Homemade Gravlax w/ Salmon from Seattle

When I came home from work the other night there was a box waiting for me on my porch.

It was from City Fish Co. in the Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle, and the box said PERISHABLE FRESH FISH HURRY AND OPEN!

Ok, ok! I am hurrying!

When I opened the box, a gorgeous WHOLE 5 pound Wild Coho fresh caught salmon was inside.



WOW. What a treat.

My friend Dana from Dana Treat sent this to me to try and entice me to get my butt out to Seattle and taste the fresh fish (and also visit her!).

I accept bribes.

There is such a difference between fresh caught fish eaten the day after it is caught, vs. a piece of fish that has been sitting in the grocery store on ice for 5 days.
Fresh is a different animal.

I cut half the salmon into fillets and removed the pin bones and froze them, because I wasn't planning on company that night.



I seared 2 fillets Alton Brown's way: in a nonstick skillet with some kosher salt, pepper and olive oil. 2 minutes on each side. Nothing else needed.
Taste the freshness........straight forward and wow.

With the other half of the big fish I decided on gravlax, which is what the Swedes call cured salmon.

Here is the method I used:

In a 9 x 13 Pyrex glass dish, lay your salmon (about 1-2 lbs) with skin side down.



Sprinkle with 1/4 cup of kosher salt, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, a few turns of black pepper, and the zest of 1 orange.



Pat this mixture all over the fish to coat, pressing down with your hands.

Sprinkle the salmon with 1 cup of fresh chopped dill.



Cover with plastic wrap tightly and place another heavy dish inside the Pyrex dish to weigh the fish down.



I added some cans to the second dish to make it extra heavy.



Place in the fridge. You want to keep it there for a total of 48 hours.

After the first 24 hours, check on the fish (make sure he is still dead) and drain the liquid out of the glass dish.
Put back in the refrigerator for another 24 hours.

After a total of 48 hours in the fridge, you are ready to serve.
Rinse the fish off under cold water and pat dry.



Slice on the diagonal and serve.



I served the gravlax with a cucumber salad made w/ thinly sliced cucumbers, sour cream, dill and lemon juice.



This was a wonderful Sunday breakfast with brown bread.

Thank you Miss Dana for the BETTER THAN JEWELRY treat!
xxoo