Roast Salmon Gravlax-style

Total Time: 40 mins Preparation Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 6
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 lemons, sliced thin
• 1 bunch fresh dill, chopped
• 3 lbs salmon fillets, skin on
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt (to taste)
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper (to taste)
• 1/2 cup vodka or 1/2 cup gin or 1/2 cup aquavit
• 2 tablespoons coarse grain mustard (to taste)
• 1 cup light cream

Recipe

• 1 grease bottom of a medium roasting pan with the oil; spread with lemon slices in a single layer.
• 2 pile dill in center where you will place the fish; place fish on top of dill, skin side up.
• 3 with a sharp knife, score fish.
• 4 combine brown sugar, salt, and pepper; rub mixture all over fish, pushing into the cuts; let fish rest about 30 minutes.
• 5 preheat oven to 475 degrees f and roast fish until it is just cooked through and the skin is crispy, about 20 minutes.
• 6 remove fish to a serving platter, leaving the lemons and dill in the pan.
• 7 place pan on stove top over one or two burners and heat on low until lemons sizzle, remove from heat; slowly stir in vodka, or other spirits, and loosen browned bits on bottom of pan.
• 8 return pan to heat and cook off most of the liquid; stir in mustard and cream.
• 9 allow to bubble gently, cooking and stirring, until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon (a couple of minutes).
• 10 taste for seasonings, adjust as necessary, and pour over fish.