Citrus-Cured Salmon

I've been reading Ruhlman's Twenty: 20 Techniques 100 Recipes A Cook's Manifesto after receiving a review copy, and it's written in such a straightforward, accessible style, it's a pleasure to read. This is no dry, kitchen science textbook. Instead, it offers twenty topics and all the ways those topics affect different types of cooking, and there are recipes with photos for each. Whatever your level of comfort with cooking, each chapter offers clear explanations of techniques and concepts that will improve your skills in the kitchen and the food you serve. From the very basics of being organized in the kitchen to seasoning to the various wonders of eggs and on and on, this book offers examples, tips, and some scientific facts about what works best and why. In the butter chapter, the basics of how butter shortens the strands of gluten in flour are explained, and then there's a description of beurre monte which is made by whisking butter into hot water and can be used to poach shellfish. There's also a mention of brown butter, compound butters, and butter used for confit. The reminders and insights about all of the uses of this one simple ingredient were an inspiration. With an understanding of basic techniques, you can cook with confidence and creativity. At the end of each chapter, there are corresponding recipes that make you want to put the ideas into practice, and it wasn't long before I was on my way to the kitchen.

Chapter two is about salt, and it includes types of salt, seasoning, brining, and preserving. Two recipes I started immediately were the lemon confit and the citrus-cured salmon. They are both so unbelievably easy, I have no idea why I'd never tried either before. For the lemons, they're simply packed with a mix of salt and sugar, covered with water and left to cure for a month. Check back in a few weeks, and I'll be mentioning them again. The salmon is almost as simple as the lemons. I'm so glad I decided to try this right after seeing it in the book. I luckily showed up at the fish counter on the last day that fresh, wild salmon was available this year. I brought home a big fillet and prepared the cure. Two parts salt to one part sugar were combined, and a lemon, a lime, an orange, and a grapefruit were zested. Organic citrus is best to avoid any chemical residue on the outer skin when using the zest. Some of the salt mixture was placed on a big piece of foil, the salmon was set on that, the citrus zests were sprinkled over the salmon, and the remaining salt mixture was poured over the top. Another piece of foil was placed over the salmon, and it was tightly folded together and sealed all around. The foil package was placed on a baking sheet, and a baking pan weighted down with jars from the refrigerator was set on top of the salmon. By pressing the salmon, more water is released as it cures. It was left in the refrigerator for 24 hours. Some recipes from other sources do suggest a longer curing time, and it depends on the thickness of the salmon. You should check it after 24 hours, and if the flesh still feels raw, leave it in the cure for another day. Since the salmon I used was rather thin, 24 hours was enough time for it to become firm. The salt mixture was washed off, the salmon was dried, and it was time to slice.

The only difficulty with home-cured salmon is slicing. A long, thin, serrated knife is best, but a bread knife was the closest thing I had. I did what I could. The slices weren't nearly as perfect and lovely as store-bought cured salmon, but I was proud of them anyway. I'll definitely be curing salmon again in the future, so I'll eventually get more practice at this. First, I had to use some salmon on a bagel. It was fresh and lovely with just a hint of citrus. Up next, I used some of the salmon in the smoked salmon panzanella with feta, dill, and grapes from the book For Cod and Country. It was a minor luxury to have so much cured salmon on hand, and now that I'm comfortable with that technique, I'm looking forward to mastering a few more of the twenty.

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Smoked Salmon Burgers

You saw this coming, didn’t you? I couldn’t rave about those brioche hamburger buns and then not tell you about a burger. The fact is that, probably, just about any burger would be delicious with one of those buns. I know this because I’ve used one of those buns for a completely boring, frozen, garden burger and quite enjoyed it. But, that was a later use of a brioche bun. For their debut, I wanted to whip up something special in the way of a burger that would be truly worthy of them. Just when I finally decided to try making those buns, this salmon burger recipe was on the top of my to-try stack. I couldn’t ignore that kind of coincidence. The burger is from the June issue of Living magazine, and it’s made from fresh salmon fillets, cold-smoked or cured salmon, and dill. They’re quick to make and hold together well. If you’d like to grill them though, you might want to use a fish or vegetable tray on top of the grill rack just in case. And, if you choose to brown them in a skillet, they cook in just a couple of minutes per side.

