We bought a barbecue this weekend! Well, sort of… we bought a large, metal fire pit with a cooking grate. To me, though, that’s even better, because I can cook four whole chickens on it without much trouble and it can double as a safe container for a large pile of burning wood. It was only $100, which is roughly $1700 cheaper than the Big Green Egg I had been eying. So not only do I have a barbecue now, but saved $1700. Nice.

I borrowed a shopping cart and hauled home over 30 kilos of charcoal today and I’m ready to go. We tried cooking up a couple of steaks and some salmon this weekend, but I’m a total novice at this charcoal grilling thing and I haven’t really devised a way to contain the heat in the grill yet (not to mention that I really didn’t have enough charcoal to start a proper fire) so the results were a little lackluster.

Honing my skills at the barbecue is certainly at the forefront of my ambitions for the summer. Along with that will come the finishing of my smoker, so I can try my hand at various charcuterie that I haven’t yet done. If anyone wants to go halfers on a whole pig, let me know! I will look forward to this summer even more knowing there’s a freezer full of pork chops and future bacon and sausages nearby.

Shannon picked up something like three pounds of salmon fillet from Costco for $20 this week and after getting a little salmoned out after the third night in a row, I decided to ease myself into the whole curing and smoking thing again by making some gravlax. Gravlax is simply cured salmon, and tastes more or less like smoked salmon, but without the smoke. You can infuse whatever complimentary flavors you want into the meat, but traditionally it is good old-fashioned lemon and dill. Not that fresh salmon is super cheap, but cured and/or smoked salmon is easily three times as much, if not more, so making it yourself is not only a fun and amazing process, but a lovely frugal option for those of you who might like at least 120g of lox on their bagel in the morning or have an entire buffet presentation to make.

The whole process is surprisingly easy, it just requires a lot of time. Time that requires little to no maintenance or attention though, so it’s hardly a burden. In addition to making things taste great, curing creates an inhospitable environment for bacteria. It does not, however, necessarily kill parasites. It may be prudent to use sushi grade salmon, or flash-frozen salmon fillets when making gravlax, to reduce the chance of potential infection. It just seems appropriate to make such a warning beforehand. You can always cook your cured salmon if it’s a huge concern to you, but it’s always good to buy from a good salmon purveyor regardless.

Wild salmon, for the most part, have a higher level of omega-3′s and generally taste better than farmed salmon. Here in the east though, where fishing wild salmon is illegal, importing wild salmon from the west is certainly not the most cost effective method. Farmed will have to do for me until summer, when hopefully Costco starts carrying some wild Sockeye, and I can give my smoker its first tryout. That is, of course, if bacon doesn’t beat it to the punch.

Cured Salmon

• 3/4 cup sugar (175g)
• 3/4 cup kosher salt (175g)
• 2-3 pounds salmon fillet an inch or less thick, bones and skin removed
• 1 bunch dill, roughly chopped
• 1 lemon, zested
• 2 teaspoons black peppercorns, crushed

1. Combine the sugar and salt in a non-metallic, rimmed dish large enough to contain the salmon. If the salmon is too large, cut into identically sized pieces to fit.
2. Dry the salmon thoroughly with paper towels. Press the salmon down into the salt and sugar mixture, then flip and press into the salt and sugar again. Use your hands to spread the salt and sugar over the salmon to make sure it is completely covered.
3. Dust off the excess salt and sugar from the salmon and set aside. Add the dill, lemon and peppercorns to the remaining salt. Put the salmon back into the dish and cover completely with the dill/lemon/pepper/salt/sugar mixture.
4. Cover the dish with plastic wrap with the plastic pressed directly against the salmon, not taut over the dish. Place another dish on top of the plastic wrapped salmon and weigh it down. Anything will do: large cans from the pantry, rocks from the garden, leftover roast beef, etc.
5. Refrigerate the weighted salmon for 24 hours. After 24 hours, remove the weight and investigate! (I just wanted to say that because it rhymed.) You will notice that an incredible amount of liquid has been pressed out of the salmon and it has dried out considerably as a result and is now more or less sitting in a brine. You can drain the brine and repack the salmon with the salt mixture for a drier gravlax, or simply redistribute the salt on top of the salmon and continue curing for at least another 24 hours.
6. Once 48 hours have passed, you can test to see if the curing process is completed. When you press on the salmon, it should feel firm, as though it were cooked, instead of soft, as though it were still raw. If the salmon still feels raw, return it to the fridge to cure for another 24 hours and repeat the test. If the salmon is firm, rinse it under cold water to remove all of the excess salt and herbs.
7. The gravlax can be consumed as is, or patted dry and placed on a rack in the refrigerator (unwrapped, so the air can circulate) to form a “pellicle*”, before being wrapped well and stored in the refrigerator for at least a week, or frozen for up to 3 months.

