Smoked salmon on leaf salad
Recipe Facts
Difficulty level:
easy ◉◉◎◎◎
Quantity for:
4–6 people
Preparation time:
⧗ individual
Grilling time:
⧗ individual
Grill(s) & Equipment:
• Pellet grill
Ingredients
• 1 side of salmon of approx. 1.2 kg
• 15 juniper berries, roughly crushed
• 200 g curing salt
• 2 litres of water
• 3 tbsp BBQ rub
• Honey
• Smoking pellets of your choice
• various leaf lettuces
(e.g. spinach, beetroot leaves,
rocket etc.)
• Chives, chopped
• 3 tbsp walnut oil
• 2 tbsp raspberry vinegar
• Salt
• Pepper
• some cress for decoration
• 3 tbsp BBQ rub
(Taste note here: sweet and
spicy) of your choice (alternatively your own
Mixture of 2 tablespoons sea salt; 3 tablespoons
brown sugar; 2 tsp onion powder; 1
tsp garlic powder; 1 tsp allspice;
2 tsp black pepper; pinch of cinnamon
and nutmeg)
preparation
➊ Check the salmon side for any bones that may still be present, rinse under cold water and pat dry. Mix the curing salt, juniper berries, BBQ rub and water and marinate the salmon in this brine for 2 hours. Then remove the fish from the brine and pat dry, then leave to dry on a rack in the refrigerator for another 3 - 4 hours.
➋ Take the salmon side out of the fridge 1 hour before smoking and let it reach room temperature. Heat the pellet grill - or any other model that has a lid and allows you to set up an indirect grilling zone - to a temperature of 85 ° C. Place the salmon side on the grill and brush it thinly with honey.
➌ For extra smoke flavor, heat a smoking tube with pellets over a charcoal/gas flame or light it with a lighter and let the pellets glow. When the smoke rises, place the tube next to the side of the salmon. Smoke the salmon until a core temperature of 50 °C is reached.
➍ In the meantime, clean the lettuce leaves, wash them and spin them dry, then divide them into portions on plates. Make a vinaigrette with walnut oil and raspberry vinegar, add chives and season with salt and pepper. Drizzle over the lettuce leaves.
To serve, portion the salmon and drizzle each piece with a little honey. Finally, sprinkle some cress on top.
Recipe by Richard Bemelmans
Dutchman Richard Bemelmans from Wild Woodpecker BBQ has made grilling and barbecue his profession, produces his own rubs on a professional level and offers grill workshops and catering. Richard Bemelmans loves the delicate, yet very distinct smoky taste that can be created with pellets.
Recipe from FIRE&FOOD issue 03/2018