The recipe calls for one pound of fresh salmon and two and a half ounces of thinly sliced smoked salmon. The fresh salmon is cut into large chunks which are chilled before being pulsed in a food processor. The goal is to chop the big chunks but not to a smooth state. The smoked salmon was finely chopped by hand and then stirred into the chopped fresh salmon. Last, chopped fresh dill was added, and the patties were formed. It’s suggested that four patties be formed from the salmon mixture, but since I was dealing with some rather large buns, I divided the mixture into three portions for a better fit. After heating a little oil in a skillet, the burgers cooked for a scant two minutes per side. They just begin to brown, and the salmon barely cooks through. They were topped with mustard and arugula.

The mix of fresh and cured salmon gave these burgers a nice mix of flavors which the dill accented well. And, chopping the fresh salmon just enough but not too much is the key to great texture. For three simple ingredients, they combined perfectly for a very worthy burger.

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Smoked Salmon Waffles

A recipe with smoked salmon is sure to grab my attention. So are ones with cute stacks of things made in mini versions. There were a lot of great ideas in Dorie Greenspan’s Around My French Table, but these savory waffles were first on my list of things to try. There are two ways you could go with these waffles. You could make whole waffles, cut them into quarters, top them as you please, and serve them in one, single layer. They’d be great as small bites for a cocktail party. Or, as I did, you can make mini waffles by just placing a spoonful of batter in the center of each waffle square assuming you’re using a square waffle maker. Then, the mini waffles can be topped and stacked into towers for brunch. The toppings here are creme fraiche, smoked salmon, and chopped chives, but in the book, salmon roe is also shown as an optional topping. You could get creative and use these as vehicles for all kinds of things though. For instance, the pate de jardin made by Kocurek Family Charcuterie that I brought home from the farmers’ market was another delicious thing to set atop these waffles. The batter for them was made with chopped green onions, chives, and smoked salmon in it, so the savory flavors ran through each bite.

Making the batter was as easy as it always is for any pancake or waffle. Flour, baking powder, salt, and pepper, in this case, were whisked together. In a separate bowl, milk, eggs, and melted butter were combined and then added to the dry ingredients. Everything was stirred together but just barely. As usual, some lumps are fine. Last, chopped smoked salmon, green onions, and chives were folded into the batter. I heated my waffle maker, and mine happens to make kind of big dents in waffles rather than little, dainty ones. In this case, a daintier dent might have been nicer, but mine worked well enough. When the machine was hot, I spooned a bit of batter into the center of each of the four waffle squares. They cooked for the usual amount of time which for my machine is about six minutes. When they were all done, I stacked three mini waffles per serving with creme fraiche and more smoked salmon between each layer.

There’s enough butter in these waffles to give them good, rich flavor which fit well with the salty, savoriness of cured salmon. Salmon, chives, and creme fraiche is a mix that works every time. Sweet, syrup-covered waffles are a welcome treat at brunch too, but having a buttery, crisp waffle without the sugar was a fun change of pace. One other suggestion from the book was to offer these with various toppings in a build-your-own setup for a party. I like that idea too, and I’m already thinking of more topping ideas.

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Egg Salad Tartines with Smoked Salmon

Of course there were eggs for Easter. I usually make deviled eggs, but this year I decided to mix it up just a bit. The flavors here were the same as what you’d find in my deviled eggs, but the delivery took a different form. These tartines are from Ina, and I’ve always thought her egg salad topped with thinly sliced smoked salmon looked delicious. I thought about making them for the longest time. In fact, I thought about them for so long, I forgot which one of her books included the recipe. In the past, I used to search my cookbooks by pulling each one off the shelf and flipping to the index. I did that to find recipes I remembered or to get ideas for cooking with specific ingredients. That was the old way of searching. These days, I use Eat Your Books, which accomplishes the same thing with just the click of a mouse. You build a list of all of your books which you can then search for recipes or ingredients. The search result will show the book title that includes your search term and the list of ingredients in the recipe. It’s so much easier than the old way. I quickly found that the egg salad tartines are in Barefoot Contessa at Home. This recipe is also on the FoodNetwork site.

I wanted to find Ina’s recipe to see exactly how she made her version and to check the ratio of mayonnaise to egg, but I had to make a few additions of my own. Ina’s egg salad is very straightforward with just hard-boiled eggs chopped in a food processor, mayonnaise, whole-grain mustard, fresh dill, salt, and pepper. I wanted to add a couple of things that are always in my deviled eggs, so I included finely chopped cornichons and spring onions. I had some pretty, red, spring onions from the farmers’ market and wanted to make use of their flavor and color. For bread, I had just baked some sourdough baguettes which are even more fun to bake now that I have a proper baguette pan. I sliced a baguette and toasted the pieces before spreading them with the egg salad and topping it with smoked salmon. I wish I had cured my own salmon, but that’s something that remains on my to-try list.

