125 replies to this topic

[David Ross]

After 4 days of drying at room temperature, I brushed the filets with a mixture of 3/4 cup clover honey and 1/4 cup water. The maple syrup and brown sugar in the brine sweeten the meat of the salmon, and the honey is the "candy" glaze-


Close-up shot of the brined, dried and glazed salmon on the rack ready for smoking-




And into the smoker-

[Peter the eater]

Beautiful fish, David. This is my kinda Cook-Off.

I'll add some easily pickled smelt from last month:

Attached Images

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[David Ross]

Beautiful fish, David. This is my kinda Cook-Off.

I'll add some easily pickled smelt from last month:

Thanks for adding the smelt to our Cook-Off. I remember the annual runs of smelt on the Columbia River. We could get them by the bucketful. I only remember frying them or smoking them. Tell us about the recipe for the pickling brine.

[David Ross]

Here again are some shots of the interior of my Bradley Smoker-


The smoker is large enough that I can hang whole trout, small fish and about an 8lb. salmon secured from the top rack or I can just let the flish lay flat on top of the racks.

The drip pan on the bottom of the smoker. Water in the drip pan creates steam in the smoker and acts as an extinguisher of a used bisquette as it advances forward-




I smoked the Indian Candy filets over alderwood at a temperature of 140 for about 5 hours. Trust me, I haven't gotten to the point where I'm fully confident with the temperatures or smoking times with this new contraption, so I wanted to start gently, test the finished salmon and then refine the technique next time. In the end, the Indian Candy turned out to the have just the right balance of smoke yet it wasn't over-cooked.

[David Ross]

The finished Indian Candy. Smoked Salmon unlike any other you've ever tasted-




Now I'm on the search for some other sea creatures to cure and I'll be using the vacuum-sealing technique we've been discussing.

[Belgian Blue]

I spread the salt/sugar mixture on the meat side of 1 fillet and vacuum packed.

Thank you very much - I'll try it your way next time and report back.

David,

I second that - a really helpful tutorial.

Followed the 'Uncork'd' link - WOW! - I got lost for hours in unbelievably wonderful food, but I still think your risotto is a VERY beautiful dish. With some courage, I might try to re-create it.

BB

[David Ross]

Thanks, it was a very good risotto. Different due to the addition of whipped cream and pea puree, and less than the usual amount of parmesan. It's more creamy and has more loft than most risotto's. And it went really well with the smoked halibut cheeks. I think it would go well with any fish actually.

[scubadoo97]

Wow! David the salmon looks translucent, like hard red candy. I'm I seeing that correctly? Now viewing this on my wide screen and not my iphone it looks amazing.

[David Ross]

Wow! David the salmon looks translucent, like hard red candy. I'm I seeing that correctly? Now viewing this on my wide screen and not my iphone it looks amazing.

Yes, you're seeing it clearly. It's nearly translucent like a hard, red Jolly Rancher piece of candy. It's really an amazing transformation from salmon to Indian Candy.

[David Ross]

Tonight I tried another dish using the Smoked Halibut Cheeks--and quite different from the dish with the Spring Pea Risotto. This time I went for a dish marrying the influences of the Northwest and Asia in a Ramen Noodle Dish.

I started the broth by rehydrating some dried shitake mushrooms in boiling water to make a mushroom broth. Strained out the mushrooms and sliced them for the finished soup. Then into the mushroom broth went prepared dashi stock mix and dried nori seaweed, fresh grated ginger, a couple of dried chilies and then some Lapsang Souchong black Chinese tea. It's a very earthy, smokey tea that I thought would accent the smokiness of the Halibut Cheeks. The broth was simmered for about 30 minutes then strained.

Into the finished broth went dried ramen noodles, the sliced mushrooms, sliced pickled radish, julienned carrot, asparagus and green onions. I quickly grilled the Halibut Cheek on the stovetop and added it to the ramen soup. Delicious flavors all accenting the smokiness of the Halibut.

