No Cook, No Fail Salmon

For our recent Valentine's Day brunch, I decided to take a crack at the time-tested Scandinavian salmon recipe known as gravlax. In the olden days of King Gustaf I, when horned hats reigned and pillaging was a profession, whole fish were cured with salt and sugar, smothered in dill then buried in the ground for a long period of time. With no land, backyard, or spare fiord to speak of, I used the fire escape (aka - 'New England fridge') to keep the fish at a nice, cold temperature throughout the process. The result was a silky and delicate salmon so flavorful that a number people wanted me to post recipe.....so, here we go.

This is a recipe that takes multiple days to complete, so read it through and plan accordingly. It will feed a large number of portions too, so invite a horde of people to share with.

Here's what else you'll need to pull it off:

2 1/2 lbs Fresh Skin-on Salmon - cut into 2 equal sized portions
5 Tablespoons Kosher Salt
4 Tablespoons Sugar
2 Tablespoons Whole Allspice
2 Tablespoons Black Peppercorns
2 Tablespoons Ouzo (other clear liquors such as vodka, aquavit, or gin would work too)
Zest of One Lemon
Large Bunch of Dill



Pat the salmon pieces dry and lay out on plastic wrap. In a small bowl, or using a mortar and pestle, add the allspice and black peppercorns together and add elbow grease. No need to turn them into a fine dust, just make sure everything is nicely crushed. Add the sugar and salt and combine. Evenly spread the mixture over the salmon.


Sprinkle one tablespoon of Ouzo to either side to moisten. Roughly chop the dill and combine with the lemon zest. Cover the salmon. What you have now should resemble a salmon and dill sandwich. Next step - put the sandwich together.




Trying your best to keep all of the "stuffing" inside, wrap tightly with layers of plastic wrap and place in a non-reactive dish (I used an oval gratin dish). Add a weight on top to press the salmon. I used a cast iron pan, but a large foil covered brick, plate with a dumbbell, etc. would work just fine.

Every 12 hours, unwrap salmon, baste with the juices, flip over and re-wrap. Repeat this step every 12 hours for 36-48 hours. Don't forget to weigh it down every time.


Unwrap and wipe off the remaining dill, pepper, etc. Rinse off and pat dry. At this point, taste a slice of the salmon. It should taste very salty and appear much firmer that when you started. In order to mellow that salty kick, place the salmon in a dish with cold water so both pieces are covered. For the next 4 hours, soak the salmon changing the water every 60-90 minutes. After patting dry again, wrap tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

After a night in the fridge (or if you are inpatient, right away), you are set to serve. Slice very thinly on the diagonal. For traditional accompaniments, try with some brown bread, pickled shallots and a drop of mustard.

Leftovers can be stored in a sealed plastic bag for about a week. Enjoy!

Best of the Best 2010 - Top 10 Food Memories of the Year

Here's the thing people. I (Kate) LOVE year-end countdown lists, montages, reviews, whatever. In fact, I might have once told Adam that if he dared change the channel and we missed NBC's Notable Death's Montage, he would be in next year's montage. Really. While January 1 usually means the end of these recaps, here's one last one. Even though AdamPlusKate wasn't around for all of 2010, here are our top ten food memories of 2010 (in no particular order): 

1) Red Fire Farm - We heart our farmers, and the great Community Supported Agriculture that we became part of this year. Intrigued by the concept of lessening my food-miles and missing my California days where produce was literally picked a few hours away, we joined the local movement this year! Hooray for crunchy movements. But the best part is local food TASTES so much better and we loved it all summer long. RFF supplied us with amazingly delicious veggies and eggs nearly year round last year, thanks to their winter CSA. And just when we were going into seasonal depression from lack of local produce we learned that Cambridge restaurant Herietta's Table uses RFF veggies. (they also have a great 3 course supper for $25.) Success!

2) Oleana - This not-to-be-missed Mediterranean restaurant on Hampshire Street in Cambridge had been on our list for quite some time. We finally ventured the few blocks from my old apartment on Valentines day of 2010 and were wowed. The whipped feta stole my heart. Adam def. won with his choice: a beet risotto with Berkshire Pork, tallegio cheese and pink peppercorns. It was so good I was tempted to start eating in my sleep and finish his leftovers before we woke the next morning.

