Home-made smoked salmon

[driverrob]

OK, actually gravlax, home cured salmon.
Full details are on my blog but, briefly, I bought a whole fresh salmon and cured half of it myself. Not really difficult and it tastes as it should - yummy.
I reckon the value of that half alone, now sliced and packed in the freezer would be twice what I paid for the fish.
Has anyone else tried doing it?

[nightfever]

I tried gravlax once and failed

I think I used something like 50/50 salt/sugar and fresh dill on top. Made a cling film package around it. I think because I tightly packed it, the moisture stayed inside and didn't cure properly. What was your method?

[driverrob]

No dill to hand, 50/50 salt/sugar + fresh black pepper. Lots of the mixture around the 4 large fillets in a glass flan dish; clingfilmed, plate on top with something heavy on it, in the fridge for nearly 4 days. There was room in the dish for the water drawn out of the fish to collect, which I drained off after a day or so. I turned the fish and redistributed the salt every day. More water was drawn out. I think wrapping it in cling film would inhibit that. The weighted plate is, I think, to make sure the fish actually stays immersed in the salt water so it doesn't dry out so much it goes hard. At the end it was a lot darker and firmer.

[janszott]

Really simple fast recipe here:
link

delicious.

[Coq au Vin]

Fabulous stuff. I like to use a little mustard in with the salt/sugar mix.

Should be served with buckwheat Blinis, creme fraiche, lemon and bubbly thus: