House-Cured Salmon Canapé
A quick-cure takes just salt, sugar, water and a few minutes of active prep. Garlic cream cheese and a bagel-inspired topping make it instantly snackable.
1 day-old baguette
1/4 cup EVOO
Salt and Pepper
8 oz cream cheese, softened at room temp for 30 min or so
8 oz sour cream
1 t garlic powder
12 oz salt
8 oz sugar
2.5 quarts cold water
20 oz salmon side fillet, deboned, skin removed
Poppy seeds
Sesame seeds
Black sesame seeds
Toasted onion flakes, like these
Flaked sea salt like
Green onion tops, sliced
1) The night before, wrap your baguette in saran-wrap and freeze overnight. Whisk softened cream cheese, sour cream and garlic powder in a bowl and refrigerate (this allows the garlic flavor to really set in.)
2) Preheat oven to 350. Remove frozen bread from freezer, carefully slice very thinly with a bread knife. This is probably the hardest part of this dish - the frozen bread is tough to cut through, but it being frozen allows for thin slices to be cut without smushing the bread into oblivion. Make sure you have a sharp, serrated bread knife.
3) Toss sliced bread into a big bowl, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Spread evenly on a baking sheet and bake in batches, checking after 2 minutes, toasting until golden brown and crunchy. The thin slices should snap in half rather than bend when they're done.
4) Make the brine by combining 12 oz salt, 8 oz sugar, and 2 1/2 quarts of cold water. Whisk for a few minutes until salt and sugar are dissolved. It should be as salty as the ocean along with some sweetness from the sugar.
5) Prepare your salmon by trimming off the darker fatty layer if you like, and slicing long-ways on the left and right of the center 'seam' of the salmon, leaving you with two long pieces of about 2 1/2 inches wide. Slice these pretty thinly, against the grain so you end up with 2 1/2 inch wide pieces with a thickness of about 5mm. Each slice should be about 8 grams each, so the thickness will vary a little as you move from a wide to thin part of the fillet portion.
6) Drop all of the salmon pieces into the cold brine, and set a timer for 3 minutes. Stir, making sure the slices are not sticking to each other. They'll float to the surface so good to continue stirring. Remove from brine after 3 minutes and drain and pat dry with a paper towel. Place into a container, laying the slices flat on top of each other to keep their shape, and top with more plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least an hour and up to four hours. You'll see quite immediately that the color of the salmon turns a ruby color and the texture firms up nicely.
7) Combine poppy seeds, sesame seeds (black and white), onion flakes and flaked salt in a small bowl and toss together to make the everything bagel seasoning mix.
8) To serve, place a bunch of toasts in one layer on a serving platter, and place a dollop of garlic cream cheese on each one. For this I like to spoon the cream cheese mixture into a gallon bag, squeeze into one bottom corner and cut a small tip off for a makeshift piping bag. Top each toast with a slice of cured salmon. Sprinkle the whole platter with a liberal amount of seasoning mix. Top with sliced green onion.
*Cure adapted from ChefSteps
