Orange and pink peppercorn gin-cured salmon
Impress this Christmas with these delicious canapés, made with crispy crostinis, cream cheese, and the star of the show – fragrant gin-cured salmon. Recipe and image courtesy of Hernö Gin, hernogin.com
Prep: 20 mins
Total: 20 mins
plus 12-24 hours curing time
Serves: 8
Ingredients
- 75g Granulated sugar
- 75g Fine salt
- 100ml Hernö dry gin
- 2 Large oranges, juice and zest (approx. 4 tsp orange zest and 120ml juice)
- Whole pink peppercorns (lightly crushed)
- ½ tsp Chilli flakes
- 800g-900g Boneless, skin-on salmon side
- ½ Cucumber (sliced into ribbons)
- 200g Crème fraîche
- Handful of fresh dill
- 1 x Packet crostini
Method
Step 1
In a bowl, whisk together the curing mixture ingredients. Place the salmon in a large, deep dish and pour the marinade over it. Massage into the salmon on both sides, ensuring it’s evenly distributed. Cover the dish in clingfilm and refrigerate for 12 hours.
Step 2
Check on the salmon, and if it’s firm to the touch all over, it’s ready to serve. If the thickest part of the centre is still soft, turn the salmon over in the dish, spoon more of the curing mixture over the top, and refrigerate again for another few hours (or up to 24 hours, depending on how strong you want the flavour to be). Once fully cured, rinse thoroughly to remove the curing mixture and pat dry.
Step 3
Slice the salmon thinly, on the diagonal, slicing away from the skin as you go (or carefully remove the skin first).
Step 4
Slice the cucumber into paper-thin ribbons using a potato peeler and pat dry. To assemble, spread the crostini with a layer of crème fraîche, then add a folded cucumber ribbon, a few slices of salmon and a pinch of dill to garnish.
