Gravlax : cured salmon

Days like these, I'm happy I stock my freezer the way I do. It's like -1000*C outside!!!!!! Eesh!

And the most recent things I made to add to the bunch, is gravlax.
Gravlax?
Gravlax??
Gravlax!!!
It sounds unappetizing doesn't it? If you repeat it long enough, you might actually never want to try it! LOL!

What it is, is simply cured salmon. The texture is just like smoked salmon, but the taste is more salty in depth due to the way it's made: cured in salt, sugar and dill.

It's one of the easiest things you will ever make. The only problem is waiting 3 days before you can sink your fangs into it graciously taste it. I made a big batch, then froze them in individual portion (Slice thinly, then overlap them onto aluminum foil and placed inside freezer bags)

Gravlax: cured salmon

• The best salmon filet you can get, whole, about 2 pounds, skinned and cut half length wise (Mine fit perfectly into a 9x13 glass baking dish)
• 7-8 Tbsp sea salt
• 4-6 Tbsp light brown sugar (depending on how sweet you want to make it)
• 1 bunch of fresh dill, chopped, stems removed

Line a 9x13 baking dish with plastic wrap. Sprinkle dill onto the surface (big enough to cover one filet)

Mix salt and sugar together. Take one half of salmon, press some salt & sugar mix onto the surface thoroughly. Place salt & sugar side down onto dill surface. Then repeat step with the other surface, and the other filet.

Sandwich the two together, and wrap up tightly. Place a chopping board on top, and then weigh it down with something heavy.

Place in the fridge. Turn over every 12 hours and remove any liquid that accumulate in dish. Do this for 3 days and then you shall be able to enjoy the fruit of your labor & patience.

Eat it however you'd like: appetizer (atop crackers spread with cream cheese) breakfast (aside some scrambled eggs and a bagel) quick lunch (sandwich with avocado, spinach salad, etc) I'm thinking I will even use it in maki rolls just like I would with smoked salmon. Hmmmm... yeah... *drool*...not a bad idea.....

Spinach, berries & smoked salmon salad with strawberry balsamic reduction

We just got back from Miami and a cruise in the Caribbean and now we are back to the freezing weather of Montreal. So usually, I would have opened this post with something along the line of "reality sucks!", or "it's like ripping the bandage off", but with all that is going on in Haiti, it just sounds... well... bratty and inappropriate. I don't think I need to say more on the horrible situation, as I'm sure everyone are well informed. I do sincerely hope that everyone there will get all the help they need, and that everyone over here continue to support all the volunteers who are working hard to make that happen (And here is one of the many ways to show it)

As for the cruise, I think we definitely brought winter along with us. The trip was great nonetheless. We had a few sunny, warm bikini days, but the rest was more like I-will-be-in-denial-and-wear-short-shorts-but-I-am-bringing-my-sweater-along kind of weather. It was our first cruise, and although it was an awesome experience, I don't think we would do it again anytime soon. Maybe when we are more like... 60-70 years old? (Not because of any negativity, but because we prefer to do a little more than just being pampered all day)

They had a great entertainment program for us every night. The crew was awesome: exceedingly polite, caring and friendly. And boy, did we eat...I'm not kidding when I say that we would go to a sit down restaurant, have the whole 3 course meal and then get up and go to the buffet for a second round... Needless to say, we were in the gym everyday running all that food off keeping ourselves in good health. It was so good.

So after a whole week of being spoiled, I haven't felt like cooking again just yet. I'm eating out, pulling out things from the freezer and and making meals that require no effort. And I successfully achieved my goal tonight.

It's a straight forward what-you-see-is-what-you-get salad: avocado, baby spinach, berries and smoke salmon with a strawberry balsamic reduction. Ok, so the reduction is the most "work", but I made this in advance, and keep it in a squeeze bottle in the fridge. Initially, I made them separately, and then mixed only part of both so I have 3 different sauces on hand.

Balsamic reduction  

(makes about 1 cup)

• 1 bottle of balsamic vinegar 500 ml
  
• A few cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
  
• Dried herbs: rosemary, parsley, thyme, etc

Put everything in a medium sauce pan, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and let simmer for 40-60 minutes, depending on how thick you like it to be. (The result will reduce significantly to about 1/3 of what it was in the beginning, and it is so worth it) Strain if you'd like and bottle once cooled.

Strawberry sauce:

(makes about  1 cup)

• 15 big strawberries, chopped (I froze some back in the summer, it works very well)
• 1 Tbsp water
• About 1 Tbsp sugar (more or less depending on how sweet the strawberries are)
  
• 1 Tbsp jam, optional (I used boysenberry because that's what I had)

Put everything in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a gentle boil and whiz everything up with a hand-held blender (or use a normal blender and then transfer back to the saucepan afterward) Mix well, then strain if you prefer the sauce to be seedless. Cool completely.

I mixed equal parts of both for this salad, but you can adjust it to your taste, to be more balsamic-y or berry-ish.


***You can use the strawberry sauce for ice cream or plain yogurt!

Enjoy the healthy salad, know how lucky we are to be alive and well. Send your thoughts to those in need today (contribution too, if you have!!!) We should all spread the love!!!

Pan-fried salmon with balsamic soy reduction

My parents went to a restaurant last night and apparently the fish my mom ordered, well, smelled fishy. So today while I was at the grocery store staring down the empty lobster tank with sad puppy eyes, my mom called & asked if I could make my special salmon for supper. It was like she read my mind or something!

The salmon was meant to be... (Well... I meant to get trout since there is less fat, but the butcher had started cutting the salmon already & I didn't want to be a pain in the arse) I also picked up a box of cherry tomatoes called "Gourmet mix" that got 4 different shades of colors: red, orange, yellow and some funky green & red stripey ones. They look awesome!

Start with the balsamic soy reduction first, 'cuz it needs time to reduce itself... (Really? Did that make any sense?)

Balsamic soy reduction

• a dash of olive oil
• a couple cloves of garlic, chopped in chunks
• 1 cup balsamic
• 1 cup light soy sauce
• 1 cup water
• a few shake of herbes de provence
• black pepper
• a few sprinkle of sea salt (I used home-made lemon zest sea salt***)
• a few sprinkle of sugar (I used home-made lemon zest sugar*** but you can also use any other sweet like honey or maple syrup)

Put everything in a small pot, bring to a boil over medium heat, then reduce to low heat and leave it alone for 30 minutes or so. Stir once in a while. At the end, feel free to adjust it to your taste of course.

While that's cooking, place the filets of salmon (in my case, three) skin side down on a big plate and sprinkle each with

• a few shakes of garlic powder
• a couple of shakes of herbes de provence
• a pinch of sea salt

And let them sit for about 30 minutes.

On medium high heat, swirl a couple dashes of olive oil in a big pan to cover the surface well. Then placed the filets into the pan, skin side up, while constantly shaking the pan slightly for the first 20 seconds so the fish doesn't stick to the pan. Continue searing for another minute. Flip them over, carefully, shake again, then cover the pan & let cook for another 4, 5 minutes, depending on how pink or how cooked you want your salmon to be.

Midway into cooking, place whole tomatoes into the pan. Sprinkle some sea salt on them, cover and continue.

Serve with rice or whatever you prefer. Spoon balsamic soy reduction on top. Enjoy!!!

***homemade lemon zest sugar and salt: when I bought that load of lemon last time, the juice went into ice cube trays, and the zest, I split them and put into a jar of sugar, a jar of salt. They smell amazing!!!!