Smoky Beet-Cured Salmon

Holy Smoke Beet Cured Salmon

• 1 ½ Pound Sashimi Grade Skin On Salmon Filet (Pin bones removed)
• 1 Pound Raw Red Beets (Peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes)
• ¾ Cup Plus 2 Tablespoons Holy Smoke Smoked Sea Salt
• ½ Cup Holy Smoke Smoked Wildflower Honey
• 4 Tbsp Gin (I used Tanqueray)
• 2 Tsp Holy Smoke Smoked Black Peppercorns
• 2 Tsp Whole Coriander

Trim the sides and ends of the salmon so the salmon is a good uniform thickness (you really just want to make sure that there aren't any parts of the filet that are really thin because they will be too salty) and make sure that there are no pin bones that the fishmonger may have missed. Put the rest of the ingredients in a food processor and puree the ingredients until very smooth like the consistency of a smoothie.

To cure the salmon, you will need a container close to the size of the piece of salmon that you are curing because you need to put a couple of layers of plastic wrap down and make sure that all of the flesh of the salmon is in contact with the cure. If you have a container that is too big you can always find things put things in a larger container to barricade it on all sides because you will be using plastic wrap. Once you have found your container put 2 layers of plastic wrap in the container as form fitting as possible and leave enough plastic wrap to cover the salmon once it is in the container (think wrapping presents). Pour enough of the beet cure in the plastic wrapped container so that when you put the salmon in, you can lightly press down and all of the flesh of the salmon rests in the cure. Place the salmon in the container and press gently(the skin should not be covered by the cure). Wrap the skin side so nothing is exposed and if need be cover the container with more plastic wrap and put it in the refigerator for 30 hours. Remove the salmon from the cure and rinse all sides well and dry with paper towels. It should be beet red on all of the flesh. After rinsing and drying the salmon, cover and put back in the fridge skin side down this time to rest for 24 hours (This will allow the salt to evenly distribute throughout the flesh).

At this point the salmon is ready to be sliced. Using a sharp knife slice the salmon to your desired thickness which should be pretty easy because of the skin. Then slice the small layer of skin off of each piece.

We served this with crostinis, capers, lemon wedges, minced red onion, and crème fraiche that we added the juice of half an orange orange zest and parsley and basil. Really you can use any traditional garnishes that you enjoy with gravlax or smoked salmon. This should keep for about days and can freeze for up to 3 months. If you have a vacuum sealer you can probably freeze for 6 months.