*Pellicle: The tacky, slightly chewy surface of cured salmon. Developing the pellicle is essential if the cured salmon is to be smoked afterwards, as it picks up more of the smoke flavor during the process. Otherwise, it’s just a textural and flavor preference.

I’d hazard to guess that Campbell’s cream of mushroom soup had a more profound effect on America’s food choices than Julia Child. I think I can count the amount of people that actually eat it as a soup on one hand, it might as well be called, “Campbell’s Casserole Sauce.” My mom prepared tuna noodle casserole quite regularly and I always loved it. I think it’d been more than 10 years since I’d last ate tuna noodle casserole, so I decided to whip one up from scratch.

Making tuna noodle casserole from scratch leaves the flavor profile open to interpretation. That is, you’re free to choose flavors beyond the realm of, “Campbell’s Cream of…” Still wanting the creamy, comforting satisfaction that the Campbell’s version provided me in my youth, I went with a leek and lemon infused bechamel, but there’s really nothing stopping you from making tuna noodle casserole with pesto, tomato sauce or whatever your heart desires. Think outside the box (er, can.)

Tuna Noodle Casserole

• 8 ounces penne
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 cups thinly sliced leek (white part only – about the yield of 1 large leek)
• 1 stalk celery, thinly sliced
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cups warm whole milk
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 2 tablespoons fresh dill, finely chopped
• salt and white pepper
• 2 six ounce cans of chunk light tuna, drained
• 1/2 cup fine bread crumbs
• 1 ounce Gruyere, Emmenthal and/or Parmesan cheese, grated

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the penne to al dente. Do not over cook or you will have one mushy casserole.
3. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large pot over medium-low heat and add the leeks, celery and garlic with a pinch of salt. Sweat the mixture until the leeks are softened and their liquid has been released and evaporated.
4. Add the flour to the leeks and stir to coat. Cook off for a minute.
5. Add the milk to the leeks, 1/2 cup at a time, whisking to work out any lumps each time.
6. Raise the heat of the leek pot to medium-high and add the bay leaf, mustard and lemon zest. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens. Remove from heat, discard the bay leaf and season to taste with dill, salt and white pepper.
7. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta water and drain the pasta. Combine the sauce, pasta and tuna, adding the reserved pasta water to create a creamy consistency, coating all the pasta.
8. Transfer everything to a casserole dish and top with bread crumbs and grated cheese. Bake until top is golden brown, about 15-20 minutes. Cool slightly, cut into wedges and serve.

Feel free to make your own substitutions. As long as the quantities of pasta, tuna, butter, flour and milk remain the same, everything else is more or less fair game.

1/4 cup cornmeal
1 tablespoon flour
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
4 six ounce trout fillets
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon lemon juice
salt and pepper

1. Combine cornmeal, flour, garlic powder, oregano, salt and pepper and lay out on a plate.
2. Press the flesh of the trout into the beaten egg and then into the cornmeal.
3. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add the olive oil. Melt butter in the olive oil, then cook the trout, cornmeal side down, until crisp. Flip and cook on the skin side until the center of the fillet is opaque.
4. Drizzle with lemon juice to serve.

Makes 4 servings

12 sardines
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 egg yolks
1 tablespoon lemon juice
salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Rub sardines with some of the olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
3. Place sardines on a baking tray and put the oven, roasting until eyes turn opaque, about 5 or 6 minutes. Remove from oven.
4. Meanwhile, combine garlic, egg yolks and lemon juice in a blender. Slowly add the olive oil until you have a thick mayonnaise. You may not need all of the olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
5. Serve sardines hot with a tablespoon or two of the aioli.

Makes 4 servings

4 six ounce boneless, skinless salmon fillets, halved
2 cups ricotta
1/2 cup baby spinach
1/2 cup mayonnaise
salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine ricotta, spinach and salt and pepper.
3. Place 1/4 of the ricotta mixture on top of a salmon fillet and sandwich with the other half. Repeat with remaining filling and fillets.
4. Transfer stuffed salmon to a baking sheet and spread mayonnaise on top. Bake until salmon is light and flaky, about 15-20 minutes.

Makes 4 servings