Cured Sockeye Salmon Niçoise

This is a way to bring together summer’s bounty in a rainbow salad to dazzle all the senses.

Cured Sockeye Salmon Niçoise

HORSERADISH CURED SALMON

• 1/2 cup chopped fresh dill

• 2-3 tbsp fresh horseradish, depending on your penchant for spice, finely grated on a microplane

• 1 cup kosher salt

• 1/2 cup cane sugar

• 1 tsp peppercorns, toasted & coarsely ground in a mortar & pestle

• Finely grated zest of 1 orange

• Finely grated zest of 1 Lemon

• ½ bunch fresh dill, chopped

• 2/3 a side of sockeye salmon, pin bones removed

• Note: use organic citrus since you are incorporating the skins

DIRECTIONS

1. Lay an 18-inch length of plastic wrap onto a work surface, with another similar laid perpendicular on top of it.  

2. Combine salt, sugar, and black pepper in a bowl and stir to combine. Sprinkle a generous, even layer of the mixture in a shape resembling the fish onto the cellophane. Position fish on top of it, skin-side down. 

3. Cover the flesh with the fresh horseradish, then the citrus zests, to coat all surfaces, and then arrange the dill on top. Sprinkle enough salt-sugar mixture to completely coat the surface of the fish, as well as all sides. You may be left with extra salt-sugar mixture. Save, sealed and stored at room temp indefinitely, for the next cure recipe. 

4. Pull plastic wrap from one side tightly over the fish, followed by the opposite, as if you are swaddling a baby. Repeat with top and bottom sections and secure tightly. 

5. Place fish flesh side-up in a rimmed baking sheet into the refrigerator, evenly weighed down by heavy objects such as cans, or a heavy pan or two.

6. Allow salmon to cure for 2 days (48 hours), draining any accumulated liquid as needed. 

7. After the second day, rinse aromatics from the salmon and discard the plastic wrap. Slice away a small corner and taste. Rinse it further if it is still too salty. Pat cured fish dry and store, sealed in a container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or freeze, wrapped tightly in layers of plastic wrap and sealed in a resealable bag, for up to 3 months. 

8. Slice very thinly on a shallow diagonal with a long, sharp knife. Test thickness by holding a slice up to the light - you should be able to see through it.

SALAD

• 8-12 slices cured sockeye salmon

• ½ medium fennel bulb and 1 summer squash, each thinly sliced and separately tossed with olive oil, 1 tbsp lemon juice, and a pinch kosher salt

• 5 leaves radicchio

• 1 cup mixed olives, such as Kalamata and Picholine

• 1 cup cherry/sungold tomatoes, sliced in halves

• 1 large heirloom tomato, sliced, such as Blue Beech, Cherokee Purple, Green Zebra

• ½ cup haricot verts or young scarlet runner beans, sliced thinly

• To garnish:

• Nasturtium leaves and flowers

• Fresh parsley leaves

• Fresh dill

• Bachelor Button, arugula, or garlic chive flowers, or snipped fresh chives

• ½ lemon, sliced, to squeeze tableside

DIRECTIONS

1. Arrange each element in piles, nestled on top of the radicchio leaves, arranged on a serving platter. Top the salad with herbs and edible flowers, drizzle with olive oil and squeeze lemon over all. Season with freshly ground pepper and a light scatter of flake salt, and eat at once.