Quick gravlax

Gravlax is a Nordic dish consisting of raw salmon cured in salt, sugar, and dill. Gravlax is usually served as an appetizer. Lox is a fillet of brined salmon. The American English word lox is derived from the Yiddish word for salmon.

Most techniques involve  two sides of a fish. Each filet is covered with a salt/sugar mix.  Herbs, often dill, are added, and the two side are pressed together and allowed to cure for several days. It is simple to make.

Here's an easy recipe from Laura Calder: Gravlax, baby step by baby step.

But, if you don't want two pounds of lox, there is another way. This is based on Jacques Pepin's recipe.


* Start with a good piece of salmon - I used wild-caught sockeye salmon.

* Freshwater fish can harbor parasites and should be frozen (in a deep freezer) before curing. I started with a frozen filet. They are processed as they are caught and frozen in vacuum packs.

* It is not difficult to cut frozen fish with a wave edge knife.I cut a one pound filet into some serving portions..

*The tail end and the ragged front were reserved for gravlax.


* While still semi-frozen, slice thin pieces of the fish.
* On a clean plate or platter, scatter 1 tablespoon of kosher salt and sugar mix.
* Lay the slices on the salt/sugar without disturbing it.




* Sprinkle another tablespoon of the cure mix on top of the slices.

* Add some fresh dill, red onion or a variety of spices.






* Cover with plastic, weigh down with another plate, and refrigerate for 2 or 3 hours.

* Blot with a paper towel. Serve with bread or crackers.

Trout and hush puppies

Trout on the grill - you've seen this method on the blog before.  Nancy and I caught these on a quick trip to the lake.  Spring is in the air when it's warm enough to fish in the bright sun.

To go with these Nancy made some hush puppies - (where does the name really come from?)

From her blog post: SPRING LUCK

I was looking for an old fashioned sweet hush puppy like my grandmother used to make, but times have changed and what I found was from Paul Prudhomme, found here. We had fried trout with the couture hush puppies. Those puppies have onion, green onion tops, red pepper, and only one egg, but after setting for a couple of hours in the fridge, the juices from the vegetables incorporate themselves into the flour and cornmeal and give an excellent texture. Beware these pups are fried, and I used only a film of grease, but they soaked up every bit of that canola oil. Not low calorie, but delicious. (And I did not find one recipe that called for just cornmeal, flour, egg and sugar, like Mom used to make.)

Catching fish - catching up

This summer has been busy.  We've been fishing, and gardening, and cooking, but I have not blogging.  We have re-visited some old favorite recipes and techniques..  Here are some fishing pics:

Nancy is working hard at catching a few trout.  You can see a mess of them on the right.  The usual catch is Rainbows, but I did catch one of Colorado's  native trout - the Cutthroat.

We have enjoyed them grilled whole, fried whole and butterflied.  We had a nice crop of corn this summer.  There is nothing like fresh sweet corn on the grill.  Lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers from the garden provided lots of salads.

Removing the bones before cooking takes a little effort, but it makes for a nice presentation.

The trout are just as tasty fried whole.  Scroll down for a previous post on that.

Whole Trout

Nancy and I went fishing.   She had not been for some time, but still has her skills. We took six fish in an hour and a half. Nancy caught four - the limit.

Whole fried trout, garden salad, and coleslaw

We rolled the fish in a mixture of flour and cornmeal seasoned with salt and pepper.

..

The fish was fried whole. We used a  mix of  oil and bacon  grease.

Tilapia -fast food

In one of my first Grand Life posts, "Easy, fast, and cheap",  I suggested to my male friends that a man’s ability to cook an edible meal and clean up afterward is an attribute highly valued by women. I heard back from some guys that they had tried the recipe and that I should do another one.

Today’s presentation is not a recipe, just a few simple techniques. Sometimes there is neither the time or energy for gourmet cooking. Going out can be an expensive hassle. I like to keep a few things in the freezer for nights like that. So for a quick, easy and inexpensive meal try this.

Simple recipe #2 Tilapia fillets with vegetables.
Frozen tilapia fillets
Frozen vegetables
Salad fixins’
Seasoned salt.