I knew I was going to like this a lot, and I think I enjoyed it even more than my usual deviled eggs. The smoked salmon added savory, slightly salty bite to the egg salad. Another option would have been to slice some olives to use as a topping. I have a thing for the pickled element of cornichons with hard-boiled eggs, but I’m not sure how popular that is. Do you have a favorite ingredient for egg salad or deviled eggs?




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Double Blue Crostini and Fully Loaded Potato Skins

While my couch and I were re-connecting during that lovely, lazy week before the new year began, one of the books I read was Nigella Christmas. This was my first experience with a Nigella book. So, the references made to her previous books regarding recipes and friends were lost on me. It is, however, full of festive ideas for entertaining during the holiday season, and I was instantly inspired to try a couple of things. She presents ideas that don't require too much preparation time for casual gatherings. For our New Year’s Eve night of fun food, I wanted to try the double blue crostini and the fully loaded potato skins. Nigella explains that she makes simple canapes with tortilla chips rather than toasted pieces of bread because it's a time saver and good, thick tortilla chips 'resist sogginess longer.' The double blue crostini were blue corn tortilla chips with a blue cheese dip, and the fully loaded potato skins involved yet another bacon situation which I’ll explain.

For the blue cheese dip, room temperature cream cheese and sour cream were stirred together, and then blue cheese was mashed into the mixture. Finely chopped, pickled jalapenos were added, and the finished dip was scooped onto blue chips. Celery is always good with blue cheese, even though it went against the double blue concept, so I used some as a chip alternative.

Now, the point of the potato skins was that the filling mixture plus bacon on top made them fully loaded, so I couldn't skip that topping. I could have gone the route of using turkey bacon, but instead I decided to get creative, make a change, and use hot smoked chipotle salmon. I opted for mini yukon gold potatoes, and they were baked, halved, and hollowed. The potato pulp was combined with sour cream, chopped scallions, shredded cheddar cheese, and a bit of Worcestershire sauce. More shredded cheddar was applied on top, and they went back into the oven until melty and warm. Just before serving, I added pieces of smoked salmon to each.

I completely understand if you choose to fully load your potato skins with proper bacon, but the chipotle smoked salmon was a delicious alternative. As for the filling, there’s no denying the lure of potatoes with sour cream and cheddar. Regarding the double blue hors d’oeuvre, this was a simple but genius combination. The pickled jalapenos added addictive acidity and spice. Don’t start eating these while you’re hungry like I did because they’ll be gone far too quickly. This book offers Christmas-specific recipes and some to use all year, but I especially look forward to pulling it off the shelf when the holidays arrive again.




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Smoked Salmon-Black Bean Tostaditas

I had been thinking about black beans for weeks. I wanted to cook a big pot of them and then use them in a couple of different dishes. Mostly, I was thinking about making black bean soup. In the process of searching here and there to compare and contrast different soup recipes, I discovered this gem of a starter in Rick Bayless’ Mexico One Plate at a Time. Crisp, slender-cut tostadas smeared with pureed black beans and topped with a fresh mix of smoked salmon, tomato, green onion, serranos, and cilantro grabbed my attention, and I went right off to collect the ingredients.

To make the black bean puree, avocado leaf is suggested as an optional ingredient. If you’re lucky enough to have some, you are to crumble a leaf and add it to the food processor with the beans. I read a recent blog post on Oyster Food and Culture about avocado leaves and hoped I’d be able to locate some for this recipe. In fact, I left the house feeling sure I’d find avocado leaves. I was wrong. Once again, a hunt for a specific ingredient was unsuccessful. One day, I’m going to open my own little specialty shop for all of these ingredients that I never seem to find. At any rate, the avocado leaf was optional, so I proceeded without it. Onion and garlic were sauteed and then added to the food processor bowl with the black beans. It was processed until smooth and then returned to a saute pan. Bean cooking liquid was stirred into the puree a little at a time until a a soft consistency was achieved. That was kept warm while the salmon mixture was made and the tortillas were cut into long triangles. The instructions suggest frying the tortillas, but I brushed them with oil and baked them instead. Then, the tostaditas were assembled and topped with some crema.

The smoked salmon mixture was ceviche-ish although there was no lime. The smoky saltiness of the salmon with the crunchy green onions and chiles contrasted nicely with the smooth bean puree. These tostaditas would be great for a party as a small amount of smoked salmon was stretched to serve several portions. Also, by cutting the tortillas yourself, whether you fry or bake them, you can decide the size and shape for ease of serving. This was another winner of a dish from Bayless, and I haven’t encountered a disappointment from this book yet.


