Salmon Over Dressed Greens

I am especially excited about this post because I grew the mixed baby lettuce for my salad right on my patio!  One of the many things I love about working from a home office is that I can prepare a salad for lunch without having to do it the night before or morning of.  I did cook the salmon the night before which made for a super quick preparation.  These greens were the first of the season from my planter and picking it knowing I would be eating it in minutes made me really happy.  This post is not really much of a recipe, more like a celebration of my "garden" which gave me the best lunch I've had in a long time. This is a great option for an easy lunch or dinner when company is over.

Ingredients:

4-6 oz. pc of fresh wild salmon 
baby lettuce
slice of tomato (mine was heirloom because I love them and think they are extra pretty)
balsamic vinegar
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper

Salt and pepper the fish and place the flesh side down in a medium hot non stick lightly oiled pan. Don't touch the fish for about 2-3 minutes. You want a sear on the flesh so a crust forms, if you move it to soon you will tear it.  Flip the fish so the skin side is down, cook another approx. 2 minutes so fish is slightly firm to the touch. I personally prefer the skin removed so I did it while fish was still hot as I find it comes off easier that way.  (What I did after this was let it cool and put in the fridge for use the next day but you can use right away if you like).  At lunch time heated up a dry pan to medium high and put the fish in and heated through on both side, maybe 1 minute max each side. Set aside to cool off a bit.

Take 2 Tbsp. of balsamic vinegar and heat it in a small pan over medium heat for a few minutes until it reduces by about half. It will have a slightly syrupy consistency.  With flame off add 1-2 Tbsp. of extra virgin olive oil and whisk together to make the dressing. (You can add if tiny bit of Dijon if you want but I went very basic today). Toss the lettuce with slightly warm dressing, salt and pepper and plate with tomato slice and salmon. Enjoy!

Making Your Own Gravlax

Having been raised in the Borscht Belt of NY I have of course had my fair share of lox. Even as a kid I recognized this is good stuff. It wasn't until a few years ago I learned that I could make my own cured salmon at home with ease.  I prefer the Scandinavian preparation of the salmon called Gravlax.  From what I understand the term lox is a generic term. There are different ways to make lox, some include smoking, others don't. Traditional "Jewish" lox tend to come from a fattier fish then the type used in for Gravlax.  There are a million different twists on how to prepare this delish dish, below is the very simple version that I like.

Gravlax

Ingredients:
1 lb. super fresh wild Salmon with skin on (go to a good grocery store and get the best option you can afford, try to get a pc that is fairly thick and even. Prepare this same day you bring the fish home.)
1 1/2 cups Course Kosher Salt
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. ground pepper
1 bunch of dill rinsed and dried (stems cut off for most part)

Mix together the salt, sugar and pepper. Spread 1/2 of this mixture in the bottom of a small glass or ceramic baking dish. (Try to use something that is just a bit bigger then the fish, I suggest not using metal dish)

Wash and pat dry the fish. Place it skin side down on the salt mixture. Dump the rest of the salt mixture on top of the flesh side of the fish. Pile it on good, press some against the sides of the fish so it is complete covered. Take your dill and pile it on top of the salt mixture.

 

 

Cover your dish with plastic wrap and place a weight on the salmon, you can use a foil wrapped brick but I just used 2 cans of beans. Place in the fridge for about 18 hours.

 

Remove from fridge and flip the salmon, you will see that all the salt has dissolved and the fish is sitting in a curing liquid.

 

 

 

Cover and return fish with weights to the fridge for another 18 hours.

Once at least 36 hours has passed (don't leave it too much more then the 36 hours, one batch I left for 48 got really tough, on it's way to fish jerky) rinse the fish to get all the curing liquid and dill off and pat dry.  You now have Gravlax!!  Slice as thinly as possible or as thinly as you like! Serve at room temp and keep any leftovers in the fridge.

 

My favorite way to serve this is on a crostini with a small dollop of crème fraiche, a few capers and some dill as pictured at the top of this post. A sprinkling of finely chopped shallot or red onion would be a great addition as well.

 

Note: You are curing not cooking this fish so be sure to get fresh (not previously frozen) fish from a reputable source and prepare same day you bring the fish home. Once prepared this will easily last a few days in the fridge but use common sense :-)