Smoked Halibut Cheek in Ramen-


I've never tried smoked fish in a soup before this Cook-Off. Now I'm hooked.

[Peter the eater]

Beautiful fish, David. This is my kinda Cook-Off.

I'll add some easily pickled smelt from last month:

Thanks for adding the smelt to our Cook-Off. I remember the annual runs of smelt on the Columbia River. We could get them by the bucketful. I only remember frying them or smoking them. Tell us about the recipe for the pickling brine.

Those smelt were salted overnight in the refrigerator. Pickling brine was poured onto them whilst in the jar, basically apple cider vinegar with thyme. After a few days we ate them on rye toast with cream cheese. I think the recipe comes from a friend's Ukranian Babooshka.

[David Ross]

Thanks for the recipe. I'll be trying it as soon as I can get some smelt.

[Belgian Blue]

At the risk of sounding distinctly syncophantic here David, that soup looks delicious - thank you for giving the ingredients. Love the look of it and the way all the elements look clean, fresh, separate and just tantalising.

BB

[Belgian Blue]

Thanks, it was a very good risotto. Different due to the addition of whipped cream and pea puree, and less than the usual amount of parmesan. It's more creamy and has more loft than most risotto's. And it went really well with the smoked halibut cheeks. I think it would go well with any fish actually.

David, would it be indiscreet, or incorrect given the title of the thread, to ask if you also used a stock for the pea puree? I ask because 1. this dish has really got to me and 2. the base liquid for the risotto is chicken stock and the majority of pea purée recipes I see use chicken stock also, although I did see one recipe which uses no stock at all - just butter, some echalotte and the peas.

I remain curious and hopeful.

Thank you,

BB

[David Ross]

Thanks, it was a very good risotto. Different due to the addition of whipped cream and pea puree, and less than the usual amount of parmesan. It's more creamy and has more loft than most risotto's. And it went really well with the smoked halibut cheeks. I think it would go well with any fish actually.

David, would it be indiscreet, or incorrect given the title of the thread, to ask if you also used a stock for the pea puree? I ask because 1. this dish has really got to me and 2. the base liquid for the risotto is chicken stock and the majority of pea purée recipes I see use chicken stock also, although I did see one recipe which uses no stock at all - just butter, some echalotte and the peas.

I remain curious and hopeful.

Thank you,

BB

I think it's totally appropriate to share the Risotto recipe in this Cook-Off. Some of our Cook-Off's are "dish" driven like Hash. In that Cook-Off we discussed what goes into the dish. But in the case of this Cook-Off it's more "ingredient" driven aside from the technical aspects of curing, brining, smoking and salting fish. Having said that, this is the perfect format to discuss how we would use smoked fish in a dish, and I think that the creamy, sometimes earthy flavors of Risotto are a wonderful match to our specially cured seafood.

This is Chef Alex Stratta's recipe that we did at the Uncork'd interactive luncheon. Chef says this recipe serves 6, but I think it would be pretty large portions for 6 with these quantities. The key to the flavor is the pea puree, but I also added whole peas. And yes, there is the addition of chicken stock--in the Risotto itself and then a rich chicken jus is poured on as a garnish.

Sweet Pea Risotto with Wild Mushrooms-
6 servings

3 cups Vialone Nano rice
1 cup white onion, finely diced
3 tbsp. butter
1 3/4 cups dry white wine
10 cups white chicken stock
4 tbsp. pea puree
6 tbsp. butter
3/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
4 tbsp. whipped cream
salt and pepper

Pea Puree-
4 cups fresh peas, peeled and shucked
salt and pepper

Blanch the peas until tender in salted boiling water and chill in an ice bath. Puree in a food processor until smooth and pass the mixture through a tamis, (or mesh sieve). The mixture should be silky and smooth.