Tilapia is a nice light fish, especially good for people like me, who do not particularly care for fish. My wife loves fish of any sort, so it is a compromise for us. It comes in a bag with each fillet individually wrapped, so you can pull out the amount you need. They thaw easily; try setting them on the bottom of a skillet - heat conduction works both ways.

 
When you are ready to start, season the fish with a little seasoned salt. I like Emeril’s essence (recipe at food network) or you can use any mix on hand. Add a little paprika if you have it. It adds a nice taste and since it is a spice that burns, you’ll get that “blackened” look. After you season the fish, rub a little oil on the fish, not in the pan. Heat the pan on medium until hot. Put the fillets in the pan and leave them alone. You will see the edges start to turn white. Once the whiteness moves towards the center flip them over with a spatula. Now is the time to pop some frozen vegetables in the microwave. See if there is any salad stuff in the fridge and put together a small salad. For this meal all that was on hand was tomatoes. So I added some mozzarella chunks from a stick of string cheese, plus a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of dried basil.


It’s easy, fast, and cheap. You can have it on the table before a pizza guy could deliver. Its better for you and less expensive.

Grand Gumbo

Living the Grand Life for me includes a weekly fishing trip with friends. I like pan fried trout. I like it cooked in foil on the grill, or even straight on the grate. I like it formed into cakes and fried. But, I'm always looking for new ways to cook it.

I wanted to try and incorporate it into some fish stew and soups. Looking at some gumbo recipes, I noticed that almost anything can be added to the basic stock, including chicken, catfish and alligator. So why not trout?

None of these steps are hard, but they do take some time. The house will be full of good smells and the dinner will be worth the time and effort.

Recipe # 41 Trout Gumbo

Basic Gumbo Stock
1/4 cup oil
1/3 cup flour
1 green pepper
1 large onion
2 celery stalks
1 can tomatoes (crushed or stewed)
1 cup of chicken stock (or water and a bouillon cube)
1/2 cup cheap white wine (beer would work here, too )
1/2 or 1 pound sausage. (Andouille, smoked, or Italian)
Cajun spice mix like Essence of Emeril)

In a large saute pan cook and/or brown sausage. Cut into 1/2 inch

slices. Remove from pan and drain grease if necessary. Add oil and flour, mix and slowly cook over low heat until the roux is a light brown color. Stir constantly. Take time with this step.

When the roux is the desired color remove from heat. Let it cool while chopping the vegetables. The three vegetables from the trinity in Cajun cooking and are an essential component of Cajun dishes.

Add the trinity to the roux and slowly cook until the vegetables soften. Add a tablespoon of spice mix while the vegetables cook.

When the vegetables have softened, deglaze the pan with the wine. Add the can of tomatoes and the chicken stock. Add the sausage. Let the mixture simmer covered for at least 30 minutes.

At this point, almost anything could be added. Chicken breast will cook in the hot liquid, as will shrimp, crawfish or trout.

To cook the trout, I cleaned and skinned each fish. The whole fish

was placed in the simmering broth. The fish will cook in 5 to 10 minutes. Once cooked, the fish is easily pushed of the skeleton and all the bones can be lifted out. Stir and serve with cooked rice.

An alternate method of cooking the fish can be found here: Easy trout. After the fish is microwaved, and the skin and bones removed, it can be added to the gumbo.

Easy Trout

I'm still fishing every week. That means preparing trout for dinner and occasionally trying new methods. The microwave may be a terrible way to cook meat, but it is excellent for fish.

The trout is cooked in a glass pan with and covered with plastic wrap. Vent the wrap to allow steam to escape.

Depending on size and microwave power, fish take one to two minutes to cook. It's fast, so don't overcook your fish.

Skin is easily removed and the cooked fish slides right off the bones.

The fish can be seasoned with salt and pepper, tartar sauce, or for this fish, brown butter sauce. The French call it beurre noisette. Just heat up a little butter in a pan until it browns, add lemon and parsley.

Directions here: How to make brown butter sauce with lemon and parsley.