Homemade Gravlax Recipes

HOMEMADE GRAVLAX

Steps:

• Combine the dill, sugar, vodka, salt and lime zest in a small bowl and stir until well mixed.
• Spread the mixture over the salmon flesh. Cut the side of salmon in half crosswise. Fold each piece in half so the flesh is touching and the marinade is on the interior. Wrap the pieces tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 days.
• Slice the salmon thinly on a bias and serve.

GRAVLAX WITH MUSTARD SAUCE

Steps:

• Cut the salmon in half crosswise and place half the fish skin side down in a deep dish. Wash and shake dry the dill and place it on the fish. Combine the salt, sugar, crushed peppercorns, and fennel seeds in a small bowl and sprinkle it evenly over the piece of fish. Place the other half of salmon over the dill, skin side up. Cover the dish with aluminum foil. Place a smaller pan on top of the foil and weight it with some heavy cans. Refrigerate the salmon for at least 2 and up to 3 days, turning it every 12 hours and basting it with the liquid that collects.
• Lay each piece of salmon flat on a cutting board, remove the bunch of dill, and sprinkle the top with chopped dill. With a long thin slicing knife, slice the salmon in long thin slices as you would for smoked salmon. Serve with dark pumpernickel bread and mustard sauce. You can also serve with chopped red onion and capers, if desired.
• 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon ground dry mustard
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
• Combine the mustards, sugar, and vinegar in a small bowl. Slowly whisk in the oil and stir in the chopped dill. Serve with the gravlax.
• Yield: 3/4 cup

GRAVLAX

Steps:

• Mix together the salt, sugar, and dill. Put the salmon, skin side down, on a large sheet of plastic wrap. Cover the flesh side of the salmon with the salt mixture, being sure to coat it completely (there will be lots of salt mix; just pile it in there).
• Wrap the fish well. If the air temperature is below 70°F and it is not too inconvenient, let it rest outside the refrigerator for about 6 hours, then refrigerate for 18 to 24 hours more. Otherwise, refrigerate immediately for about 36 hours.
• Unwrap the salmon and rinse off the cure. Dry, then slice on the bias. Serve plain or with lemon wedges, crème fraîche, sour cream, or a light vinaigrette.
• Variations
• Low-Salt Gravlax: Use 1/2 cup salt and 1/4 cup sugar. Combine a couple of chopped bay leaves, 1/4 cup minced shallot, and 1 teaspoon cracked black pepper with the dill. Refrigerate for 48 hours and proceed as directed.
• Citrus Gravlax: Use 1 cup each salt and sugar, combined with the grated zests of 2 oranges, 2 lemons, 2 limes, and 2 grapefruit, 2 tablespoons juniper berries; 1 tablespoon cracked coriander seeds; and 1 bunch of dill, stems and all. Marinate for 12 to 24 hours.

EASY GRAVLAX

Steps:

• Combine the sugar, salt, peppercorns, and coriander seeds in a small bowl. Set aside. Place the salmon fillets on a parchment-lined work surface, and remove any remaining bones.
• Cover the flesh side of each with the spice mixture, gently rubbing it onto the flesh.
• Spread the dill on top of the spices; pour the aquavit or vodka over the dill.
• Place one fillet on top of the other, and wrap tightly in plastic wrap.
• Place the wrapped fillets in a glass or enamel pan. Place a heavy object, such as a canned good, in a smaller pan, and place on top of the fish. Transfer both pans to the refrigerator, and chill for 12 hours. Remove the fish from the pan; pour off the liquid that has accumulated in the pan and discard. Turn the fish over, and place the weighted pan back on top of the fish. Continue to refrigerate for 3 more days, turning the fish over every 12 hours.
• After 3 days, remove and discard the plastic wrap. Scrape the dill and spices from the surface of both fillets. To serve, slice each fillet on the diagonal, as thinly as possible. Wrap the remaining gravlax in plastic wrap, and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

GRAVLAX

Steps:

• Cure the salmon: Lay salmon skin-side down, flesh-side up in a glass or stainless-steel baking dish. (A large lasagna dish works well.) In a small bowl, toss together the salt, sugar and pepper until blended. Sprinkle the mixture over the salmon evenly, with abandon, until fully covered, as if under a blanket of snow. Use all of it.
• Spread all the chopped dill on top of the cure-covered salmon to make a thick, grassy carpet.
• Lay plastic wrap or parchment paper over the salmon to cover and press down, then place a heavy weight - such as a 2-gallon zip-top bag filled with water - on top, to weigh heavily on the curing fish. Refrigerate just like this, without disturbing, for 5 days, turning the salmon over midway through the cure - on Day 3 - then covering and weighting it again.
• To serve, mix together the softened butter, dill, shallot and mustard until well blended.
• Remove salmon from the cure, which has now become liquid, brushing off the dill with a paper towel, then set fillet on a cutting board.
• With a long, thin, beveled slicing knife tilted toward the horizon, slice salmon thinly, stopping short of cutting through the skin. Generally, you begin slicing a few inches from the tail end and you slice in the direction of the tail, moving your knife back, slice by slice, toward the fatter, wider belly portion of the fillet. The last slices are always hard to get. Once you have shingled the fillet, run your knife between skin and flesh, releasing all the slices, then transfer them to parchment until ready to serve.
• Spread the compound butter on bread, then drape sliced gravlax on top, and eat as open-faced sandwiches.

MARK BITTMAN'S GRAVLAX

Steps:

• Fillet the salmon or have the fishmonger do it; the fish need not be scaled. Lay both halves, skin side down, on a plate.
• Toss together the salt, brown sugar and pepper and rub this mixture all over the salmon (the skin too); splash on the spirits. Put most of the dill on the flesh side of one of the fillets, sandwich them together, tail to tail, and rub any remaining salt-sugar mixture on the outside; cover with any remaining dill, then wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Cover the sandwich with another plate and top with something that weighs a couple of pounds -- some unopened cans, for example. Refrigerate.
• Open the package every 12 to 24 hours and baste, inside and out, with the accumulated juices. When the flesh is opaque, on the second or third day (you will see it changing when you baste it), slice thinly as you would smoked salmon -- on the bias and without the skin -- and serve with rye bread or pumpernickel and lemon wedges.