Good evening all! I hope this evening all finds you well. We've had a long day at our house, and a longer afternoon.
After buying an organic brand of vegetable beef stew for my son to try, I figured out that he's not quite ready for it yet (even though the package and the doctor both said 8 months and up is fine for beef). Not only was I thrown up on, but while trying to clean us both off, the little guy decided to pee on me as well.
So, sufficed to say, this night is going to be laid back in the kitchen. (Don't tell, but I'm even considering ordering in a pizza...)
But, before I pass out and am dead to the world, I thought I'd post this little gem for you all to ponder.
LOX! That's right, it's finally ready! After 72 hours in our fridge, our GORGEOUS flank of home-cured salmon was ready to come out and fill our bellies full of salty, dill-iciousness!
Now, if you too would like to cure your own salmon instead of dropping $13 for only 4oz. of "lox", then read on my friend!
Things you will need:
2 lbs. salmon with the skin ON (we always buy wild-caught!)
1/4 cup salt of your choice (regular table salt is fine, but I adore the pretty pink color of the Hawaiian salt)
1/4 cup sugar
fresh dill (we bought two of the fresh herb containers you can find in grocery stores)
fresh ground white or black pepper to taste (I stopped turning the pepper mill when I started sneezing...)
a container that your salmon will fit in
plastic wrap
something to weigh your fish down with (we used canned things we'd had in our pantry for quite a while, but wine bottles work fine, as do ceramic dishes filled with dry beans)
To start, check your salmon for bones. Place a layer of salt, sugar, dill, and pepper on your plastic wrap. Lay your salmon on top and cover with the rest of your seasonings. I gently massaged the salt into the fish and whispered sweet nothings to it, but who's to say if it helped?
Once your salmon is thoroughly seasoned, wrap it up super tight in plastic wrap and place it in your container, then stick your weights on top and ta-dah! Stick it in the fridge and 24 hours later, go back and drain the liquid out.
Drain the liquid in the container for 2-4 days (we did 3). You can start tasting your lox after 48 hours (because it'll be safe by that point).
When you've decided your lox has cured long enough, take it out and rinse all the seasonings off of it.
Slice it thin and you can store it in your freezer for about a month or so (or eat it all right away with lox-loving-friends!)
I ate mine with my homemade cream cheese and some plain bagels. Sprinkle a little sea salt and pepper over the top, or if you're one of those capers, tomatoes, and onion likers, go for that too! I hope you'll all go try this out, because in the long run, you save SO much money making your own. 2 lbs. of fish for about $18, or 4 oz. for about $12? Which will you choose?
That's it for now! So until next time, enjoy your loved ones, and your life with a Spoonful Of Sugar!
Things you will need:
2 lbs. salmon with the skin ON (we always buy wild-caught!)
1/4 cup salt of your choice (regular table salt is fine, but I adore the pretty pink color of the Hawaiian salt)
1/4 cup sugar
fresh dill (we bought two of the fresh herb containers you can find in grocery stores)
fresh ground white or black pepper to taste (I stopped turning the pepper mill when I started sneezing...)
a container that your salmon will fit in
plastic wrap
something to weigh your fish down with (we used canned things we'd had in our pantry for quite a while, but wine bottles work fine, as do ceramic dishes filled with dry beans)
To start, check your salmon for bones. Place a layer of salt, sugar, dill, and pepper on your plastic wrap. Lay your salmon on top and cover with the rest of your seasonings. I gently massaged the salt into the fish and whispered sweet nothings to it, but who's to say if it helped?
Once your salmon is thoroughly seasoned, wrap it up super tight in plastic wrap and place it in your container, then stick your weights on top and ta-dah! Stick it in the fridge and 24 hours later, go back and drain the liquid out.
Drain the liquid in the container for 2-4 days (we did 3). You can start tasting your lox after 48 hours (because it'll be safe by that point).
When you've decided your lox has cured long enough, take it out and rinse all the seasonings off of it.
Slice it thin and you can store it in your freezer for about a month or so (or eat it all right away with lox-loving-friends!)
I ate mine with my homemade cream cheese and some plain bagels. Sprinkle a little sea salt and pepper over the top, or if you're one of those capers, tomatoes, and onion likers, go for that too! I hope you'll all go try this out, because in the long run, you save SO much money making your own. 2 lbs. of fish for about $18, or 4 oz. for about $12? Which will you choose?
That's it for now! So until next time, enjoy your loved ones, and your life with a Spoonful Of Sugar!
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