Smoked Salmon (Lox)

Last Christmas was to be our first one as a family of three waking up in our home on Christmas morning. We spent a great deal of time planning the day's menu, which starred a rabbit guazzetto upon polenta studded with taleggio for Christmas dinner. But the Christmas breakfast was to consist of homemade seeded rye bagels with smoked salmon that we would cure and smoke ourselves.

You see, last spring, Matt built a cold-smoker. I laughed at him when he explained the contraption he was rigging up using a Weber Smokey Joe and a bargain-basement domed smoker and a dryer vent tube. In fact, I laughed a lot. That was wrong of me. Very wrong. For the grand total of about $20 in parts, we had a cold smoker. Throughout the spring, summer and fall, Matt smoked cheeses, nuts, and lots of grains for brewing beer. As the weather became colder, we turned our eyes to cold smoking some salmon for our Christmas breakfast spread.

First some terminology clarification was in order when I started my research. Lox (often called Nova Lox), Gravlax, Smoked Salmon- what's the difference? Lox and Gravlax are both cured salmon. The Swedes do Gravlax with a particular spicing including juniper berries and dill and is unsmoked. Lox is cured, then cold-smoked. You can hot-smoke salmon of course, but you will get an entirely different product that way- it's cooked salmon with the wonderful smoky flavor of your hardwood of choice- but is not particularly well suited for application upon a bagel.

After researching the bejesus out of various lox recipes, some that called for ridiculous processes and precious little salt (curing is preserving here folks, you need more than a 1/4 cup of salt for a pound of salmon!)...I called my best friend and chef genius Kiran. His advice, combined with my real-life-not-a-commercial-kitchen-with-a-prep-cook-situation (I do have a drunk monkey toddler wandering through my kitchen on the regular) along with what I had already learned from my weeks of recipe scouring created the process and recipe I offer here.

Is it traditional? No, not really.

Does it take 3 days? Yes, but you're not really actively doing much to it. (Don't be deterred by the many steps listed below, I've been thorough in describing the steps, but nothing is terribly complicated)

Is it ridiculously scrumptious, silky, properly seasoned, and worthy of a holiday breakfast or brunch? You bet your bippy it is.

It should go without saying that the better quality salmon you start with, the better quality lox you will end up with. It should perhaps also go without saying, that you also want quality fish for safety reasons. Also, for food safety, you should only cold smoke fish if you can maintain an ambient temperature of below freezing. Which although it is April in New England- we're still able to achieve that by smoking at night. This will probably (hopefully?!) be the last cold smoke of fish until next fall for us.

***No cold smoker, weather already too warm even at night to cold smoke fish, or don't want to wait until next winter? Follow recipe up through rinsing and drying step and then let sit in fridge for about a day before slicing and eating. Will still be very tasty!***

Ingredients:

• 2 TBS fennel seed
• 3 whole star anise
• 1.5 TBS cumin seed
• 1/2 TBS black peppercorns
• 2 pounds kosher salt
• 1 pound granulated white sugar
• 2 pound filet of salmon (you will want to buy a filet that weighs a 1/4-1/2 pound over 2 pounds, because you will trim off the side to make a more uniform piece- see photo below- I use the trimmed piece to make salmon cakes)

Instructions:

• Place fennel seed, star anise, cumin seed and peppercorns in a coffee grinder and buzz a few times into seeds are cracked and broken up, but do not grind too much. You want bits and pieces, not powder. You can also do this st with a mortar and pestle, it's just much faster with a grinder.
• In a large bowl combine the broken/cracked spices, salt and sugar and mix well.
• Lay out your salmon filet on the board and trim away the side piece that fans out, so you have a filet of more uniform thickness all around, a solid rectangle.
  

• Prepare a half sheet pan in the following way:
• Lay out one long piece of plastic wrap lengthwise, and two pieces of plastic wrap going the other way, making a sling.
• Lay a rectangle of parchment paper atop plastic wrap sling.
• Pour a bed of the salt mixture (more than a third, less than half) on parchment paper.
• Place salmon filet, skin side down on salt mixture.
  

• Pour remaining salt mixture atop salmon, covering evenly.
  

• Tightly pull plastic wrap sling around the salt covered filet, first one way then the other
• Wrap two more pieces of plastic wrap, one each way, again pulling tightly. Place salmon back onto sheet pan, skin side/parchment side down.
  

• Place a second sheet pan atop the tightly wrapped salmon, placing weight atop the second sheet pan, and place whole contraption in fridge. (I used a few cans of tomatoes and a stoneware baker as weights, but anything heavy that distributes weight evenly over whole filet will do.)
  

• 24 hours later, flip salmon over, replace weights
• 24 hours later again (total 48 hours of curing), open package up over sheet pan for easy clean up and remove salmon from cure. The salmon will have shrunken some, and be very firm to the touch.
• Under cold water, gently rinse salt mixture away from salmon's flesh and skin (there will likely be a few pieces of the cracked spices that are very much adhered to the salmon's flesh, that's ok).
• Thoroughly dry salmon with paper towels. If ready to smoke, proceed with smoking instructions below. If you are not smoking the salmon at all or not smoking for a few hours, place salmon on a rack set into a pan, cover with plastic wrap and place in fridge for a few hours until fully dry, flesh will be a touch tacky. Then seal in a ziplock bag. Proceed with smoking instructions below or consume within a few days, or cut filet up into smaller pieces and freeze, well wrapped.
  

• Prepare your cold smoker using a fruitwood, like apple or cherry. 
• Cold smoke salmon for 90 minutes. (photo of salmon on smoker without lid for illustrative purposes only- you need the lid on through the smoking process!)
• Place salmon in a ziplock bag or two (the smoke aroma will be intense at first, and you don't want your whole fridge to smell smoky). 
• Allow salmon to rest for a day to let smoke mellow.
• Slice and eat within a week, or freeze in small portions. Thaw in fridge overnight. I like to freeze in 4 ounce portions, unsliced, to maintain texture. 4 ounces is generally enough to cover two bagels.

***Slicing tips: Use a carving knife, with a very sharp edge. With knife at an angle almost parallel to salmon, slice slowly with a back and forth motion to remove paper-thin slices.

Beef Stew/Ragu with Pickles and Sausage

Last winter, our go-to stew was a delicate veal stew with mushrooms and sage, which paired nicely with our delicate winter.  This winter, in expectation of a more "New England" winter, our go-to stew will be this one with a touch of smokiness from bacon fat, a sweet and sour component from pickles and capers, and a finish of red wine vinegar to give just the right amount of brightness and a little tang.

For the pickles, I use golden glow, which my mom makes. If you don't pickle, look in speciality sections for this old fashioned style of pickles, which is peeled cucumber, red and green bell peppers, onions, and has a sweet and sour flavor.  You could I presume use cornichons or dill pickles, but you will miss out on the sweetness the golden glow adds.  The other key ingredient here is herbs de Provence, which although there is only a 1/2 tsp, adds a powerful herbal note in support of the other strong flavors. I like Penzeys, but as long as your blend is not powdered from age, any high quality blend will work here. There are various ways to make your own herbs de Provence blend, but if you keep dried marjoram or savory as standards in your pantry, you probably have herbs de Provence too.

Be sure to plan ahead to simmer the dish for at least an hour and a half, preferably two hours, so that the beef becomes suitably tender.  Unlike some stews that have large chunks of vegetables with the chunks of meat, this stew has chunks of beef only, and the rest of the stew is saucy.   In this way, I guess you could call this a ragu.  But who cares, it tastes good no matter what you call it. The first couple times I made this, I used standard sized stewing chunks, which are about 2 or 3 inch hunks of beef.  I've decided that the only utensils you want here are a fork and a piece of bread, so I cut the beef chunks into generous 1" pieces, that can fit on a fork.

