Ingredients
One fillet of high quality salmon (ingredients below per 1.5 pound)
2 tbs salt
2 tbs sugar
1/4 cup pepper
2 cup dill
Equipment
Medium mixing bowl
Dinner plate
2 medium sized baking pans that stack well
Weighting device such as a bag of flour or gallon of liquid
Recommended knives
Slicing salmon: 12" Chris Kidder Special, 6" Petty, 7" Santoku,
Slicing bread: 6" Deli, 9" Superbread
Method
Lightly rinse and pat salmon dry.
Remove any pin bones (clean tweezers work well if bones are difficult to remove).
Remove any pin bones (clean tweezers work well if bones are difficult to remove).
Cut salmon in half crosswise to create two pieces of equal length.
Mix all dry ingredients and dill in bowl.
On a dish or clean surface, cover both sides of each piece of salmon liberally and equally with salt/sugar mix.
Place first piece of salmon skin side down in baking dish (the larger dish if dishes are different sizes).
Lay the second piece on top of first piece flesh side down.
Place the second baking dish on top of the salmon and create some pressure with few pounds of weight (i.e. gallon of liquid or bag of flour).
Place in the fridge to cure for two days.
After 24hrs, drain liquid and return to fridge
After 48hrs, LIGHTLY rinse fillets of excess salt/sugar mixture.
Pat fillets dry.
Serve chilled and thinly sliced with sweet mustard, creme fraiche (recipe below), and toasted baguette or crackers. Garnish with chopped green onion and fresh dill.
Can also be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week.
1 pint fresh whole milk
1 tbs buttermilk or full fat yogurt
Mix in container, cover and leave in warm place until mixture thickens, 12-24 hrs based on climate.
Thickness should be akin to whipped cream, softer than sour cream, but able to hold up as a dollop on a cracker and have a pleasant, tangy flavor.
