Friday, December 21, 2018

Gravlax (cured salmon) for #FishFridayFoodies

The Theme this month for Fish Friday Foodies is Seafood Recipes for Entertaining.   Our lovely hostess this month is Sue Lau of Palatable Pastime 
Gravlax

This great link up party and it is a party, this month, was started by Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm a couple of years ago.  We get together the third Friday of the month, make and link up a seafood recipe that encompasses the theme of the month.  I've had such fun coming up with recipes,  and eating them as well, for this event every month.  In fact, I don't think I've missed more than a couple over the past couple of years.  And I love doing it.
Although I usually do shrimp recipes, mostly because shrimp are plentiful here and easy to purchase right off of the shrimp boats sometimes.   And I like shrimp as well.  So much so, I've got a shrimp cookbook coming out in the New Year, featuring some of my favorite recipes.
 I also thought I'd be doing another shrimp recipe this month as well, but something got into me at Trader Joe's last weekend.  I found some frozen salmon, and decided to try my hand at making some Gravlax or Gravad Lax for a party this weekend.
Now Gravad Lax or Gravlax, as I say it, is an interesting dish.  As a Dane I'm used to eating raw fish which has been preserved using salt or vinegar or smoking.  This salmon is cold cured or preserved using a mixture of salt, sugar and dill.  I also used a fair amount of pepper and some aquavit I'd made a few years ago, which was a little too intense in dill flavor for me at the time, but when I tasted it again the other day, I discovered that it has matured beautifully.  I think I may need to taste test it again, soon.  I used some peppercorns along with some coarse Himalayan Salt and crushed it up and also uses some raw sugar. I love using my little mortar and pestle. 

Back to the history of Gravlax.  Fishermen used to lightly salt their salmon and bury it, letting it ferment a little.  They would then dig it back up, and serve it, but as you might imagine, just salting and fermenting it made for an interesting, not particularly appetizing dish.  So, people started adding various spices to the fish, which made it more palatable.  You can actually read more about it here.
And I looked at a lot of recipes and they were all pretty much the same, although I shamelessly copied the mustard sauce from a friend's blog.  I did put my own spin on it, mainly because I thought that the Pomegranate and Quince Balsamic Vinegar I had in the cupboard would accent the other ingredients. and it did.  I also added some Creme Fraiche cause I like it.   Tove has some incredible recipes as well.  Check  out her blog, Sweet Sour Savory.
Without further ado and before it gets any later, here's a few pictures.
Gravlax
 Some recipes suggested chopping up the dill but all I did was crush it a little. 
Gravlax

Gravlax
 Slicing it as thin as you can.  I'm letting the rest of it sit in the fridge so I only cut enough for breakfast.  Hey, you can eat fish for breakfast, why not?
Gravlax
 Some of the mustard sauce draped over the salmon and the rye crisp cracker.
Gravlax
 I had to put it down and take another picture.  If it hadn't been so early, I would have had a glass of Aquavit with it.  Maybe for lunch?
Gravlax




Gravadlax
Gravlax

prep time: 20 minscook time: total time: 20 mins
This lightly cured salmon tastes so good served with a mustard sauce on top of a piece of crispbread. Accompanied by a glass of aquavit, of course.

ingredients:


1/2-1 lb. Salmon Fillets, skin on, frozen and then thawed
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 tablespoon crushed peppercorns
1 bunch dill
1 jigger Aquavit (1 ounce)

Mustard Sauce
2 tablespoons Dijon Mustard ( I love the stone ground Dijon so that's what I use).
2 tablespoons Crème Fraiche
6 tablespoons Brown Sugar
4 tablespoons Pomegranate and Quince Balsamic Vinegar
1/2 cup neutral oil
1/2- 1 tsp. dried Dill, 
or 
1 Tablespoon Fresh Dill, chopped 

instructions:


Rinse the salmon and then place in a glass dish, skin side down,  sprinkle the salt, sugar and pepper on top.  If using two fillets, sprinkle the flesh of the salmon with the spice mixture.  Add the dill and sandwich the two pieces together, with the skin side out.   Cover with plastic wrap and place into the fridge for several hours.  Turn over, and re-cover the fish. I was running out of fridge space so I very carefully placed the fish fillets into a plastic bag, and pressed out as much air as I could.   I then put the fish back into the fridge, turning it over every few hours to enable the liquid to coat and cure the fish.   Leave in fridge for at least 48 hours up to 72 hours.  
When ready to serve, take out of fridge, give it a quick rinse and wipe dry.  Discard the pickling liquid, and slice the salmon thinly at a 45 degree angle.  You can cut it away from the skin or take the skin off. 
Serve with a mustard sauce and some ryebread or rye crispbread.


Mustard Sauce


Whisk all ingredients together and then taste, add salt and pepper and the dill.  Serve alongside the Gravlax and some nice bread or ryecrisp crackers.

Created using The Recipes Generator



Sidsel Munkholm - Author
Sidsel Munkholm - Author

Sid loves to cook, feed people and have fun in the kitchen. She shares her successes and the involuntary offerings she sometimes gives the kitchen goddess as well. And she's still looking for the mythical fairy to help her clean the kitchen after a marathon cooking session. Currently working on a cookbook showcasing the recipes from her Danish heritage.

9 comments:

  1. Wow! Homemade gravlax. You are the master! This sounds delicious.

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    1. 'blush', thanks. It's pretty good actually. And... I'm trying my hand at baguettes today to go with it. Wish me luck.

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  2. Very impressive making your own! I love seeing the history on recipes like this, and the seasonings involved!

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    1. I love finding out the history as well. It makes them a little more special. And I impressed myself with this.

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  3. I love making gravlax, this reminds me I should make it again soon. Like the sound of the mustard sauce with it.

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    Replies
    1. My sister makes it and told me how easy it is but I didn't use her recipe this time. Cannot believe how easy it is, I don't think I'll ever buy it again.

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  4. I often eat salmon for breakfast. Love bagels and lox. I have been tempted to make gravlax and you make it look so doable that I think it will be one of my New Year goals.

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    Replies
    1. I'm glad I'm not the only one who'll eat fish for breakfast. I'm trying my hand at baguettes today, to go with the gravlax tonight. I'm really kicking myself it's taken me so long to try making it. It took very little effort, and I just had to remind myself to turn the packet over in the fridge every few hours.

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  5. Your Gravlax Cured Salmon looks amazing, can't wait to try it! Hope you are having a great week and thanks so much for sharing with us at Full Plate Thursday.
    Miz Helen

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