Gravlax with Gravlaxsas & Goat Cheese on Rye

I'm finally on a role! I've been curing some salmon Scandanavian style since Friday and I've finally tasted it. Oh and what a taste! I read that gravlax (cured salmon) is usually served in an open sandwich and so I did my take on that.

I toasted some dark rye bread and cut it into bitesized chunks. I then crumbled a bit of goat cheese onto every piece. Be careful not to put too much goat cheese as it will make the hors d'oeuvre too heavy. The goal of the goat cheese is cheese to smooth out the sharp taste of the gravlax (which is cured in salt) and the gravlaxsas. After the goat cheese, lay some thinly sliced gravlax and pour over about one and a half teaspoon of gravlaxsas. Finally, I topped it with onion sprouts but any type of sprouts would do.

The result of this combo is a party in your mouth. You get the smooth taste of goat cheese coupled with the rye bread, followed by the taste of the salty gravlax and the sharp gravlaxsas which finishes off with the subtle and crunchy sprouts. If you let the gravlax shine through - that is to say that the other ingredients haven't taken over - the whole should finish off with the perfect taste of the cured salmon.

Play with quantities and vary the layers to see what works best for your palet. You could also replace the goat cheese with cream cheese or any other soft and mild flavoured cheese.

Gravlax

Fresh salmon fillet, skin on

Large bunch of dill

3 tbsp sea salt

1 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp pepper

1 tbsp spirits (I used spiced rum)

1. Curring salmon extracts the liquids from the fish. The dish you place the salmon fillet must therefore be large enough so the salmon fillet is not swimming in the liquids you're trying to extract from it.

2. Mix all ingredients and rub into the salmon, making sure that ingredients are well dispersed.

3. Place something heavy over the rubbed salmon fillet. If you have a dish the same size as the first, lay that one on top. I just used a small dish with a can on top.

4. Wrap the whole with clingwrap and place in fridge. It should take between 36 and 72 hours to cure the salmon depending on what your preference is. Every 12 hours or so, turn the filet over and baste it with the juices at the bottom of the dish it is curing in.

5. Once done, you have a few options of what to do with your cured salmon. A) If you have a smoker, you could smoke the salmon; B) You can serve the salmon in a sandwich or in a wrap, there are many recipes online for these. Just look for recipes which ask for smoked salmon; C) You can incorporate the salmon in a frittata; D) Let your imagination run free...gravlax ice cream anyone?

Gravlaxsas

4 tbsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp mustard powder

1 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp white wine vinegar

6 tbsp olive oil

4 tbsp fresh dill, chopped

1. Mix Dijon, mustard powder, sugar and vinegar together.

2. Gradually incorporate olive oil. The end consistency should resemble a liquid mayonnaise.

3. Fold in chopped dill.

4. The gravlaxsas should keep for a while if it's covered and placed in the fridge.