Lox Anyday!

Before we moved to Oregon, we hardly ever had fish at home. Red Lobster was our to go place.
Well, with so much fresh seafood available to us, we have learned to appreciate and use our local catch.

Today, I want to tell you that curing salmon, turning it into lox is a very easy process, and you can plan to do it a few days before you throw your party.  Having great quantity of lox is fantastic for a party.

Ingredients:
2  fresh salmon fillets, de-boned carefully and thoroughly
A big bunch of fresh dill
1/2 C sugar
1  C salt
2 T peppercorns, crushed
1 T fennel seed, crushed

In a glass casserole dish, lay a piece of parchment down and place your first salmon fillet  with fresh dill, sugar, salt, peppercorns and fennel on top. Add the second piece of fillet  and cover it with a piece of Saran Wrap. Put a heavy weight on top of these two fillets and refrigerate for twentyfourhours.

The next day, flip the fish, so the top fillet is now at the bottom. The two fillets are curing on the inside with the aromatics and salt and sugar. Refrigerate for another twenty four hours. 

After two days the salmon should be done.  You can flip again and keep for another day if the fillets are thick. 

Take the casserole out of the refrigerator, shake off all the aromatics, rinse the fillets quickly under runner cold water and pat dry.
Serve with dill sprigs on the side, onion slices, gherkins, tomatoes, bagels and cream cheese.

Your cured salmon will cost a fraction of the commercial one, and taste fresher.

p.s. Tell your fishmonger you want whole wild salmon and wait until he can provide it for you.Ask him to fillet your fish in front of you, so you know you have the freshest cuts. Better yet, take the whole salmon home and have fun cutting it into steaks and fillets yourself.  With the tail end and the head, you can make a great soup base for your next cioppino.