Smoked Salmon Dip

This is a great way to finish up any leftover home-smoked salmon you have, if you have any left over, that is.  Purchased smoked salmon works too!

Smoked Salmon Dip

2 cups shredded smoked salmon
1/4 cup finely minced red onion or shallot
Juice of 2 lemons
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup creme fraiche or sour cream
Tabasco sauce to taste

Mix all ingredients until well combined.  Smoked salmon is very salty, so no need to add extra salt. 

Serve with sliced baguettes, crackers, or veggie sticks.  This dip is even better after it's been refrigerated for a couple of hours to let the flavors meld. 

In the photo at the top of this post, the smoked salmon dip is served on flatbread crackers from Central Market, and sprinkled with a little Green Goddess dressing mix from Penzey's.

Smoked Salmon Recipe

Don't you love Alton Brown's show Good Eats on the Food Network?  He reaches out to my inner food geek with his brilliant analysis and explanations of the chemistry of food.  We recently tried his recipe for smoked salmon, and it's terrific.  It's sort of like a cross between the smoked salmon you get in the supermarket, which isn't truly smoked, but is actually cured, and warm smoked salmon that you make at home in your backyard smoker.

This should be made with salmon fillets with the skins on.  We purchased some beautiful salmon to prepare this recipe and didn't realize until we unpackaged it at home that it didn't have the skin.  I recommend using salmon with skin, or if you use skinless salmon reduce the amount of salt/sugar/peppercorn rub significantly because skinless salmon absorbs so much more of the rub.

So from Alton Brown's Good Eats on the Food Network, here's the recipe:

Smoked Salmon

Ingredients
1 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon crushed black peppercorns
2 large salmon fillets or sides, pin bones removed

Directions
In a bowl, mix together salt, sugar, brown sugar, and peppercorns.  Spread extra-wide aluminum foil a little longer than the length of the fish and top with an equally long layer of plastic wrap.  Sprinkle 1/3 of the rub onto the plastic.  Lay 1 side of the fish skin down onto the rub.  Sprinkle 1/3 of the rub onto the flesh of the salmon.  Place second side of salmon, flesh down, onto the first side.  Use the remaining rub to cover the skin on the top piece.  Fold plastic over to cover, then close edges of foil together and crimp tightly around the fish.

Place wrapped fish onto a plank or sheet pan and top with another plank or pan.  Weight with a heavy phone book or a brick or two and refrigerate for 12 hours.  Flip the fish over and refrigerate another 12 hours.  Some juice will leak out during the process, so make sure there's a place for the runoff to gather.

Unwrap fish and rinse off the cure with cold water.  Pat salmon with paper towels, then place in a cool, dry place (not thre refrigerator) until the surface of the fish is dry and matte-like, 1 to 3 hours depending on humidity.  A fan may be used to speed the process.

Smoke fish over smoldering hardwood chips or sawdust, keeping the temperature inside the smoker between 150 degrees F and 160 degrees F until the thickest part of the fish registers 150 degrees.  Serve immediately or cool to room temperature, wrap tightly, and refrigerate for up to 3 days.

Serve with the traditional salmon accoutrements:  creme fraiche or sour cream, capers, diced hardboiled egg, diced red onion, fresh dill, thin lemon slices.

If you have any left over after a day or two, make smoked salmon dip.  That recipe is next.

Oven "Fried" Salmon With Meyer Lemon Reduction, Buttermilk Creamed Potatoes, and Asparagus With Meyer Lemon and Texas Red Grapefruit Hollandaise

This was our dinner Friday night.  It's a bit more ambitious than my usual quick and easy cooking, but well worth the effort.

For the fish:
I intended to use trout for this dish, but evidently I had some miscommunication with the fishmonger and ended up with salmon.  Oh, well, it's all good!

Leave the skin on the fish.  Portion your fish into even serving-size pieces.  Rinse and pat dry.  Set up a breading station.  First bowl, flour with plenty of salt and freshly ground pepper.  Second bowl, one egg beaten with a splash of water.  Third bowl, panko crumbs mixed with freshly chopped dill and parsley (citrus zest would be good in this too).

Hold fish with skin side up, dip in flour, covering all sides except the skin.  Then dip in the egg mixture, covering all sides except the skin, and allow the excess to drip off.  Dip in the panko mixture, covering all sides except the skin, pressing lightly to coat the fish well.  Place the fish skin side down in a cast iron skillet coated with olive oil.  Give the panko-coated fish a light spritz of olive oil with a Misto sprayer or Pam olive oil spray.  Bake at 400 until fish is flaky.  Time will vary greatly depending on type and size of fish.

For the Meyer lemon reduction:
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup shallots, fine dice
1/4 cup fresh squeezed Meyer lemon juice
1 cup chardonnay
1 cube Knorr chicken bouillon

Melt butter in skillet over medium heat, add shallots and saute until soft.  Add lemon juice, chardonnay, and bouillon cube.  Increase temperature to medium-high.  Stir until bouillon dissolves.  Cook at a low boil, stirring frequently, until sauce is reduced to a thick consistency.

For the creamed potatoes:
Scrub Yukon Gold potatoes and cut into thick slices.  Put potatoes in large saucepan and cover with water by 1 or 2 inches.  Add a tablespoon of salt.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cook at a low boil until potatoes are soft all the way through.  Drain, cool slighly, and remove skins.

Over low heat mash potatoes with potato masher and add butter, buttermilk, mayonnaise, and freshly ground black pepper to taste.  A little buttermilk ranch dressing mix or green goddess dressing mix is a perfect seasoning for these potatoes.  I love the ones from Penzey's.

Use an immersion stick blender to process the potatoes until smooth and creamy.  For a pretty presentation, spoon into a heavy duty plastic bag, snip off a corner, and pipe onto plate.  Garnish with chopped fresh parsley and dill.

For the asparagus:
Rinse asparagus, trim the ends.  In a skillet simmer 2 inches of water with a healthy sprinkle of salt and a big squeeze of lemon juice.  Add asparagus in a single layer and simmer until crisp-tender.  Remove asparagus and shock in cold water to maintain the bright green color.

For the Hollandaise:
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed Meyer lemon juice
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
pinch salt
pinch cayenne

Vigorously whisk lemon juice and egg yolks together in stainless steel bowl until thickened and doubled in volume.  Place bowl over saucepan of barely simmering water.  The water shouldn't touch the bottom of the bowl.  Don't let the eggs get too hot or they'll scramble.  Continue to whisk egg/lemon mixture rapidly while slowly drizzling in the melted butter.  Whisk until sauce is thickened and doubled in volume.  Remove from heat, whisk in salt and cayenne.

I whisked in a big squeeze of Texas ruby red grapefruit juice to the finished mixture.  Next time I plan to make the Hollandaise with all grapefruit juice instead of Meyer lemon juice.  There's a Gordon Ramsay recipe for Hollandaise made with grapefruit juice and olive oil that sounds interesting to try.