With Valentine’s Day not far away, here’s some inspiration for your romantic dinner from the Fairbourne kitchen!
Nothing says I Love You, quite as much as a dish that takes time to prepare; so here’s the perfect canape to serve prior to your starry-eyed supper… Gravadlax!
Russell prepared this just before Christmas (see photos), I’m hoping for a repeat performance on Feb 14th… #hint
You will need:
- One Salmon fillet, must be very fresh
- Tablespoon of your favourite aromatic gin
- 1/2 dessertspoon of brown sugar
- Handful of flaky sea salt
- Bunch of fresh dill
To prepare:
- De-bone the salmon and trim to a rectangular shape of similar thickness
- Drizzle a tablespoon of your favourite aromatic gin over the salmon and smear in with the back of the spoon
- Rub onto the filet a half dessertspoon of brown sugar.
- Sprinkle and pat into the fillet a generous handful of flaky sea salt so the fillet looks more white from the salt than pink from the salmon.
- Then coarse grind black pepper on top of the salt for an even salt and pepper look.
- Next finely cut a bunch of fresh dill and cover the salt and pepper so the fillet now looks dill green
- Place the fillet into an oven dish.
- Cover the fillet with a plastic wrap so the wrap is on the fillet and not resting on the sides of the dish.
- Place a flat board onto the fillet and within the edges of the dish, this is to evenly distribute the forthcoming weight to compress the fillet
- Add a weight on top of the board and refrigerate. I use an ice cream container with 1.5 litres of water for the weight, therefore a 1.5kg weight.
- Refrigerate and compress for three days. Each day removing the expelled liquid from the compressed fillet.
The end result should be a firmly and evenly compressed salt cured salmon fillet with amazing aromatic flavours. Being cured the filled will last for some time if kept cool and wrapped. To serve it is important to cut across the natural grain of the flesh. So determine the piece size you wish to serve and cut that length from the fillet. Then finely slice pieces 90 degrees from your initial cut. The gravadlax should be served with the salty, herby edge for maximum visual and flavour impact.
To serve:
Light the candles, serve with a swipe of wasabi mayo on plain blinis making the salmon the king of the canape… Add a perfectly chilled bottle of Fairbourne Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc.
Don’t forget the playlist:
- Let’s Stay Together – Al Green
- Wonderful Tonight – Eric Clapton
- All of Me – John Legend
Head to your local Majestic Wines store in the UK to find Fairbourne Sauvignon Blanc.
A luxury gift boxed bottle of our Fairbourne 2015 premium, elegant and hand-picked Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. Makes a perfect gift for your love. We deliver FREE throughout N.Z. Buy yours HERE.