If you don't have bacon fat, just use olive oil.  However, if you don't have bacon fat, I must ask....why???? Next time you make bacon, drain off the fat and keep in a glass jar with a tight lid in the fridge.  You can add new fat to the same jar, scooping out what you need.  Great for dishes that would benefit from an extra smoky boost, like this one!

As with most stews...even better the next day.

Ingredients

• 3 TBS bacon fat
• 4 ounces of sweet italian sausage, removed from casing
• 2 pounds beef stew meat, like chuck, cut into generous 1" chunks
• Flour, for dredging
• 1 medium onion (about 1 cup), chopped
• 1 medium carrot (about 2/3 cup), finely chopped
• 1 large stalk celery (about 2/3 cup), finely chopped
• 1/3 cup golden glow pickles, drained and finely chopped
• 2 TBS capers, drained and well rinsed, finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves (about 2 tsp) minced
• 1/2 tsp dried herbs de Provence
• 2/3 cup red wine (like a young pinot noir or chianti)
• One 28 oz can crushed tomatoes (preferably San Marzano)
• 1-2 TBS red wine vinegar

Process

• Heat bacon fat over medium heat in a large dutch oven.
• Add sausage to pan, and cook until lightly brown, breaking up into small pieces with wooden spoon as it cooks.  Using a slotted spoon, remove sausage from pan and set aside.
• Raise heat to medium high, and working in batches to allow room from deep browning, cook the beef. Just before placing in pan, dredge beef chunks in flour, shaking off excess. (do not dredge beef chunks until just before placing in pan, or the flour will soak in, and you won't get a good crust)
• As each batch of beef browns, remove from pan and set aside with sausage.  If your pan gets too dry in subsequent batches or before the next step, add more bacon fat or a splash of olive oil, and allow to heat before continuing.
• Ensure there is at least a TBS of fat in the pan, and then add onion to pan and lower heat to medium. 
• Cook onion for a about 5 minutes, until softened.
• Add carrot, celery, pickles, capers, garlic and herbs de Provence, cook stirring regularly for about 5 minutes, until vegetables are softened
• Add red wine, raise heat to medium high, and simmer the wine, deglazing the pan.  Simmer for 1 minute
• Add tomatoes, rinse can with water and add half a can's worth of water.
• Return beef and sausage to pan, stir to submerge into sauce.
• Bring to a simmer, partially cover, and simmer for 1.5-2 hours.
• When beef is tender and sauce thickened, remove from heat, and stir in 1 to 2 TBS red wine vinegar.
• Serve with bread or over pasta.

Juicy Relish and Piquillo Pepper Turkey Burgers

Sometimes I plan out meals for days or weeks in advance.  I research and compile recipes for a similar dish, compare options, look at the variables, and do a mini-critique of the best approach.  And then somedays I come home from work and Matt says he's hungry and wants to grill as soon as possible and I throw something together from what was on sale at the store, instinct and what's in the fridge...and voila, something irresistible and worth repeating emerges.

What I picked up the grocery store: gorgeous tomatoes, ground dark turkey meat, burger buns, sharp cheddar

What I had in the house: mom's classic cucumber relish (the sort for hot dogs), jarred piquillo peppers, lettuce from the garden, brown mustard, stale bread

Piquillo peppers are a spanish pepper that is cone-shaped, which you can buy roasted and in a jar.  They can be a touch spicy, but in this burger, they are a background flavor booster, and not noticeably spicy.  If you don't have piquillos, or can't find them, go ahead and substitute regular roasted peppers, jarred or homemade.

