Gravlax for the Holidays

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onepixel
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Re: Gravlax for the Holidays

#21

Post by onepixel »

Oh yeah... good stuff! The recipe I use is very similar. Sometimes I'll use a shot of aquavit.

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DrLogik
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Re: Gravlax for the Holidays

#22

Post by DrLogik »

Bummin' because really fresh salmon cannot be had in Phoenix. At least not that I have found. Anyone know of an online retailer that sells really fresh wild caught salmon or one here in Phoenix?

I gotta do a Gravlax for Thanksgiving and I'm starting to sweat...

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cheffy
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Re: Gravlax for the Holidays

#23

Post by cheffy »

DR. Try the Whole Foods in Phoenix. their stuff is always nice. I'm sure they have some wild caught since they rarely do farmed stuff.

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Eric Peper
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Re: Gravlax for the Holidays

#24

Post by Eric Peper »

Nothing at one of the Costcos in Phoenix? There always seems to be some here in Austin. Come to think of it, I'm not sure if if the fresh filets are wild. We always buy wild smoked salmon there.

Eric
A mountain is a fact -- a trout is a moment of beauty known only to men who seek them
Al McClane in his Introduction to The Practical Fly Fisherman . . . often erroneously attributed to Arnold Gingrich

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DrLogik
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Re: Gravlax for the Holidays

#25

Post by DrLogik »

Eric,

Costco only sells farm raised raw salmon.

Going to check Whole Foods out though as Cheffy suggested.

Grant

ablecane
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Re: Gravlax for the Holidays

#26

Post by ablecane »

DrLogik wrote:Eric,

Costco only sells farm raised raw salmon.

Going to check Whole Foods out though as Cheffy suggested.

Grant
See if you can order on line this if the store near you doesn't carry it or they won't order it for you.
http://costcocouple.com/smoked-salmon/

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Bluewater
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Re: Gravlax for the Holidays

#27

Post by Bluewater »

I use white & dark peppercorns in the mix-try some Wild Turkey's American Honey on the filet after putting on the seasoning....... yikes!!!!!

Florida Stone crab mustard sauce is a good fit also as an accompaniment with finely chopped sweet onions. 8)

Great item for friends dropping by during the holidays.

tkerr7735
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Re: Gravlax for the Holidays

#28

Post by tkerr7735 »

I've always used the recipe in A. J. McClane's book, The Encyclopedia of Fish Cookery. It recommends the same sauce described by Boolover. He attributes his Gravlax recipe to the Lindstrom (no umlaut on my keyboard) Hotel on the Laerdal River in Norway and to chef Arne Kesby at the Hotel Bristol. Kesby supplied his Gravlax for the royal family in Copenhagen.

His recipe argues for 2 parts sugar to 1 part salt, with two salmon slabs sandwiching sugar, salt, dill and white pepper as described by cheffy. He claims the salmon will leach out in 4-5 hours and should then be refrigerated for "at least 48 hours."

I've had great success with his recipe, but decided to try DrLogik's Turbinado sugar and smoked sea salt this time. It went into the fridge 10 minutes ago. I'll do the sauce (red wine vinegar recommended) on Monday.

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Re: Gravlax - follow-on questions

#29

Post by tkerr7735 »

I'd like to follow up on this topic. If I do Eggs Benedict, I usually serve them for breakfast or brunch. Slow roasted prime rib is for dinner. With each I know what to serve with them.

I'd like more inputs for this one. I made the Gravlax as described above using smoked sea salt and Turbinado sugar. I made the McClane sauce as described above. I sliced it very thin (1/8" or so). I served it for dinner. I served it with an Alfredo-like pasta with peas and pine nuts and a non-oaked Chardonnay. Some Scandinavians seem to prefer aquavit. Is that a breakfast or dinner licquer?

Now for my questions. Is Gravlax intended for breakfast or dinner? A main course or appetizer? My wife claimed that the very subtle Dijon mustard/dill sauce overpowered the salmon? Do you take it off the skin before or after slicing? I found that slicing and then filleting the skin off in a single pass before serving preserved the complete slices. Otherwise, removing the skin tears the slices apart? These are the types of questions that are not always covered in recipes/instructions and frustrate me the most.

I thought that the Gravlax itself was wonderful. I've only been cooking for 60 years and am still in the learning process.

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marius
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Re: Gravlax for the Holidays

#30

Post by marius »

...and if you want to be even more adventurous, you might want to try the super good norwegian rakfisk :pipe

have a look: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rakfisk

tkerr7735
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Re: Gravlax for the Holidays

#31

Post by tkerr7735 »

I recognize that I have replied more than a few times to this topic, but I'd like to answer my own questions above. These are only my opinions.

Gravlax is not a dinner main course or even an evening course. It is great for breakfast or brunch. We had it again yesterday. We served it on bagel halves topped with whipped cream cheese, topped with Gravlax thin slices, topped with the Gravlax sauce. It was outrageously good.

For Christmas Day morning, it will be even more spectacular. Long live the salmon! Tak!

