Tag Archives: salmon

Cured Salmon

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Summer is a time when I’m looking for foods that are satisfying, but light, cool, and refreshing; that often is a run to the local Harris Teeter for sushi–however, one of my favorite special treats is this cured salmon with good fresh homemade bread and a few trimmings like capers, minced sweet onion, thinly sliced cucumbers and radishes, maybe some cream cheese, and last, but certainly not least, champagne.  I think that the serves eight is if you’re using it as an appetizer or hors d’oeuvre.  With trimmings you could have a light meal for three or maybe four, depending on appetite.

Cured Salmon in Molasses

Reference:  Pépin, Jacques, Jacques Pepin’s Table.  KQED Books,San Francisco, 1991, pp.118-120.  ISBN  0-912333-19-7

Servings: 8,  preparation time: 3-4 days.

For this recipe I want wild-caught salmon as it has a firmer texture than farm-raised, and a better flavor to stand up to the spices in the cure.  Much of the farm-raised salmon is not fat enough to work really well in this recipe.  It loses an incredible amount of fluid in the process of curing.  The best that I have ever done was wild salmon—King salmon.

Ingredients:

  • Large salmon fillet (about 1 ½ pounds) preferably center cut, of even thickness, throughout, with the skin left on but all bones removed.
  • ¼ cup coarse (kosher style) salt
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1-teaspoon ground cumin
  • ½ teaspoon ground allspice
  •  ½ teaspoon paprika
  • ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • ¼ cup dark molasses
  • 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce

Preparation

  •  Lightly score the skin of the salmon in a lattice pattern so the salt, sugar, and spices will penetrate through it to cure the flesh.  (It is easier to cut through the skin in you hold the blade of the knife perpendicular to the fillet and run the entire length of the blade across the skin, instead of attempting to score it with just the tip of the blade.)  Place the salmon in the center of a large piece of plastic wrap.
  • In a small bowl, mix together the salt, sugar, cumin , allspice, paprika, nutmeg, and cayenne.  Spread the mixture evenly on both sides of the salmon, and wrap the salmon tightly in the plastic wrap.  Place in on a tray, and refrigerate overnight, or for at least 12 hours, to cure.
  • When ready to proceed, mix the molasses and soy sauce together in a small bowl.  Unwrap the salmon, but don’t remove it from the plastic wrap.  Pour half of the molasses mixture over the top of the salmon, and spread it evenly over the surface. Then turn the salmon over, and coat the other side with the remainder of the molasses mixture.  Re-wrap the salmon in the plastic wrap, place it on the tray, and return it to the refrigerator for 24 hours.
  • Unwrap the salmon, and remove it from the marinade.  It will have absorbed most of the marinade.  Discard any remaining marinade, pat the fish lightly with paper towels, and arrange it on a wire rack over a tray.  Refrigerate it for another 24 hours to dry out.
  •  At serving time, slice the salmon thinly on a slant, and serve two or three slices per person with buttered bread.  Garnish the salmon, if desired with chopped, onion, capers, and a drizzle of olive oil.

Enjoy!

Smoked salmon salad

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It was  just hot enough this evening that I didn’t really want to cook–not all that hungry, but wanted something easy and light.  Rummaging in the pantry, I found that I had Chicken of the Sea wild-caught, smoked Pacific (Alaskan) salmon in the pouches, so I made a salad to have with some good crisp flatbread and fruit (melon and cherries) on the side.

Quantities are approximations–precise measurement is certainly not necessary to make something like this–use your judgement.

Ingredients: 

  • approximately 1/3 to 1/2 cup sweet onion, diced
  • approximately 1/3 to 1/2 cup cucumber (seeded if needed), diced
  • two packages (6 ounces) smoked salmon slightly broken up into chunks
  • lemon juice to taste
  • lemon zest to taste (about 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon
  • drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil sufficient to moisten
  • fresh-ground black pepper to taste
  • salt to taste  (taste before adding any
Assembly:  combine all ingredients and mix gently.  Taste and adjust seasoning.
Variations:
  • replace extra-virgin olive oil with a dollop of sour cream and add chopped fresh dill
  • if you have leftover grilled or griddled salmon steak or fillet this is even better
  • if you are not using smoked salmon, a dash of chipotle chile powder gives a bit of smoky taste and zip
  • add minced green or red chile pepper (jalapeño, poblano or serrano) to taste.
There are all sorts of possible variations here…fix it to suit yourself.
A son goût!  

Griddled dinner, addendum

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End of the work week for me; I’m home from teaching my last class (ended at 4 o’clock).  I made a stop at the local Harris Teeter store to try to find some “Opal” apples without success, and came home with only some milk and chocolate  (Chuao with chile pepper and some other spices).

I think that I probably set a record for the least time to get a meal for myself (and a good one, at that)–short of just dipping into the peanut butter jar.  Of course, it helps to start with great ingredients that really don’t need much done to them.

I got some beautiful wild-caught Alaskan salmon yesterday, so that was dinner this
 evening, from the griddle.  The filet was beautiful–skin on,  not a single bone that I had to pluck out with tweezers, and it was cut to just the size that I needed for a single serving.  It was griddle-ready.

I heated the griddle so that I had a good “spit” when I flicked a drop of water on it.  I rubbed a bit of olive oil on both sides, sprinkled a little salt, put the salmon on the griddle skin-side up to start.  At the same time I tossed a handful of partially cooked haricots verts on with it.  It took about five minutes for it to brown nicely.  I flipped it over, skin-side down,  turned the heat down on that end of the griddle, and finished cooking it until there was just a nice darker streak  visible on the ends and took it off the griddle to rest for a few minutes, flipped the beans, and topped the salmon with some sorrel butter.  Great meal in about 15 minutes, start to sit-down.   Definitely minimal ingredients, but not minimal flavor–and it was a healthy dinner too. (Keiko preferred it without the sorrel butter, though.)

I wish there had been enough sorrel to make a sauce, but as it’s just coming up, I could not pick many leaves; what I could pick were minced and mixed with room-temperature butter (unsalted) to be plopped on top of the salmon.  The sorrel butter added a little richness, with some tartness that went well with the salmon.  Fast, easy, and a great way to cook for one person.