The thing about turkey burgers, is that although they are much better for you than beef burgers, they can often be dry when cooked, at no fault to the griller.  Conversely, when raw, the turkey meat is very wet and slippery and doesn't want to form patties easily, even more so once you add some extra wet ingredients to add flavor and maintain moisture after grilling.  My solution is to use fresh bread crumbs.  And yes, fresh matters.  Sure you can do this with panko or with powdery store bought bread crumbs.  But what will work best is bread that is a few days stale and a bit dried out.  Hack it into chunks, toss it into the food processor and buzz for a few minutes until it is small, gravelly, almost, but not quite finely ground.  Any leftover ground bread crumbs can be frozen, and then used straight from the freezer for your next batch of burgers, or any other application for fresh crumbs.

For two burgers:

Mix the following until uniform, but using a light hand.  Add fresh bread crumbs gradually, until you are able to just form patties that hold their shape.  You are not making meatloaf, so you are looking to add the minimum amount of bread crumbs necessary to form the patties.  How much bread crumbs will depend on how wet the meat mixture is, and what type of bread you used to make the crumbs.

• 10 ounces dark turkey meat, ground
• 1.5 TBS relish (drained of excess liquid)
• 1 TBS brown mustard
• 2 finely chopped piquillo peppers (about 2 TBS)
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/3 cup- 2/3 cup fresh bread crumbs

Shape into 2 patties about 3/4" thick.

To cook and serve burgers:

• Grate 2 ounces of sharp cheddar
• Prepare your grill to cook at medium heat and oil grates when heated up.
• Grill burgers about 7 minutes a side, after flipping, add an ounce of grated cheddar to each burger, cover grill to help the cheese melt.
• While burgers cook, grill the buns as well to help keep the burger together architecturally 
• Be sure your burger is cooked to an internal temperature of 160-165 degrees
• Serve on toasted buns, with lettuce and generous slices of ripe fresh tomato.

Secret Ingredient Meatballs Simmered in Sauce

Somehow, and I don't know how, but I have never made meatballs for Matt. I've seduced Matt with risottos, braciole, ragu, sausage and peppers, stuffed shells, lasagne, and presented him with a panoply of cured meats and cheeses. But somehow, in over four years of cooking for the man who hasn't met a meat dish he doesn't like, I had overlooked this basic Italian-American workhorse. I don't even have an excuse, for I have the perfect meatball recipe from my mother (which is of course her version of her mother's, with an addition from my dad's mother).  And, as is not only my right, but perhaps a family imperative, I put my spin on the recipe: a secret weapon of flavor and fat by adding in some italian sausage to the mixture.  This amps up the flavor complexity, and the pork fat adds great mouthfeel and unctuousness to the meatballs.

The key to making these meatballs moist and tender, but not falling apart, is to mix the meat mixture thoroughly, but gently.  Here's a general tip: don't knead the meat, but using your fingers, move the mixture around and then lift some up and fold over.  Try not to use the heal of your hand too much, it's all in the fingers.

There are a few ways to cook the meatballs, but by far the best is to pan cook, then simmer in sauce.  When deglazing the pan, use some good wine.  If you have found yourself without wine proper, as I did yesterday, call your mother for advice.  Okay, no really, I called my mom for advice, and her suggestion was to use a small splash of Marsala and couple splashes of dry Vermouth (two fortified wines I keep in the pantry).  Brilliant suggestion, and perhaps what I will do regularly, but if you don't have those, but have some red or maybe white wine, then use that!  We took the meatballs and made meatball subs atop rolls with melted mozzarella...which was heaven.  And now these meatballs will be entered into the regular rotation, a fact that has brought great joy to Matt.

For the meatballs:

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1/4 pound Italian sausage, casing removed (hot or sweet)
• 1 egg
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• generous 1/4 cup parsley, chopped
• 3/4 tsp dried basil
• 2 pinches dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup chicken broth (or water)
• 2/3- 1 cup bread crumbs (fresh homemade are best!)

To make the meatballs:

• In a large bowl, whisk together egg, garlic, parsley, dried herbs, salt and pepper, and broth.
• Add beef and sausage, mixing together gently until sausage is distributed in the beef.
• Start adding the bread crumbs, 1/4 cup first, mixing gently and thoroughly, then adding more until the mixture is malleable, and will hold into a ball when molded.
• Turn mixture out onto a board, divide into four quarters, then divide each quarter into five pieces, rolling each piece into a ball, for a total of 20 meatballs.