Mushrooms-
2 cups fresh morels
1 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. butter
1 tbsp. chopped Italian parsley

Clean, pare and rinse the mushrooms well. Cut them into the same size and heat the olive oil in a havey pan over high heat. Allow the oil to get smoking hot and add the drained mushrooms. Saute briefly and add the butter and cook for one minute over high heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Season and finish with the parsley. (Chef says to serve the mushrooms on top of the Risotto, I stir them into the Risotto with bacon).

Risotto-
Pour chicken stock in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. In another heavy saucepan, melt the first 3 tbsp. of butter over low heat and add the onion and season slightly with salt. Sweat onions at low heat for approximately 8-10 minutes or until soft and transluscent. Deglaze with the white wine.

Add the rice and coat well with the butter and onion mixture. Season again and turn the heat to medium. Stir the rice until it begins to crackle. At this point, add the white wine and bring to a simmer. Stir the rice until all of the liquid is evaporated.

Add enough stock to cover the rice and continue to stir until all the liquid is again evaporated. Repeat steps four more times.

The final "wetting" should not reduce all the way to dry. At this point, the rice should be slightly al dente loose and creamy. Add the grated cheese, pea puree, 6 tbsp. butter and whe whipped cream. (Chef describes it at this stage as a pudding-like Risotto).

Garnish-
1/2 cup roasted chicken jus
12 shards Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
4 tbsp. Manni Per Mio Figlio olive oil
2 tbsp. fresh pea shoots

Spoon the Risotto in the center of a warm bowl and garnish with the mushrooms in the center. Drizzle around with the roasted chicken jus and the olive oil. Finish with the shavings of cheese and pea shoots.

[David Ross]

I've got some beautiful Sea Scallops. Anyone out there have a method for brining and smoking scallops?

[Shelby]

I'm loving this topic.

I have ZERO experience in curing fish except for making ceviche. My husband went walleye fishing on Saturday and brought home a huge catch. It includes some white bass. I happen to have a bunch of limes that need using up, so I'm going to contribute to this thread this afternoon (as soon as I'm done planting some tomatoes etc. in my garden).

David, I'm in awe/love of your Bradley smoker. We (and I use we verrrry lightly lol because my husband does all of the meat smoking) have a run-of-the-mill Brinkman smoker. It does fine and I'm pretty sure that it's the only type of smoker my husband has ever used. I'd like to get one like you have and branch out a bit. I'm wondering if they make smaller versions or if the size you have is what we would want. We are a 2 person family and we don't smoke a huge amount at a time. I have a feeling I would have a hard time convincing my husband to go for an electric smoker, so I gotta do research to re-butt any arguments lol. Also, and this might be a stupid question, do you leave your smoker outdoors at all times?

[Panaderia Canadiense]

I've got some beautiful Sea Scallops. Anyone out there have a method for brining and smoking scallops?

David, this is where the ceviche techniques are going to come into play. I'd do a lime and hot pepper 24-36 hour cure on them, then smoke over something quite strong, hickory maybe, for another 5-6 hours. Scallops done this way are amazing all on their lonesomes, or pan-seared to heat 'em up, with butter sauteed asparagus....

[Belgian Blue]

Wonderful - thank you very much David for the recipe David.
I'm really looking forward to trying it.

Great thread in general and Panaderia Canadensis' suggestion for the scallops looks interesting too.

BB

[David Ross]

I'm loving this topic.

I have ZERO experience in curing fish except for making ceviche. My husband went walleye fishing on Saturday and brought home a huge catch. It includes some white bass. I happen to have a bunch of limes that need using up, so I'm going to contribute to this thread this afternoon (as soon as I'm done planting some tomatoes etc. in my garden).

David, I'm in awe/love of your Bradley smoker. We (and I use we verrrry lightly lol because my husband does all of the meat smoking) have a run-of-the-mill Brinkman smoker. It does fine and I'm pretty sure that it's the only type of smoker my husband has ever used. I'd like to get one like you have and branch out a bit. I'm wondering if they make smaller versions or if the size you have is what we would want. We are a 2 person family and we don't smoke a huge amount at a time. I have a feeling I would have a hard time convincing my husband to go for an electric smoker, so I gotta do research to re-butt any arguments lol. Also, and this might be a stupid question, do you leave your smoker outdoors at all times?