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Re: Gravlax for the Holidays

#32

Post by aged_sage »

tkerr7735 wrote:I've always used the recipe in A. J. McClane's book, The Encyclopedia of Fish Cookery. (no umlaut on my keyboard)

Ahh; but the umlaut IS there. If you go to: http://tlt.its.psu.edu/suggestions/inte ... dealt.html and down load the document entitled "Computing with Accents, Symbols & Foreign Scripts", you will find the requisite info on how to bring the umlauts, and a myriad of other timely symbols, etc., out of hiding. I printed my copy out in 2011 and it is invaluable.

aged_sage
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Re: Gravlax for the Holidays

#33

Post by aged_sage »

For whatever reason, when I submit the link, it gets edited to a meaningless link. If someone on here can be of help with the posting of a rather lengthy link, I would appreciate the help. Otherwise, for those interested in getting it you might try sending me a PM. The missing part were the three dots are should read "inter[national/accents/co]...".

Hope this makes some semblance of sense.

Cheers!

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bamboo rodley
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Re: Gravlax for the Holidays

#34

Post by bamboo rodley »

tkerr,
It sounds like you really eat well at holiday time. That's what holidays should be IMO; eating, drinking, time with loved ones. Forget the shopping and gifts, too much work. Hope all have a great holiday season.
BR

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DrLogik
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Re: Gravlax for the Holidays

#35

Post by DrLogik »

Found a good source for really fresh salmon in Scottsdale. We won't be able to be with family this Holiday but planning a gravlax nonetheless. May even score some fresh oysters for a traditional low country oyster roast.

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BrownBear
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Re: Gravlax for the Holidays

#36

Post by BrownBear »

We're blessed with lots of wild caught salmon, plus a neighbor who's a traditional Swede. She uses approximately the same salt/pepper mix, but with a difference in preparation method:

Use 2 fillets or cut one fillet in half. Rub the mix into the flesh side of both. Put one piece/fillet flesh-up in the bottom of a casserole dish, lay the dill over it in a good layer, then place the second piece/fillet flesh-down on top to form a "dill sandwich."

Place a sheet of Saran over that, then add a board or a nesting casserole dish on top of that. Add 5#-10# of weight to that, then put the whole works in the refrigerator. Once a day for 4 days, remove the weighted top-dish and Saran, flip the sandwich, return the Saran and weighted pan, then back into the refrigerator.

Lots of moisture comes out, between the salt mix and the weight, forming a "liquor" that really helps distribute the flavors.

The texture in the final gravlax is much firmer than unweighted versions, more along the lines of high grade smoked lax. Really a remarkable end product!

We made our traditional Swedish neighbor nuts with a variation, though she admitted it was actually quite good, but NOT GRAVLAX! Reflecting my Southwestern origins I added some course-crumbled dry New Mexico reds and cuminos to the pepper mix, then subbed cilantro for dill and splashed a quarter cup of good tequila over the mix and prepared as before.

Yowsa!!!!! :D

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Re: Gravlax for the Holidays

#37

Post by jvh »

Heres a little different twist on how I make gravlax. I sandwich the salmon between to Himalayan pink salt slabs. Put fresh dill, dry mustard and some coriander seeds on the bottom slab, add the salmon skin side down then coat the salmon with a little sugar, white pepper, dry mustard and coriander seeds. Cover with fresh dill and add the salt slab and cover with plastic. I put this on a rack in a cookie sheet to make a space for the water to drain and so the bottom slab won't be sitting in water. Put it in the frig for 2 to 3 days. The longer you leave if the salter it will become. I have found that 2 days in about right for fresh salmon and 3 days for frozen. When done clean off everything and slice. Because of the weight on it it come out very firm.

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Eric Peper
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Re: Gravlax - follow-on questions

#38

Post by Eric Peper »

tkerr7735 wrote:
Now for my questions. Is Gravlax intended for breakfast or dinner? A main course or appetizer?
I thought that the Gravlax itself was wonderful. I've only been cooking for 60 years and am still in the learning process.
Had to reply here even if this is a year late, mainly because you used McClane's recipe. I knew McClane pretty well, and we discussed gravlax more than once. His claim was that when he went to Norway for salmon fishing, irrespective of where he was staying, he requested that gravlax be available 24/7 as it was one of his favorite foods (along with steak tartare).

I'd go so far as to say any fish recipe (in fact any recipe) with his name attached to it is likely to be very good.

As to the "when," I once had gravlax served as a main dish at a Rotary Club luncheon in Stockholm, and I never missed a chance for it whenever I was in Sweden -- best at the Grand Hotel as a dinner appetizer! And I certainly would have had it at breakfast if it were available. To the Swedes, it was as common as a hamburger is here.

Eric
A mountain is a fact -- a trout is a moment of beauty known only to men who seek them
Al McClane in his Introduction to The Practical Fly Fisherman . . . often erroneously attributed to Arnold Gingrich

tkerr7735
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Re: Gravlax for the Holidays

#39

Post by tkerr7735 »

Eric,

Interesting timing. It's that time of year again. I reread the entire thread again two days ago and bought a slab of wild caught on Tuesday at the local Martin's store (the closest equivalent that we have to Trader Joe's or Wegman's). I still have my Turbinado sugar and smoked sea salt from last year. Both made a significant difference last year. Haven't tried the Aquavit accompaniment yet.

Next week, one of our wino accomplice couples is having a single malt Scotch tasting (They're only early 60s and have just discovered single malts. May think that they have invented a new form of "wine" tasting.) Trying to decide whether to bring my smoked salmon or the Gravlax or both. It may be a strange pairing either way. --Tom

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cregb
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Re: Gravlax for the Holidays

#40

Post by cregb »

Can anyone advise how long this keeps in the fridge after the initial prep?

Thinking about making it for Christmas and just wondering how far in advance I could manage it.

Thanks,

Creg

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