Gravlax and Honeyed Figs: A Collection of Thank-You Foods

Here’s the deal – if you feed me, I will probably insist upon returning the favor. I will make every effort to figure out what you might like, and I will probably make it for you within a week. It seems only fair.

I had a fantastic dinner at new friends Steve and Laura’s house last Thursday. Much food and wine (and some bourbon) was consumed by all (but actually John Buckner drank all the bourbon… I’m calling you out on that, buddy), and everyone left feeling very satisfied in bellies and in hearts. Enter the thank-you food!

Gravlax is salt-cured salmon and should not be confused with smoked salmon, which is cooked during the preparation process. There is no cooking involved in this, only pressure and science. It is pretty critical that you get good fish for this as a result – don’t go cheapsies and get some half-priced about-to-turn stuff. Your digestive system will thank you for this later. Gravlax is surprisingly easy to make (I’ve done it only once before); it just takes a bit of a time commitment and some patience, plus somewhere to get a very fresh, large, center-cut salmon filet.

Ingredients

• 2lb salmon filet, center cut (thicker filet = larger slices at the end), skin on
• 2/3 cup coarse sea salt
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 tsp fennel seeds
• 1 tbsp black peppercorns
• a few tablespoons akvavit, gin, or other suitable liquor (I used herbe de bison)
• fresh dill, and mounds of it

Grind up the fennel and peppercorns, and mix with the sugar and salt to make a rub. Lay out a big sheet of plastic wrap and sprinkle about a third of the salt mix on it in roughly the size and shape of your fish. Place the fish on the salt, skin-side down.

A magnificent fish.

Slowly pour your alcohol of choice onto the top of the fish, evenly cover it in the rest of the salt mixture, and dump all the dill on top. I used too little dill here. I will learn from my errors next time. Wrap the fish up tightly in the plastic wrap. It’s going to cure in the salt and its own juices, so make sure they stay in there! Plus, you don’t want fish juice all over your fridge.

tasty tasty package

Put the fish package in a baking dish (just to be safe from leakage) and bung it in the fridge. It can take anywhere from 24 to 48 hours to fully cure, depending on the thickness of the fish and the proportions of your rub. Mine was pretty well done in about 24, though I will probably leave it in longer next time to let the flavors absorb more (see also: more dill). You will know it’s done when it turns darker and opaque and has shed much of its moisture into the pan and plastic wrap. Go ahead and unwrap it now.

All done!

Scrape off the herbs and the salt rub, or rinse it lightly if you’d prefer no bits of salt and pepper (shoop shoop) hanging around. Slice at an angle very thinly (remember, you don’t eat the skin…) and serve up! Mine went on a sourdough round with a bit of butter and a few capers.

Get in mah belleh!

Also good for gifting are things in jars. They don’t have to be eaten right away and are more easily shared. My friend Jennifer tipped me off to some figs on sale at Fresh Market, so I grabbed the last(!!) package and scurried home with them.

Anyone else thinking of Fern Gully?

I sliced their jewel-like bodies in half and sprinkled them with some cinnamon, sugar, and orange zest, then baked them slowly in the oven at 225* for about two and a half hours. It took every bit of self-control not to gobble them all up as soon as they came out.

om nom nom!

You could eat them just like this, but I chose make them gift-able by covering them in some local sage honey from Weeks Honey Farm in Omega, GA. They’ll stay good for quite some time like that. Enjoy as is, on toast, or over ice cream!

Delivery!

 

Saffron Fennel Fish Stew

I promise I can do things other than bake. I’ve noticed, however, that things are getting dessert-heavy up in here. When I get stressed, I bake things with reckless abandon but I often neglect to make the rest of the meal. Not this time!

We’ve been having a serious case of stormy weather down here. I love little more than sitting on a porch with a cold drink and a light meal listening to the thunder and the rain. I knew another storm was a’brewin’, so I made a spontaneous trip to Fresh Market (always perilous for the pocketbook) sans recipe and grabbed what I thought would make a nice light fish stew de style méditerranéen. Here’s what I came up with, and I’m pretty darned pleased with the results. Simple, hot yet refreshing, and pleasantly filling.

Ingredients (serves 4-6)

• 1 1/2 lbs firm white fish, cut into 2-3″ pieces (I used cod, which was absolutely perfect and conveniently the cheapest option available)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 fennel bulb, sliced, plus a good handful of the fronds, chopped
• 2 shallots, chopped
• 2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup Vidalia onion, chopped
• 1/2 jalapeño (no seeds), minced
• 1/2 tsp saffron threads
• 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
• 1 cup dry white wine (I used a sauvignon blanc from New Zealand)
• 3 cups fish stock
• 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1 bay leaf

Heat the olive oil in a large pot (I used my enameled cast iron Dutch oven ❤ ) over medium heat. Throw in the fennel bulb and fronds, shallot, garlic, onion, jalapeño, and saffron and stir until the fennel has softened but nothing has started to brown.

*sniff sniff* Mmmm.

Sprinkle your seasonings (fennel seeds, thyme, salt, pepper, bay leaf) over the delightful medley and add the tomatoes, white wine, and stock.

Future fish bath.

Give it a good stir and let it work its magic until the whole thing has taken on the lovely golden color of the saffron and it’s got a healthy simmer going. You don’t want it to start boiling because you’ll break up the fish that way. I cut my fish into chunks the size of a few bites, but you could absolutely make them larger and artfully serve one or two large pieces per bowl, should you wish to get all fancy-schmancy like that.

Stew-sized fish bits.

Gently place your fish into the pot and make sure all of the pieces are fully submerged. Depending on what size you’ve cut them to, they should take anywhere from 5-10 minutes to cook through. I feel like how thoroughly cooked a piece of fish turns out is a personal preference. I don’t know your life. Just poke them until they’re done to your liking.

Therein lies the fish.

Lift out the fish gently with a slotted spoon into your bowl, then top generously with equal portions veg and broth. I made up some garlic toasties to accompany by slicing leftover sourdough into rounds, toasting in a pan with a bit of butter, then rubbing a fresh garlic clove over the crusty surface. Seriously, it’s the best way to do it. Enjoy with a refreshing beer (my choice was Abita’s Lemon Wheat, their newest summer seasonal and brewed with a mind to accompany seafood) while watching the rain fall.

Perfection.