Simple Salmon

Freshly caught wild salmon used to arrive by boat early each spring, a harbinger, along with asparagus and strawberries, of nature’s new menu. Today farm-raised salmon is available year around and arrives by truck. Farm-raised salmon doesn’t have the deep, rich flavor of wild salmon, but it is very good and very popular, and it is what you see on most restaurant menus.

I think the best way to know the taste of salmon is when it is cured and made into gravad lax . It was the custom of kings and princes in Norway to start the day with a plate of gravad lax washed down with ice-cold thimbles of aquavit. We plebeians find great pleasure in eating gravad lax with hot, buttered boiled potatoes, hard-boiled eggs, pickled cucumbers and thin slices of pumpernickel bread. Sometimes a vegetable salad rounds out the meal to make it heartier.

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My Finnish friend Heikki Ratalahti has been making gravad lax for years and wonders why more people don’t do the same. The dish is not much trouble to make, especially considering the high price charged for it at markets. This is his recipe, and you can see how easy it is.

GRAVAD LAX

1 (2-pound) fresh, cleaned salmon fillet, with skin left on

3 tablespoons kosher salt

3 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon white or black peppercorns, crushed

1/2 to 1 bunch fresh dill, coarsely chopped

Cut salmon fillet in half and remove any bones. Place 1 salmon piece, skin-side-down, in glass or stainless-steel baking dish or casserole.

Combine salt, sugar and crushed peppercorns in small bowl.

Rub half of salt mixture evenly over salmon, then top with dill. Rub second salmon piece with remaining salt mixture and place on top of first piece, skin-side-up, so fleshy sides of fish are touching.

Cover fish with foil, tucking around fish. Put plate on top of foil. Weight fish by placing several heavy items on plate. Refrigerate. Turn fish over every 12 hours, basting with any liquid that collects in dish, separating and spooning liquid over meat side of both fillets. Replace weights.

When fillets have marinated 48 hours, remove from foil, scrape off dill and seasonings and pat dry with paper towels. Place halves skin-side-down on board and, using long-bladed sharp knife, thinly slice salmon on diagonal, cutting each slice off skin. Gravad lax will keep well for 2 weeks refrigerated. Serve with Creamy Dressing.

CREAMY DRESSING

1 cup plain yogurt

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1/3 cup finely chopped fresh dill

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon salt or to taste

Combine yogurt, mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, dill, lemon juice and salt in small bowl. Stir until all ingredients are well blended. Store in covered jar in refrigerator until needed.

Makes 10 to 12 servings.

Each serving contains about:

181 calories; 2,355 mg sodium; 43 mg cholesterol; 9 grams fat; 9 grams carbohydrates; 15 grams protein; 0 fiber.

PICKLED CUCUMBER SALAD

2 medium-sized cucumbers

1 cup water

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup white vinegar

Trim ends from each cucumber. Peel each cucumber and cut in half, lengthwise. With teaspoon, scrape out all seeds from each half. Stack 2 halves, 1 on top of other, and cut cucumber into 1/8-inch slices.

Combine water, salt, sugar and vinegar in 1-quart lidded jar. Shake mixture well. Add sliced cucumbers, screw on lid, shake well again. Refrigerate until needed.

Makes 8 to 10 servings.

Each serving contains about:

59 calories; 591 mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 0 fat; 15 grams carbohydrates; 0 protein; 0.45 gram fiber.

VEGETABLE SALAD

2 medium beets, cooked

2 medium carrots, cooked

2 medium potatoes, cooked

1 dill pickle

1 apple

1 small onion

1 cup sour cream

Salt

White vinegar

Peel and dice cooked beets, carrots and potatoes. Dice pickle. Peel and dice apple and onion.

Combine beets, carrots, potatoes, pickle, apple and onion in large salad bowl. Stir in sour cream, which will turn pink from beets. Toss well. Season to taste with salt and 1 to 2 tablespoons white vinegar, if desired.

Makes 8 servings.

Each serving contains about: 116 calories; 309 mg sodium; 13 mg cholesterol; 6 grams fat; 14 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams protein; 0.7 gram fiber.