Gravad Lax Recipes

Steps:

• For the salmon: Place the salmon in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish, skin side down. Blend the fennel seeds, dill seeds, black peppercorns and coriander seeds in a spice grinder. Mix the salt, sugar and ground spices in a small bowl and rub them over the top of the salmon. Cover the salmon with the dill, and then wrap the salmon dish in plastic and refrigerate. Leave the salmon in the refrigerator for 2 days to cure.
• For the fennel: Wash the fennel in cold water and remove the top stalks. Cut the bulb in half through the stem, and then slice the bulb halves on a mandoline into a bowl of ice water. Pick the fennel dill (the top of the fennel) into the ice water with the fennel slices.
• For the raeve sauce: Whisk to combine the Dijon mustard, grainy mustard, brown sugar and dill in a medium bowl. Whisk until the sugar crystals are dissolved, about 1 minute.
• For the croutons: Tear the rye bread into 1/2-inch pieces. Melt the butter in a small pot and add the bread pieces. Toast, stirring occasionally, until the butter is brown and the croutons are crispy, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from the pot and drain on a towel-lined plate.
• Remove the fennel and fennel fronds from the ice water and drain on a towel to dry. Place in a medium bowl and toss to combine with the watercress, salt and pepper.
• Use a chef's knife to slice the gravad lax into a 3 1/2-ounce portion per person. Plate and top with 1 tablespoon reeve sauce, 5 to 6 rye croutons and 2 tablespoons fennel and watercress salad.

Steps:

• Place salmon on a parchment paper-lined work surface. Remove any remaining bones. Wipe salmon with a damp cloth, being careful not to tear fish.
• In a medium bowl, combine salt, sugar, and peppercorns. Select a shallow dish big enough to hold one fillet; place one-third of the dill in the bottom. Place 1 salmon fillet, skin-side down, on top of dill. Rub one-third of the salt mixture into flesh of fish, and top with half of remaining dill. Rub half of remaining salt mixture into flesh of the second half of salmon, and place, flesh-side down, on top of dill. Rub remaining salt mixture into skin, and top with remaining dill.
• Wrap dish tightly in plastic wrap. Place a small board or baking dish on top, and weight it down. Refrigerate for at least 36 hours and up to 48 hours.
• Scrape off seasonings; discard. Slice salmon on the bias, and serve garnished with pumpernickel bread, cucumber slices, hard-boiled eggs, salmon roe, and sour cream.

Steps:

• Mix salt, sugar and pepper. Rub the fish with the mixture. Add dill. Wrap in foil and put in a dish. Refrigerate for 36 to 48 hours, with a light weight on top of the fish. Turn the salmon several times.
• Before serving, scrape off the dill and seasoning and cut into thin slices on the diagonal.
• Serve with Hovmastarsas, sweet dill and mustard sauce.
• Whisk together mustard, sugar and vinegar. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add the oil in a thin stream, stirring constantly. Add the chopped dill. Store in refrigerator.

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

Steps:

• Whisk together the Dijon mustard, honey mustard, whole-grain mustard, ground mustard, sugar, and vinegar in a medium bowl. Combine the olive and grapeseed oils in a small measuring cup. Slowly add the oil mixture to the mustard mixture, whisking constantly, until emulsified. Stir in the dill and salt.

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.

Steps:

• Wipe salmon with a damp cloth. Leave skin on, but carefully remove bone so that big fillets remain. Be careful not to break fish. Mix together salt, sugar, white pepper and allspice. Rub seasonings carefully into all surfaces of the fish. Sprinkle fish with cognac. Wash dill and shake dry. Place one third of the dill in the bottom of a large deep pan or bowl (not aluminum). Place one piece of salmon, skin side down, on dill. Cover salmon with another third of the dill. Top with second piece of salmon, skin side up and cover with remaining dill. Set heavy plate or board on salmon, or a plate, weighted down. Refrigerate salmon for at least 24, preferably 36 or 48, hours.
• Drain fish and scrape off dill and spices. Slice on a slant, wafer thin, away from the skin. Serve with lemon wedges, mustard sauce and freshly ground black pepper. Gravad lax will keep under refrigeration for about 8-10 days only.
• Variation: In the Scandinavian manner, after draining and scraping fish, remove skin from fish carefully. Cut skin into strips and fry in hot butter until crisp. Add a strip of skin to each serving.
• Combine ingredients and blend thoroughly. Chill sauce for several hours. At serving time, beat smooth with fork or wire whisk - do not use rotary beater. Makes about 1 cup sauce.

Steps:

• Pat the salmon dry with kitchen paper and run your hands over the flesh to see if there are any stray small bones - if there are, use a pair of tweezers to pull them out. Set the salmon fillets aside.
• Tip the salt, sugar, peppercorns, lemon zest, juniper and dill into a food processor and blitz until you have a bright green, wet salt mixture or 'cure'. Unravel some cling film but keep it attached to the roll. Lay the first fillet of salmon skin-side down and then pack the cure over the flesh. Drizzle with gin, if using and top with the 2nd fillet, flesh-side down. Roll the sandwiched fillets tightly in cling film to create a package.
• Place the fish in a shallow baking dish or shallow-sided tray and lay another tray on top. Weigh the tray down with a couple of tins or bottles and place in the fridge for at least 48 hrs or up to 4 days, turning the fish over every 12 hours or so. The longer you leave it, the more cured it will become.
• To make the sauce, tip all the sauce ingredients into a blender. Blitz until you have a thickened dressing.
• To serve, unwrap the fish and brush off the marinade with kitchen paper. Rinse it if you like. You can slice the fish classically into long thin slices, leaving the skin behind, or remove the skin it and slice it straight down. Serve the sliced fish on a large platter or individual plates with pumpernickel bread, dill and mustard sauce.