I have the Bradley 6-rack digital smoker. They make a basic electric model without the digital controls that comes in a 4-rack and 6-rack version. It's probably about $100 cheaper than the unit I have.

No, I don't leave it outside. They do have a cover you can buy to protect the smoker from the weather, but I keep mine in the garage. One side of my backyard isn't fenced and I'm too much of a worry-wart to let it sit on the patio without thinking someone is going to haul it away. I keep it on a furniture dolly in the garage so all I have to do is wheel it out to the patio when I'm ready to do some smoking. That way I can keep my eye on both the smoker and what's inside.

[David Ross]

I've got some beautiful Sea Scallops. Anyone out there have a method for brining and smoking scallops?

David, this is where the ceviche techniques are going to come into play. I'd do a lime and hot pepper 24-36 hour cure on them, then smoke over something quite strong, hickory maybe, for another 5-6 hours. Scallops done this way are amazing all on their lonesomes, or pan-seared to heat 'em up, with butter sauteed asparagus....

Thanks for the tips. I'm going to try it Friday.

[Shelby]

I'll never forget the first time I was introduced to ceviche. I was in 3rd or 4th grade and living in a tiny town up in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. My friend's mom--I'll call her Mrs. F--made a huge bowl of it. I couldn't tell you what kinds of fish she used, all I can tell you is I was wowed by the flavors. Spicy, cool, crunchy, salty.

It was very exotic and fresh to me.

To my friend it was like "Aw, mom, ceviche again???"

I thought it was so cool that the fish "cooked" in the lime juice.


I still think it's cool.


Mrs. F also introduced me to prosciutto wrapped melon...but that's a story for another time.



Freshly caught walleye and white bass filets:



Marinating in fresh lime juice (don't use the bottled kind, it just doesn't taste right):




After marinating for a little over 4 hours:



You can tell the meat is whiter and looks "cooked". I've seen recipes that range from leaving the fish in lime juice for 20 minutes to over night. I don't like leaving it over night...it's too limey and cooked for my taste.

The rest of the ingredients:





The ultimate best time for me to make ceviche is when the tomatoes are ready in my garden. What a difference a Kansas, garden fresh tomato makes! Sometimes in the winter I'll crack open a jar of my canned tomatoes, but since all my tomatoes burned up last summer, my 3 jars are precious commodities. So, I made do with a yucky store bought tomato and some Hell On The Red salsa (the best store brand, imo) Anyway, along with that we have celery, jalapeno, green onion,(I like to use red onion the best, but I was out)black olives, green olives and fresh cilantro from my garden that survived over the winter. OH and not pictured, a few squirts of Sriracha hot sauce because the jalapenos were not spicy at all, unfortunately. Salt and pepper to taste. Add some tortilla chips, and you're good to go!

[David Ross]

I think Walleye would be delicious smoked.

[Panaderia Canadiense]

Walley is delicious smoked - as any northern Albertan worth their salt will tell you. The best stuff (above even what you smoke yourself) comes from the Driftwood First Nations, who still smoke it the traditional way: in a dedicated smoking teepee over birchwood.

[foodperestroika]

Here's my recipe for cured lake trout roe. And since you probably want to do something with the trout itself, I'm adding a recipe for vodka-cured lake trout.



Cured lake trout roe
Yields 8 oz

8 oz lake trout roe, still in its sac (called skein)
about 0.35 oz (10 g) salt (see below)
1/8 tsp (0.75 g) curing salt
2/3 tsp (2 g) canola oil

Place the roe on a cooling rack over a bowl, and rub gently to separate the eggs from the membrane (see picture below). Rinse the eggs with cold water and strain. Weigh the roe and return to a dry bowl.
Weigh 4.5 % of the roe weight in salt, then mix with the curing salt and sprinkle over the roe. Gently mix with a spatula, add the oil and mix again. Transfer to a plastic container and refrigerate for at least 1 day, stirring every 12 hours or so.



