Repeat with remaining fillet.
• Garnish with fresh dill and serve with Mustard Dill Sauce and rye or dark bread.
• NOTE: You can keep gravlax in the refrigerator up to 10 days after curing, serving it anytime withing that span. Wrap sliced or unsliced gravlax in plastic and store in the coldest part of your refrigerator.

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 .