Sweet and Spicy Salmon Bites
I Always smile when I see to associate the cooking on grill only to informal and “sprawled” settings. Elegance is a “State of Mind” and it is always applicable in any case, regardless of what you have on hand for bringing it to being. Grilling is no different: a greater attention to aesthetic form, a more careful search of contrasts and sensations “suggested” rather than “screamed” are prerogatives the griller can always put in the field, whether it is at work on a flanders tablecloth, both having their own cutting board on a wooden plank table, next to a bale of hay. The cue of today just obeys this rule, it comes from few simple ingredients, creating a finger food that has had considerable success in our “etiquette” catering, those in which we had to replace our fireproof gloves with the proverbial white ones.
The recipe is simple, almost trivial, and requires a technical mastery close to nil. Guaranteed success and no hassles at all. These are small cubes of salmon, browned with a a very sweet rub, with a lively but not intrusive kick, subjected to intense indirect heat and glazed with maple syrup. They are served on toasted black bread croutons with a light sprinkling of dill. Impossible to get wrong, yet elegant.
Ingredients (appetizer for 6 people):
1/2 Slice of Salmon with skin
10 cl. Maple Syrup
2 teaspoons of Dill
1/2 loaf of Black Bread
(for the Rub)
2 spoons of Brown Sugar
2 spoons of Salt
1 teaspoon of White Sugar
1 teaspoon of Smoked Salt
1 teaspoon of Black Pepper
1 teaspoon of dehydrated Onion
1 teaspoon of Chili Pepper
Realization:
- If you can, when you buy the slice of Salmon, choose a thick, meaty one. Cut it into about two cm. side cubes, leaving the skin attacked. Mix together the ingredients of the Rub carefully, then pour it in a foil pan and or in any case on a flat surface. Take each cube of salmon and place each side on the Rub, except the one with skin. Place the cubes on the side of the skin, on a baking tray.
- Cut the bread into slices about 1/2 cm thick, take the crust off and cut each slice into cubes slightly larger than the salmon cubes. Place the bread bites on a baking tray.
- Turn on your device and set-up by indirect mode, to very intense heat. It is not important the temperature, 10 degrees more or less does not greatly affect the final result. The important thing is it is an indirect boost.
- Place the bread baking tray on Indirect side until the croutons are not browned to perfection. Remove the tray of bread, put it to cool down and replace it with the salmon’s one. Leave on cooking until perfectly brown, it will take about 15 minutes.
- With the help of a brush coat the Salmon cubes sides with Maple Syrup and keep on cooking for a few minutes. Then repeat the operation but in milder form, wait a further minute and then remove from cooking. Do not be afraid of being wrong with time, the Salmon is not particularly delicate, within reasonable limits one minute more or less cooking will not change anything.
- Take each Salmon cube and place it on the black bread crouton. In taking the cubes, it may happens that the skin remains attached to the tray. It’s fine that it is so and where this does not happen, take it of by yourself, it will come away with incredible ease, you will see.
- Just before serving, sprinkle the cubes with a few dill, if you want it to be even cooler use fresh dill.
Pairings:
The pairing I would feel to suggest, depends very much on the context in which it is served. About Wine, when the Candy Salmon is proposed in a course menu, I would pair a scented and aromatic Gewürztraminer Alto Adige Doc. If (as most of times happens, in truth) it is part of a standing buffet, I would look for some bubbles with broad shoulders and I go on a Trento DOC.
Instead, If we talk about Beer, we need a fresh one, with a good aroma and suitable alcohol. I would choose a Strong Lager.