Vodka-cured lake trout
Yields about 6 servings

1 oz salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 1/2 oz sugar
4 oz light olive oil
4 oz vodka
1 large trout fillet, skinless (about 16 oz when cleaned)

In a blender, mix the salt, pepper, sugar, olive oil and vodka. Place the trout and the curing mix into a plastic pouch, and refrigerate for 48 hours. Flip every 12 hours, making sure the fish remains completely coated in the liquid.
Take the fillet out of the pouch, rinse under cold water and pat dry. Slice very thinly and serve.

[David Ross]

Here's my recipe for cured lake trout roe. And since you probably want to do something with the trout itself, I'm adding a recipe for vodka-cured lake trout.



Cured lake trout roe
Yields 8 oz

8 oz lake trout roe, still in its sac (called skein)
about 0.35 oz (10 g) salt (see below)
1/8 tsp (0.75 g) curing salt
2/3 tsp (2 g) canola oil

Place the roe on a cooling rack over a bowl, and rub gently to separate the eggs from the membrane (see picture below). Rinse the eggs with cold water and strain. Weigh the roe and return to a dry bowl.
Weigh 4.5 % of the roe weight in salt, then mix with the curing salt and sprinkle over the roe. Gently mix with a spatula, add the oil and mix again. Transfer to a plastic container and refrigerate for at least 1 day, stirring every 12 hours or so.



Vodka-cured lake trout
Yields about 6 servings

1 oz salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 1/2 oz sugar
4 oz light olive oil
4 oz vodka
1 large trout fillet, skinless (about 16 oz when cleaned)

In a blender, mix the salt, pepper, sugar, olive oil and vodka. Place the trout and the curing mix into a plastic pouch, and refrigerate for 48 hours. Flip every 12 hours, making sure the fish remains completely coated in the liquid.
Take the fillet out of the pouch, rinse under cold water and pat dry. Slice very thinly and serve.

That roe looks absolutely fabulous. Truly what one calls "local" cuisine.

[Belgian Blue]

I admit to being curious about the oil in the recipe.
What role does oil have in the cure please?

On the previous part of the post about dry curing salmon (not brining), can anyone tell me how long they freeze the salmon to kill potential parasites, before defrosting and starting the curing process? There appears to be a host of conflicting information on the net about this subject, from 24h after freezing to the core at -20°c to a whopping 7 days at the same core temperature.

Would be very interested to hear what other posters who home (dry) cure their fish - without further hot smoking - do.

BB

Edited by Belgian Blue, 27 April 2012 - 03:57 PM.

[Shalmanese]

I admit to being curious about the oil in the recipe.
What role does oil have in the cure please?

On the previous part of the post about dry curing salmon (not brining), can anyone tell me how long they freeze the salmon to kill potential parasites, before defrosting and starting the curing process? There appears to be a host of conflicting information on the net about this subject, from 24h after freezing to the core at -20°c to a whopping 7 days at the same core temperature.

Would be very interested to hear what other posters who home (dry) cure their fish - without further hot smoking - do.

BB

Doing some quick googling, it appears the guidelines are -20C for 7 days or -35C for 24 hours if served fresh, -20C for 24 hours if served lightly cured.

[rarerollingobject]

Loving this thread! That Indian Candy is mouthwatering.

In a similar colour palette: Beetroot Cured Salmon. This is something I make fairly often (I did it on my eG foodblog!) and this thread jolted me into making it again.

A piece of salmon; tail today.


And the cure; for a 250g piece of salmon, I use 25g of salt, 25g of sugar, a tablespoon of vodka, some white pepper and a grated beetroot.


Packed onto the salmon fillet and wrapped in plastic, and weighted before putting in the fridge:



Results tomorrow!

[David Ross]

Does the beet add just color or both color and flavor?