For cooking meatballs and the sauce:

• 2 TBS olive oil
• a few splashes of wine
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 3-4 garlic cloves, minced
• scant TBS dried basil
• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flake (optional)
• 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes (preferably San Marzano)

To cook the meatballs and make sauce:

• In a 5-7 quart dutch oven or other large heavy bottomed pot, heat 1 TBS of the oil over medium heat.
• Add onion, and cook until softened.
• Add garlic, stir for about 30 seconds until fragrant.
• Clear a spot in the pot, and add the basil and red pepper flake, and cook for a minute to bring out flavor.
• Add can of tomatoes, rinse out can, and add half the can's worth of water.
• Bring to a simmer.
• Meanwhile, in a wide skillet, heat the other TBS of oil over medium-high heat. 
• Add the meatballs to the skillet, browning nicely all around.  As the meatballs are browned, sink into the simmering sauce.  Make sure to give the meatballs space in the pan to brown, so they don't steam, but get a good caramelization.  You will need to do this in batches, probably three.
• When meatballs are all browned and placed in sauce, pour off fat from the meatball-cooking pan.
• Keeping the heat where it is, add a few splashes of wine to deglaze the pan.  Pour the deglazing liquid into the sauce.
• Simmer sauce for about an hour, or until sauce is the right consistency (at least 30 minutes to ensure full cooking of meatballs).
• Serve in a sub, over pasta, over polenta, or in a bowl with some bread on the side. 

Fig Jam, Beer-melized Onion and Brie Pizza

What to make with cheese leftover from New Year's Eve, some pantry staples, and some homemade pizza dough in the freezer for a dinner beside the fire pit in the backyard?  A super fun, sweet and salty very awesome pizza.  Every component of this pizza is unique and tasty and necessary.  Feel free to not beermelize, but only caramelize your onions if you don't do beer. But otherwise, substitutions will just get you a totally different sort of pizza.  And don't even think of using dried rosemary for the fresh, it just won't do.  Because we've had such a mild winter, I still have living, green rosemary in my garden, which is a blessing.  But if you don't have a garden with said hardy rosemary...just buy some.  Absolutely worth it.  The pizza dough I make creates a 12" thin crust pizza.  Which is the perfect amount for Matt and I to split for a meal.  If you use a smaller or greater quantity of pizza, adjust the other ingredients accordingly.  I made some fig jam back in December, but a quality store-bought jam made with only figs, sugar and pectin will absolutely suffice.  I removed the rind on the brie because although completely edible and just fine at room temperature, I find that when heated, the rind on brie stays at a not-so-appetizing chewy/hard level.

If you do not have a pizza stone and peel, make this however you would normally make a pizza in your house.  But I highly recommend you look into the awesomeness that is a pizza stone.

Ingredients:

• Pizza dough
• 1/4 cup Fig Jam
• 1 very large onion, sliced thin
• 4 ounces malty beer
• 6 ounces brie, rind removed, sliced and/or cut into pieces
• 1 tsp fresh Rosemary, finely chopped

Process:

• Heat pizza stone in oven at 500 degrees for 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, heat a splash of olive oil over medium-high heat in a sauté pan and add onions and a pinch of salt.  
• Cook onions, stirring occasionally until beginning to turn golden.
• Drop heat to medium-low and continue to cook until onions begin to brown.
• Add beer and cook, simmering over low heat until beer is evaporated.
• Remove onions from pan to help cool to the touch.
• Stretch out pizza dough over cornmeal on a pizza peal.
• Spread out fig jam with your fingers over pizza dough.
• Spread out onions over pizza dough
• Put pizza into oven, and cook until lightly brown.
• Remove pizza, place brie slices around, and return to oven until brie is bubbly and melty.