Miso-Cured Salmon Sous-Vide

Curing fish improves its texture for cooking sous-vide, and this miso cure also adds flavor. This recipe is often prepared with black cod, a type of fish that is not available here. I prepared it with salmon instead, and it … Continue reading Miso-Cured Salmon Sous-Vide

Homemade Gravlax

Stéphane Gabart has beautiful photograph on his blog My French Heaven, and the recipes he shares with us are both simple and delicious. His post on gravlax inspired me to try this for myself. Gravlax or gravad laks is salmon cured with salt and sugar. This used to be a method to preserve salmon, and nowadays it is still prepared for its nice flavor. The name actually means “buried salmon” in Scandiavian languages, as the salmon used to be buried on the beach to preserve it.

Gravad lax tastes similar to smoked salmon, except that it’s not smoked. It is very easy to make your own, which will certainly impress your friends. All you need is sushi grade salmon and some patience. Continue reading “Homemade Gravlax”

Ancho Chile Salmon with Chinese Cabbage

After trying Richard’s Ancho Chile Rub on tuna, I also wanted to try it on salmon. Combined with some Chinese cabbage prepared with fish sauce, soy sauce, and shichimi togarisahi, this makes for a dish with a small number of ingredients that is simple to prepare, but has a lot of flavor and is healthy. We both loved this. The only thing I will change next time is to add a few wedges of lime, which I didn’t have but I think will add a nice bit of freshness to the earthy flavors. Continue reading “Ancho Chile Salmon with Chinese Cabbage”

Smoked Salmon and Sous-Vide Egg Yolk Crostini

When I started my blog, it was an easy decision that it would be in English. Almost all of my fellow Dutchmen can read English well, and it would greatly enhance the number of possible readers worldwide. As a side effect I now have blogging buddies from Dublin, Chicago, Dallas–Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Northern California, Rome, London, Adelaide, Colorado, Northern Canada, Seattle, Saint Emilion, etc. but none from my own country. I do have Dutch readers (about 8%, in third place after the USA and the UK) and a lot of them are friends that I already know in real life.

No matter how much fun it is to exchange our recipes, photos, successes, failures and ideas with my blogging buddies, an important aspect is missing from such online friendships: cooking and eating together! This is impractical because of the distances involved, but luckily it has happened and if it’s up to me it will undoubtedly happen again.

Why am I telling you all this and what does it have to do with smoked salmon and sous-vide egg yolk crostini? I’m getting to that. Continue reading “Smoked Salmon and Sous-Vide Egg Yolk Crostini”

Sous-vide Salmon-Pesto Roulade with Haricots Verts

The inspiration for this dish was provided by Richard McGary’s Salmon Roulade with Cilantro Citrus Pesto on Mango Corn Salsa, but it is quite different. A salmon fillet is butterflied, filled with a basil-lemon pesto, rolled up into a roulade, cooked sous-vide, and cut into slices that are served on haricots verts. Salmon cooked sous-vide to 43C/109F is amazingly velvety, which contrasts nicely with the crispy haricots verts. The round buttery flavor of the salmon is complemented by the fresh taste of the basil-lemon pesto. Continue reading “Sous-vide Salmon-Pesto Roulade with Haricots Verts”

Simple Succulent Salmon

It is amazing how good the most simple dishes can be. The only thing you need for this is fresh salmon, farmed is fine, and a digital instant-read thermometer with a probe. The salmon is cooked to medium rare in the oven and will be so tender and succulent that you can eat it with a spoon. You can serve the salmon with your preferred sides, fresh herbs, or sauce, but it’s good enough by itself. This is so easy that anyone can do it. Please give this a try, you will be amazed! Ingredients Fresh (not frozen) salmon fillet, … Continue reading Simple Succulent Salmon

Ravioli al Salmone Affumicato (Ravioli with Smoked Salmon)

I thought it would be nice to hot-smoke a piece of salmon, make fresh ricotta, make home-made ravioli and serve it with a pink sauce. Turned out I was right, as it was delicious. For an easier version you could buy the smoked salmon (either hot-smoked or cold-smoked will work) and the ricotta, but it will be tastier, more rewarding as well as more fun to do it yourself… Ingredients For 16 ravioli (3 servings as part of a larger menu) 125 grams (1/4 pound) fresh salmon fillet, preferably with skin as that is easier to handle (substitute with store … Continue reading Ravioli al Salmone Affumicato (Ravioli with Smoked Salmon)

M&M’s Ginger Glazed Salmon

Fellow food blogger Meatballs & Milkshakes is a good source for reliable recipes. And so I was intrigued a while ago when I saw a recipe for Ginger Glazed Salmon that she called her favorite salmon recipe, and is basically salmon teriyaki with the addition of ginger and sake substituted by red (?!) wine. But since I trust M&M I decided to give it a try anyway and I was glad I did, because it was great! Not only is the sauce very good, also the way of cooking the salmon medium rare in a low oven is given sous-vide … Continue reading M&M’s Ginger Glazed Salmon

Spaghetti ‘Salmonara’

This is not an authentic dish, but my own invention. It is a fish version of the well-known spaghetti alla carbonara that uses smoked salmon and red onion instead of pancetta or guanciale. Just like real carbonara, the ‘sauce’ is raw egg that is only cooked slightly by the heat from the pasta. It only takes as long as it takes to cook the spaghetti. This dish is quick, easy, tasty, and healthy thanks to the omega-3 fatty acids in the salmon. Ingredients For 2 servings 200 grams (7 oz) spaghetti 250 grams (9 oz) smoked salmon 1 red onion, chopped … Continue reading Spaghetti ‘Salmonara’

Hot-smoked Salmon

A stovetop smoker is a great tool to have. It allows you to turn a piece of salmon fillet into wonderful hot-smoked salmon in only 20 minutes without any effort or skill. This is one of the course I served during the recent dinner on our boat. The recipe is as simple as it is delicious. You can do the same for other types of fish such as halibut. Using an instant-read thermometer ensures that the fish will always be perfectly cooked and never too dry (if you don’t use frozen fish). Hot-smoked salmon is very different from cold-smoked salmon, … Continue reading Hot-smoked Salmon