Cured Salmon

Oh man I love cured salmon. I also love just straight raw salmon sashimi. Something about the fresh, clean flavour of raw or cured salmon and soft, silky texture just gets me so excited. And then you cook it and its heavy and oily and fishy, there's a time and a place for cooked salmon-like when its hot-smoked and put into a pasta with dill, lemon and cream and that's about it!

Incase you didn't notice I prefer salmon in its natural state-not swimming in the ocean- I mean, thinly sliced on a plate with some extremely light seasoning and maybe some equally light and not overpowering accompaniment. Salmon should be enjoyed for the majestic creature it is, not cooked within an inch of its life and served with mashed potato, it needs to be treated with respect and have little if nothing at all done to it!

You will need... (for enough to do about a 10 person dinner party... OR for you to eat by yourself if your hangry)
For the cure
500gr Salmon (or Trout) fillet, pin-boned, skin on
1/4 cup caster sugar
2 Tbs sea salt
4 peppercorns (pink if you can get them)
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 sprig dill
For the marinade
4 Tbs gin, dry vermouth or vodka
1 tsp lemon zest
2 sprigs dill, picked
2 Tbs olive oil

Method...
1. Use a mortar and pestle to crush the coriander seeds and peppercorns then add the sugar and the salt. Finely chop the dill and mix in with a spoon.
2. Use a shallow, non-aluminium tray around the same size as the salmon and scatter half the salt over the base. Lay the salmon flesh side down and scatter remaining salt over the top. Wrap up well with glad wrap, then place a chopping board or another tray over the top and weigh down with bricks or cans and place in the fridge for 12 hours.
3. Remove the fish from the tray and discard any liquid. Scrape off any excess salt then wipe down with a paper towel.
4. Mix all the marinade ingredients together, then pour them into a tray. Place the fish, flesh side down in the tray. Massage the marinade into the fish then cover with glad wrap and place in the fridge for a further 18 hours.
5. Remove the fish from the fridge and place on a chopping board. The trick to super thin slices is using an extremely sharp knife and taking your time with it. Cut against the grain at a slight angle and you will have beautiful thin slices.

Serving suggestion;
Serve with lightly pickled beetroot, fresh herbs, thinly sliced spanish onion and capers or even just a wedge of lemon. A perfect accompaniment to a lovely light breakfast or lunch.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Vegetable Mornay

Image
This is a classic dish that can dress up the most boring vegetables. I personally think cheese or bacon (or sometimes both) can make any meal better! You will need... 1/2 a large head of cauliflower 1 head of broccoli 1 large carrot 2 washed potatoes (I used red delight) 1 cup of peas (fresh or frozen) For the sauce 75gr buttter 1/3 cup plain flour 3 cups whole milk salt & pepper & freshly grated nutmeg 1/2 cup cheddar cheese For the topping 1 cup cheddar cheese 1/4 cup breadcrumbs 2 tbs roughly chopped flat leaf parsley Method... 1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celsius, grease a large 3-4Lt capacity ceramic baking dish. 2. Peel the carrot and potato and dice into 1 inch pieces then transfer to a microwave safe bowl with a little water, cover with glad wrap and microwave for 1 minute on high to begin the cooking process. Drain and set aside. Wash the cauliflower and broccoli and trim into neat florets.  3. Melt the butte...
Read more

George Calombaris' Pasticcio (AKA Greek Lasagna)

Image
Ohhh pasticcio... This recipe gives me so many warm and fuzzies. My mum always used to make it for me when I was younger for special occasions like my birthday and Easter so I associate it with fun times and getting presents and all that good stuff. The one my mum made came from the old faithful Margaret Fulton Cookbook circa late sixties/early seventies... I'm not sure what my Italian mum was doing making Greek recipes written by an Australian cookbook guru but anyway... it must have been en-vogue when the book was written and I'm not complaining because it's delicious. Mum's pasticcio was put together 'lasagna-style' with layers of curly-edge lasagna sheets that would get all crispy and brown on the edges. She would layer the pasta sheets with the tomato and beef sauce and béchamel and then bake it, and it would usually take her a while to prepare. My New Favourite Cookbook! I like this recipe by George Calombaris because it still has all that wo...
Read more

Anna-Maria's Zucchini Slice

Image
This is Anna-Maria’s Zucchini Slice from Stephanie Alexander’s Cooks Companion …   I’ve tweaked it a little as I’m sure most people do, it’s one of those no-rules recipes where you can customise it as much or as little as you like. I love zucchini because it is such a versatile vegetable (although technically it’s an immature fruit- wiki will tell you it’s a swollen ovary of a zucchini flower… sounds appetising), you can put them in almost anything because they don’t have a very strong flavour, which is great when it comes to hiding veggies from your kids! I’ve even eaten a chocolate cake that had grated zucchini in it and it was one of the best chocolate cakes I’ve ever had- so moist (haha MOIST!) You will need… ¼ cup of olive oil (the recipe says half a cup but you really don’t need that much) 500g zucchini, grated 1 small carrot, grated 1 small onion, finely chopped 1 garlic clove, crushed 200gr smoked bacon, finely chopped 100g freshly grat...
Read more