Lox

When I was pregnant with my daughter, I ate more lox and smoked salmon than I have in the years after my daughter was born. Now I thoroughly believe that what you eat when you are pregnant influences your child's tastes because from day one (and until this day) one of her favorite foods was lox. It was hard to just run out and buy very good lox living on the Eastern Shore, so I learned how to make them and found out it ridiculously easy and I am sorry that no one seems to know how. "Joy of Cooking " nor any of my other cook books had a recipe! I went on the net and found a few ways to do it including brining and smoking after the initial curing in salt and sugar. I have found that less is more especially with a beautiful piece of salmon and enjoy the flavor of sugar and salt cured salmon with herbs.

I recently made lox for a weekend on the boat with friends and my friends were asking why they couldn't do that! i said you could and it is ridiculously easy. So, Kitten and Ken K. Here it is!


My Recipe for lox:

1. I start with about 1 1/2 lbs. of salmon. The farmed kind is fine. One time I used a small piece of wild caught Copper River and it was not the best for lox. I may have pressed it too much too. I would stay with a fattier salmon. Save the very expensive salmon for sushi and grilling

Next, skin the salmon sing a very sharp knife. Hold down a corner of the skin and swipe down toward the cutting board while holding the skin taunt.

2. I take a shallot and coarsely chop it, but any onion is OK. I find you really must use an allium (onion family) of some sort. I used lemon verbena in my lox, but dill is also traditional. I prefer a lighter less powerful taste. You can try any combination of fresh herbs you want. I have yet to try a lemon grass, ginger, and coriander combination. I think it would be fantastic! That might be next. Just use the herbs whole they do not have to be chopped except for the course lemon grass if you use that. Set the shallot and herbs aside.

3. In a bowl combine 2 cups of sugar and 1 cup of salt. Add 1 1/2 tbs. lemon juice and 1 1/2 tbs.

of vodka, gin or any dry clear alcohol. Stir until well mixed and evenly moist.

4. Take a one gallon Ziploc bag and put half of the sugar and salt mixture into it flattening it out and then putting half of the shallot and herbs on top. Take the salmon and put the other half of the shallot herb mixture on top of it and slip the piece of salmon on top of the sugar salt mixture. Top with the remaining sugar salt mixture and squeeze all of the air out of the Ziploc bag and seal it. You may have to carefully wipe any bits of sugar and salt off of the seal first.

it.

The salmon is now packed and ready to cure.

5. Put the salmon on a plate and place another plate on top. Put a brick, stone, paver, etc. on top to press it down refrigerate for three days , turning the salmon over and rearranging the sugar salt mixture to maintain an even coat. Do not open the bag to do this as the moisture in the salmon will be squeezed out and the sugar/ salt mixture will turn to syrupy.

6. After three days take it out of the bag and rinse under cold running water. Pat it dry and wrap in wax paper in a fresh Ziplock. Use it within a week.

Here it is cured after three days. Slice the lox into very thin translucent slices at a 45 degree angle to the grain of the salmon.

I used a piece of sourdough bread sliced very thinly, brushed with olive oil and garlic and toasted in the oven until dry and crisp to make this beautiful appetizer. It is topped with baby salad greens, goat cheese, a few slices of the lox and fine sliced shallot then sprinkled with capers. A note: Try goat cheese instead of cream cheese with lox and you will never go back to cream cheese!