3) Vegetarian Dinners (Adam's pick) - It's very odd for me to write about something completely devoid of meat, but I've really taken to the idea of mixing in veggie dinners to break up the monotony of all-you-can-eat pork dinners.  A few favorites included cumin spiced cauliflower 'steaks', lentil loaf with mushroom gravy (loaf almost never sounds appealing, but you'll have to take my word on this one), and kale with white beans over parmesan polenta.  Ok, I might have snuck a few spare lardons of bacon in that last dish......some habits are hard to break.   

4)  Southern California Mexican food - The purpose of our week long trip to California last summer was for Kate's first marathon in San Diego.  However, cheering for my favorite long distance runner ran neck-and-neck with my shameless gorging on the terrific Southern California Mexican fare.  It seems that every meal for a 3-day span was wrapped in a soft homemade tortilla and was accompanied by a tart, boozy margarita.  Apparently, the East Coast doesn't know jack about Mexican food.  How can the same food, taste so different?  Is it the freshness of ingredients, the nuances of local recipes, or just the warm ocean breeze that makes it so much better?  The ultimate highlight for me was Cafe Coyote in Old Town San Diego.  I don't remember exactly what I had, but I definitely made a conscious effort not to bite off a finger as I was inhaling everything so fast.  Their 'Cadillac Margarita' was the finest cocktail I'd had in some time too.           

5) Chilean Farm Food - I thought I knew the pleasures and joys of local food here in Boston, but I was wrong. I dream of the food we ate on Rodrigo's family farm. The most blissful, flavorful honey I've ever tasted. I'll never forget the trip my taste buds took to that farm! Here's the post on Chilean Food Adventure. 

6) Canning - It's not just for grandmas anymore. Local plum tomatoes, homemade tomato sauce and tomatoes with basil all year long.  We'll definitely be doing this again this summer.

7) The Great Brine Spill of 2010 - Adam and I learned the joys of living with a small kitchen early one November morning when I embarked on my third brining project and, well, there was a bit of a mess. I woke up early one morning to start a brine for the turkey that I volunteered to make for my office holiday potluck. Let's just say 2 gallons of brine all over our kitchen + 1 morning spent cleaning EVERY item from our kitchen and mopping up the mess = one memorable moment from 2010. 

8) Meeting Simply Ming/Jose Andres - We met two awesome Chef's this year. Kate is now convinced Ming Tsai is her BFF.  Chef Jose Andres made a guest appearance at Le Cordon Bleu in Cambridge (Adam's employer).  After an amazing talk about his life in the food industry and a few choice films of his recipes at their wackiest...I got my book signed.  Score!

If you haven't checked out Chef Andres before, here is a phenomenal look at his culinary magic at work.

9) Christmas Suckling Pig - With our respective families and a few random guests scheduled for a Christmas feast, we decided to do it up big.  I made a call our local meat peddler, Savenor's and put in an order for locally-raised piglet, ready to pick up on December 23rd.  I made it a point to check on the possible weight range as our Barbie and Ken mini-oven could only fit a beast of a certain size.  She weighed in at 17.44 lbs and nestled snuggly into a roasting pan.  *phew*  After spending 2 days in a chilly brine bath of apple cider, onions, salt and brown sugar, we stuffed our little piggy with lemons, thyme, onions, gave her a massage of olive oil salt and pepper then shoehorned it into the oven.  After a half hour at 450 degrees to color up the exterior, I dropped it down to 325 for a nice slow roast until done - about 3 hours total.  The skin was bark-crisp and really absorbed the maple, mustard and cider baste.  The meat was amazingly juicy and flavorful.  The bites that combined fat, skin and meat were especially addicting.  Being the butcher, I helped myself to a more than a few pulls right off of the carving board.  The pictures tell the rest....         

 

10) Starting this blog. Even though we're not quite as consistent as we aspire to be, it's been fun and we're looking forward to upping the game in 2011 with more new food experiences.

Bon Appetite!

K & A