Everything Cured Salmon and Cream Cheese
This recipe is a play on the ubiquitous smoked salmon with cream cheese and a bagel. It was one of our favorite lazy Sunday breakfasts when we were living in New York. Once we moved away from the city, we found that we didn’t always have access to great bagels or smoked salmon. We needed to find a good alternative that was readily available. “Everything” bagels—which typically contain onion, garlic, and several seeds—are our favorite, characterized by their crunchy coating of various seasonings. So we decided to use that flavor profile for cured salmon fillets and cream cheese that we could easily make at home.
Recipe information
Yield
serves 6
Ingredients
Everything Spice Blend
Preparation
Step 1
Mix together the salt and the spice blend to make a cure.
Step 2
Wet a 2-foot (60-centimeter) square of cheesecloth and squeeze it dry. Lay the cheesecloth flat on a counter and place the salmon in the center, flesh side down. Fold the cheesecloth around the fillet so the salmon is covered in one layer of cloth. This will make it easier to remove the cure later.
Step 3
Lay two pieces of plastic wrap three times the length of the salmon fillet on the countertop so they just overlap to create a double-wide sheet of plastic. Place one-third of the cure in the center of the plastic wrap, shaping the mixture so it provides a wide base for the salmon. Lay the cheesecloth-wrapped fillet on the cure bed, skin side down. Sprinkle the rest of the cure over the salmon, allowing some of it to cascade off the sides so that the edges of the fish will also be coated in cure. Fold the long ends of the plastic wrap over the fish, followed by the wide ends. This should create a tight package of salmon that is evenly coated in cure and contained in plastic. To ensure a tight seal and even pressure, wrap the package in another length of plastic wrap. Place the salmon on a rimmed baking sheet and refrigerate for 24 hours.
Step 4
Unwrap the fish, scrape off the cure, and carefully pull off the cheesecloth. Rinse the fish briefly in cold running water and then pat completely dry. Serve immediately or wrap in plastic and return to the refrigerator. The flavor will mature overnight. The fish will keep in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days.
Step 5
Place the cream cheese, spice blend, and salt in a food processor and puree until smooth. Refrigerate in an airtight container until ready to use. It will keep for up to a week.
Step 6
To serve, remove the skin and bloodline from the fish. Thinly slice the fish and arrange it on a plate. Serve with everything cream cheese and the grilled bread.
Everything Spice Blend
Step 7
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Step 8
Combine the dry milk, dried onion, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, garlic powder, and caraway seeds in a shallow baking dish. Toast the mixture in the oven for 30 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes to ensure even browning. When the mixture is amber brown, remove it from the oven and let cool.
Step 9
Process the mixture briefly in a food processor to break up any large chunks of milk powder that may have formed in the toasting process and to evenly distribute the spices. The spice blend will keep in an airtight container for a month.
