Gravlax of Love

Every so often I get the yen for Gravlax, the quick-cured

salmon that's great with sour cream and capers on pumpernickel,

or an egg bagel with Philly cream cheese, or on the end of a fork

in between sips of gin or vodka or (insert liquor of your choice).

It's really simple to make, and after a couple of times making it,

I stopped going to the recipe because it really comes out great

no matter exactly which ingredients you use.

Salmon fillet is the key ingredient.  Weight doesn't matter so much.

Lay it on some plastic wrap.  In a bowl mix equal parts sugar

and salt.  Pretty much any type of sugar and salt will work.

I prefer brown sugar and kosher salt.  If you have a jar of

pickling spice, throw in a good amount.  If not, coriander

seeds, mustard seeds, bay leaves, juniper berries, dried

chiles, and fennel seeds will fit the bill.  Add also whole

black peppercorns, and white ones if you have them.

A ton of fresh dill is needed for this.  Chop a few sprigs

roughly and spread evenly over the salmon.  This prevents

the salt/sugar mixture from coming into full contact with the fish.

This may be solely my preference, and I'm always happy

with the result.  Then pour the salt mixture over the chopped

dill blanket evenly at about a half inch thickness.  Finally,

cover everything with the rest of the dill bunches, again

spreading them out as evenly as you can.  Wrap two or 

three times fairly tightly with plastic film.  Then clean up

the mess you've made on your cutting board. 

Some folks say that weighting the fillet is not necessary,

but I like to do just that.  Get two pans where one fits

inside the other.  Place the wrapped salmon in the bottom

of one, and place the second on top, weighing it down

with a couple of heavy objects such as canned yams

and whole plum tomatoes.  A red brick would work

just as well.  Put in the fridge and say goodnight for 24

hours.  Then, take out of the fridge, remove the weights,

and pour off the juices that have been drawn out of the

fish by the salt.  Back go the cans and into the fridge

again for another 24.  Next day do the same thing.

On the third day, we're ready to unveil the finished

product.  Unwrap, remove the dill sprigs, scrape off

the remaining salt, (there usually is some undissolved)

and quickly run under a gentle stream of water, being 

careful not to rinse off all of the chopped protective

dill, leaving some on for a nice presentation. 

Then, with a very sharp, long slicing knife, slice salmon

 on a bias, and shingle the slices evenly on a nice plate,

displaying the beautiful chopped dill 

on the edge of every slice.  La di da.