Doing it the hard way

For Thanksgiving, I was tasked with bringing an "interesting" appetizer. I immediately knew what I wanted to make: Smoked-salmon stuffed piquillo peppers with a citrus vinaigrette. My NW spin on a classic Spanish tapa. Simple. Portable. Yummy. 

But, being me, I had to complicate things. Use the OMG amazing Katfish smoked Keta Salmon I have in the cupboard? Way too easy. Instead, I decided to smoke the kitchen. Errr, smoke some salmon. In the kitchen. 

Yes, I know I have an amazing Kamado sitting in the garage that would do the job beautifully. Or, either of the two Weber kettles would get the job done. But... Northwest. November. Rain. What if I could figure out how to smoke a salmon filet inside?

My last indoor smoking adventure (really!) was tea-smoking an unctuous piece of King salmon to a delicate, barely-cooked, melt in your mouth texture. That is not the order of the day. For this purpose, the fish needs to have a firmer texture and a distinct smoky character. 

Wet or Dry?

I'm firmly in the dry rub camp when it comes to BBQ (salt, black pepper, Chimayo chile). Honestly, I rarely have the patience to brine things. But brining things you want to smoke is recommended. Basically, you want to pull some of the water out ahead of time. You can wet brine and let dry...or "dry brine".

I opted for dry. I might be doing this the hard way, but I'm still lazy at heart.  

I looked at a few different recipes for brining salmon for smoking. Most were heavier on the sugar than the salt. Smoked salmon "candy" is a thing...a really tasty thing. Most called for brown sugar. I didn't have that. So, working with what I did have, this is more or less what I threw together:

1 cup baking sugar

1/4 cup raw sugar

3/4 cup kosher salt

1 tbsp molasses

1 tbsp coconut aminos

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp ground cardamom

1/2 tsp liquid smoke

I was aiming for a crumbly texture, sort of like breadcrumbs. 

Pack it away

I bought a side of Sockeye for this adventure. If I could have bought a Silver (Coho) I would have, but you work with what you can source. And, truthfully, I like Sockeye. It's leaner, though, and I don't want to turn it into jerky. Some recipes said to dry brine for 6-8 hours. That seems too long. 

I threw down a layer of the brine mix, laid the salmon skin side down over it, packed the rest of the brine over the top, and set it in the fridge uncovered.

At two hours, it released enough liquid to look wet. 

I called it at about four hours. 

Rinse. Repeat. Pat dry.

The theory here is that osmosis has happened. To reach an equilibrium, the fish flesh has released water and absorbed the salt, sugar, and other elements of the brine. 

So, you want to wash away the remnants of the brine. You're not rinsing away the flavor. You can't. On the contrary...if you don't rinse well, all you'll taste is the brine mix. Did you taste the brine mix? It smells pretty awesome. It's not good eats.

Once you've rinsed the fish, pat it dry with some paper towels. 

It's totally okay (recommended) to let it come to room temperature while you get your smoke on.

Smokin'

Alder. In these parts, Alder is what you smoke salmon with. Maybe because it's basically a weed? We like our weeds. :-) I've used leaves, fresh cut, and commercial chips. Whatever. The time-to-smoke varies, but they'll all get the job done. No Alder? Apple or other fruit woods are a good complement. And there is nothing wrong with mesquite and salmon...just not my first choice for this purpose

This time, I covered the bottom of my le Creuset casserole dish with Alder chips, set one of my cooling racks over the chips, and put the salmon on the rack. I heated it on the stove on high until the chips started to smoke, then covered tightly with aluminum foil, turned the heat down to low, and let it cook/smoke for about 30 minutes.

I used this recipe as a guide. 

Stuffin'

To make the filling for the piquillos, I flaked the salmon and added mayo, chopped celery, and chopped parsley. I seasoned with a little Crystal sauce and smoked paprika. 

Then, it's pretty much grab 'em and stuff 'em. I love the authentic roasted piquillos from Navarra, but they are delicate & need to be handled gently. The easier-to-come-by Napolean brand piquillos from Peru are a little firmer & fleshier--and much easier to stuff. It's a trade-off. 

Saucin'

I think this is roughly derived from a Penelope Casas recipe that called for a tangerine shallot vinaigrette. I didn't feel like juicing a bunch of tangerines & figured the shallots would go soft since I was making this ahead, so I opted for a simple orange juice & olive oil dressing with a little dijon mustard and sherry vinegar.