Dinner Party (part one)

I love entertaining my friends. And I love cooking. This time it was a meal for 5 and I decided to try something new, maybe a bit risky. I cured a side of Salmon, better known as Gravlax, the great Swedish classic. It takes 3 days to marinate and cure the salmon but its absolutely worth it. I used a marinade from Sloe gin, blackberries and clementines. Then I added the herbs after 2 days. The rest of the spread was also with a Swedish touch, beetroot, dill boiled potatoes, cucumber, crème fraiche. It was delicious and light. So there was enough room for the desert.

To prepare the salmon you need the following:
800g side of salmon, must be fresh, no scales or bones.
Blackberry cure
2 boxes of blackberries, around 200g each
2 juniper berries, bashed
5 tablespoons rock salt
5 tablespoons Demerara sugar
zest of 2 clementines
50ml Sloe gin
Herb Cure
bunch of dill
bunch of tarragon
50ml Sloe gin

Place the blackberries in a large pot, add the zest from clementines, the juniper berries and blitz everything in food processor until smooth. Stirr in the salt and sugar. Then add the Sloe gin and mix well. Place the salmon in a large tray skin side down and pour over the cure. It should cover the salmon completely. Use a spoon to spread it around. The wrap in a double layer of baking paper and tightly in cling film. place in the fridge overnight. Check next day( after 24 hours) and spoon more cure over salmon if necessary. On the third day, take it out, unwrap and very gently rinse the cure of the salmon.
For the herb cure combine all ingredients in a bowl. Place the salmon back in the tray and spread the herby cure over it pressing it down with your hands. Cover the whole salmon as much as possible. Then wrap again in paper and cling film and place in the fridge for another night or at least 8 hours.
once ready, just slice thinly and serve.
Recipe is from Jamie Oliver magazine