Salmon Two Ways

It started with a 1.75lb side of gorgeous wild salmon bought at Costco. The next obvious question was "What are two of us going to do with nearly 2lbs of salmon??"

I cut off about 1/2 lb and marinated it in a mixture of garlic, shallot, wine, fish sauce and cilantro. Since Mother Nature wasn’t going to allow us to fire up the barbeque, I baked it for a mere 14 minutes at 425°F. Perfection!

The rest of it became Gravlax. If you’ve never had gravlax, it’s salmon, cold cured with salt, sugar, pepper, dill and usually some sort of alcohol; vodka in this case. (The final result is reminiscent of lox.) I’d made gravlax once before while I was in culinary school and frankly, I could not remember the outcome!

We placed a container of pin balls on top of the salmon to weigh it down (pie weights, a brick or cans of tomatoes will work, too), turned the salmon every 12 hours and waited with anticipation. 48 hours later, when the moisture has been drawn out and the flavors developed, it was time to taste it. Drum roll, please…

SUCCESS! Sliced thin and place on crackers, topped with a Mustard Dill Sauce (see below), the salmon had been transformed into a beautiful, tender, subtly dilly masterpiece. A melt-in-your-mouth experience.

What did these two dishes have in common? Other than the salmon, wise-guy. The Mustard Dill Sauce, which, I believe could make just about ANYTHING delicious. Chicken, shrimp, asparagus, broccoli… and for the sake of your dinner table, I’m sharing that recipe with you:


Mustard Dill Sauce

1-1/2 Tbs white wine vinegar
1-3/4 Tbs sugar
1/2 cup olive oil
5-6 Tbs Dijon mustard
1 Tbs dill, chopped
1 heaping Tbs ground white pepper

Whisk the vinegar and sugar together in a small mixing bowl until the sugar has dissolved.
Slowly add olive oil, whisking well until all the oil is incorporated.
Whisk in the mustard until the mixture has emulsified.
Add in chopped dill and season with the white pepper.
Cover and refrigerate until needed.