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Proper Irish Breakfast

While spending Thanksgiving week in Ireland, we encountered many edible delights. One of those was a homemade, full, Irish breakfast expertly crafted by our friend Bill. A proper Irish breakfast is generous in protein. There are eggs, rashers or bacon, sausages, and white and/or black pudding along with sauteed mushrooms, possibly beans, tomatoes, brown bread with butter, and tea. Bill’s menu included chosen items from the traditional list, and because he’s aware of my indifference toward red meat, my plate received smoked salmon. The meal was perfectly prepared with fresh, delicious eggs, amazing salmon, and what I decided to call right, fine, Irish butter. Incidentally, I’ve become an Irish butter convert. Kurt was very pleased with the bacon and sausages as well. Thanks again to Bill and Sharon for a fantastic treat.

We saw lots of sights and enjoyed many meals along the way each day. At Deep located in Howth, I chose a flaky, savory mushroom tart followed by the organic salmon entree which was incredibly fresh and cooked exactly right. We had a very nice evening with friends and a meal of Lebanese fare at The Cedar Tree in Dublin City Centre. I opted for the haloumi and falafel, but the multi-course chef’s choice meal looked fantastic. Brief stops at Bewley’s Oriental Cafe for tea and chocolate eclairs and at Butler’s Chocolates for cappuccino and truffles provided energy boosts for seeing more sights. At Fallon and Byrne, the oysters were unbelievably fresh and refreshing and another salmon meal was very good as well. Our last meal in Dublin, which was our Thanksgiving feast being that it was dinner on Thursday, was enjoyed at Carluccio’s. Olives, bruschetta, green salad, and pasta con funghi were fantastic. And, the strawberry gelato made for a lovely ending to the week.

I’m still a little travel tired, not entirely ready to be done with vacation, and am moving slowly toward my own kitchen and food books awaiting me at home. It's possible that I added to my food book collection with some titles that caught my eye in Dublin. So, I have even more to read about and cook as soon as I get back into my regular schedule.


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Smoked Salmon Pizza

Making pizza dough may seem time consuming, but the time involved is mostly in waiting for it to rise. I’ve made the pizza dough from The New Basics so many times that I’ve memorized the technique. Warm water, instant yeast, whole wheat flour, and unbleached all purpose flour are combined in a bowl. Olive oil, salt, pepper, and more flour are added. Adding pepper is my own touch. I like pepper, and the specks in the dough are pretty. Stir until dough comes together, then turn out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth. Place in an oiled bowl, cover with a towel, and let rise for an hour or longer. So, my process is: make dough, read a book or go to the gym or water the garden for an hour or two, then punch down dough, knead it a few times, and let it rest while prepping the toppings and heating the oven to 475.

Then, the creativity begins. Sometimes, the dough is used for one big baking sheet-sized rectangle of pizza. Other times, I divide it into smaller rounds which are baked individually on a stone. There are no limits to the realm of possibilities for toppings. Yesterday, I took inspiration from Jacques Pepin’s Chez Jacques for a smoked salmon pizza. This is found in the Tortilla Pizzas section. Obviously, I didn’t use a tortilla for the crust, but I did opt for the smaller round of dough baked on the stone. A tortilla sounds like a great idea for a really quick pizza, but I think it would be extremely thin and unwieldy. This section in the book also includes directions for curing your own salmon, but here I took the easy way out and used store-bought, wild sockeye, smoked salmon.

I baked a round of dough, let it cool to room temperature, and topped it as Pepin suggested. Sour cream was combined with horseradish, the salmon was draped on top, thin slices of red onion were added, provencal olives were strewn about, and a sprinkling of chopped basil and sea salt and pepper completed it. (As a side note, my fabulous cherry pitter works very well for olives too.)

The pizza was excellent. Crispy, thin, whole wheat crust capably supported the cool, salty, pungent, delicious toppings. The horseradish with the salmon and then the bite of the olive; well, it was so very good. It occurred to me that this would make great party food. The pizza could be assembled, cut into bite-sized pieces in advance, and kept chilled.

What happened with the remaining pizza dough? Two other creations followed. First, parmigiana with basil, Aleppo pepper, olive oil, and sea salt.

Then, anchovy, olive oil, rosemary, and Aleppo pepper. Both of these were delicious, but the smoked salmon pizza was the star of the show. This parade of pizzas filled our evening with a lot of crunchy, savory, contented eating.

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