From Cindy’s Recipe Card
Title of Recipe: Gravlox (“Grav Lox” = buried salmon)
Ingredients:
Salmon
2 tbl salt
3 tbl sugar
1 tbl white pepper
2 tbl honey
1 tbl whole-grain mustard
1 tbl reg. Mustard
1 tbp red wine vinegar
Instructions:
Sprinkle salt, sugar & white pepper mixture in bottom of pan, put salmon in pan, top w/ lots of mixture (be very liberal). Cover with dill sprigs. Baste/drizzle w/ cognac. Put weight on top. Let set 2 hours, then put in refrigerator. Flip & repeat daily for 5 days. Scrape off almost all topping, slice and discard, cut at extreme angle as thin as possible (cut off brown edges).
Sauce; 3 tbl of juice/liquid from Gravlox pan, 2 tbl honey, 1 tbl whole grain mustard, 1 tbl reg. Mustard, 1 tbl red wine vinegar. Slowly pour in 4 tbl veg. Oil, while whisking, will emulsify. Refrigerate, add 1 tbl chopped dill.
Special Steps:
Top w/lemon dill, radish sauce and serve with pumpernickel and chardonnay /or schnapps.
Basic Gravlox
Ingredients
- Salmon – fresh – skin on
- 2 TBL salt
- 3 TBL sugar
- 1 TBL white pepper
- 1 TBL black peppercorns
- 1 TBL corriander seed
- 2 TBL honey
- 1 TBL chopped fresh dill
- 2 TBL ground mustard
Note: You can tell if it is fresh because the pin bones WILL NOT pull out easily. There will be just a bit of tug. If they slide right out, the salmon is not quite fresh.
Step by Step
- Mix all dry ingredients
- Put salmon in pan, skin side down
- Top w/ lots of mixture (be very liberal)
- Flip skin side up, and top with more mixture
- Flip again, skin side down and top with more mixture – reserve about 2 TBL of the mixture
- Layer thickly with slices of lemon and orange
- Add last 2 TBL of dry ingredients over top of lemon and orange
- Cover and refrigerate for 24-36 hours
- Unbury salmon and place on sheet of plastic wrap
- Wrap tightly with plastic wrap
- Refrigerate about 3 more days
- Unwrap and rinse under running water
- Pat dry and wipe liberally with olive oil
- Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for another 2-3 days
- Unwrap and cut at extreme angle as thin as possible (cut off brown edges)
- Serve with sauce and crackers, or see other preparations below
Sauce
- 2 TBL each – honey, sour cream, minced onion
- 1 TBL each – whole grain mustard, regular mustard, red wine vinegar, capers
- Slowly pour in 1/4 C olive oil, while whisking, will emulsify.
- Add 1 TBL each – chopped dill, cives
- Refrigerate
- Serve with sauce and pumpernickel
Norwegian Gravlox
Ingredients
- Raw salmon
- Olive oil
- Rock salt – fleurdesel
- Lemon
- pepper
Step by Step / Serving
- Slice paper thin, lay out.
- Eat with salt, pepper, oil, lemon , chervil
American Gravlox
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
- 2 tablespoons whole white peppercorns
- 1/2 cup kosher salt
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 cups chopped dill
- 2 cups chopped parsley
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
- 3 tablespoons gin, Hendrick’s preferred
- One 2-pound, center-cut, skin-on wild salmon fillet, pin bones removed
- Bagels and cream cheese, blini or scrambled eggs, for serving
Step by Step
- In a spice grinder, combine the cumin seeds and white peppercorns and pulse until finely ground.
- Transfer to a medium bowl and add the salt, both sugars, dill, parsley, crushed red pepper, lemon zest and aquavit.
- Mix well.
- Place the salmon in a glass or ceramic dish, skin-side down.
- Spread the herb paste evenly over the fillet.
- Cover the dish tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until the fish feels firm and looks cured in the center, 2 to 3 days.
- The sides of the fillet will have the strongest flavor and driest texture.
Serving
- Sliced gravlox
- Sliced avocado
- Toasted Noble Bread
- Scallion cream cheese spread
- Grainy mustard honey sauce
- Boiled egg slices
- Dill sprigs
Mexican Gravlox
Ingredients
- Fresh Salmon
- 1 TBL tequila over top
- Mix handful of chopped cilantro
- 2 TBL dark brown sugar
- 2 TBL salt
- 1 TBL black pepper
- 1tsp chipotle or cayenne powder
- 1tsp cumin
- Grated lime zest
Step by Step
- Cover, flip and cover
- Cover in plastic and cover with heavy weight
- Ready in 3-6 days
- Serve on crackers or toast
- Top with Crema
Puff Pastry Gravlox
- Egg wash (yolk, water, salt) a sheet of room temperature puff pastry
- Cut into circles and place on baking tray
- Put a 1/4 lattice tray over top of circles, using a spacer so that all of puffs will be the same height
- Bake 325º for about 15 minutes
- Poke a hole in the center for filling
- Pipe mixture of sour cream, dill, salt and pepper onto baked circles
- Top with thinly sliced gravlox or roll into a rose
- Bake 400º for no more than 2 minutes
- Add a dab of sour cream onto the rose and garnish with salmon caviar or sturgeon caviar
- Top with the merest bit of dill
- Serve on a piece of slate (just to be pretty)
