Three neighbours on our street are participating in a progressive dinner party. It’s where we each have a course at our home for the dinner. The idea came to me after seeing Episode 23 of Season 7 (clip), full episode for US readers only of Desperate Housewives, the Come on Over for Dinner episode. I can only hope that no one will burn their food, that there will not be a murder and that none of the husbands plan to leave any of the wives at our event. JT and I are doing the main course and after careful consideration, we decided that a cold dinner on such a hot night 88°F or 31C, would be perfect. And it’s pretty easy too, not leaving any chance for timing issues because everything is prepared in advance and kept in the fridge. Clever, eh? That also saves me from burning the dinner, oh, my, my.
Let me start off that I am no expert smoker like Greg at Rufus’ Food and Spirits Guide but I dare say that I do make a great hot and cold smoked salmon! The texture is more like baked salmon, but it parlays that gorgeous smoky flavour that cold smoking brings to the table. I would also like to add that we do not have the professional smoker that Greg has, but we do have an 8″ Smoke Daddy cold smoker. Now these folks at Smoke Daddy have taken the guess work out of the equation for us amateur smokers and made it very easy to adapt our Weber to be able to add the sophisticated flavour of smoke to any BBQ’d dish.
We prefer to get the Wild Pacific Salmon which has the deep pink colour because it’s beautiful and very flavourful (incidentally, the pinker the salmon the more shrimp it ate in the wild) but this recipe will work with any salmon.
Hot and Cold Smoked Wild Pacific Salmon
Recipe is from a multitude of sources perfected over the years
Serves 6
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup brown sugar (or maple syrup)
- 1/4 cup table salt
- 4 cups cold water
- 1 kg wild Pacific Salmon, skin on or off (it’s easier to move about if you leave the skin on, it practically falls off on its own when it’s done)
Directions:
- Mix the brown sugar, salt and water until dissolved. Lay salmon in a long container with a good lid (one that fits into the fridge).
- Pour brine over the salmon and refrigerate with the lid on over night or up to two days.
- About 1 hour before you are ready to smoke, remove the salmon from the brine and dry off completely. Place the fish on a wire rack above the now empty container it was in and refrigerate without any cover for 1-2 hours. It needs to dry out (much like me, after a long weekend with Paul and T!)
- Prepare your cold smoker according to directions (we used mesquite wood). Place salmon skin side down in the smoker and cold smoke for 45 minutes (I placed my fish close to the front because eventually I will turn the back burner on).
- After about 45 minutes, turn the back burner on to a very low heat of 121°C or 250°F continuing to cold smoke (with the 8″ Smoke Daddy, I had to refuel once during the entire cooking process). Bake and smoke the fish for an additional 30-90 minutes, depending on how thick it is. You can tell it’s done by pressing down on the thick flesh, it should bounce right back.
- Serve cold, warm or hot with a lemon aioli.
[…] Taylor You may recall I posted the hot and cold smoked salmon for our progressive dinner party here and I served it with a Quinoa Tabouleh (leave out the feta and poached egg) and a rather simple […]
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How did I miss this amazing dish! I could easily eat every bit of your salmon…pacing myself over a day or two 😉 I think I need a smoker!
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The Smoke Daddy is a great smoker because it is small, easy to store, easy to use and doesn’t break the bank. I would recommend it definitely, Liz.
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hmmmm….very interesting Eva. I’ve never brined a piece of salmon before. Do you feel that doing so creates a greater infusion of the brown sugar and salt than a simple rub would?
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I think they generally brine for cold smoking salmon, it help keep it moist throughout the cold smoke process. I’ve done it both ways (cold with brine and hot with rub) and both have their taste advantages. Since I was cold smoking for 45 minutes first, I decided that the brine would be the way to go. Hot smoking, you could get away with just the rub.
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Eva, I have never told you but I only eat wild salmon. I hate the farmed one and find it too greasy (I prefer a humble sardine or mackerel instead), but the wild salmon both raw and smoked is delicious. Your smoked salmon looks so appetising! I can only imagine how good the smell is too. I wish I could have such a beautiful piece of wild fish and smoke it.
The words “progressive dinner” made me think at once about the Desperate Housewives 😉
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Thanks Sissi, I don’t care for the farmed salmon either. I was surprised to see a billboard for Desperate Housewives in Hungary about 10 years ago. Do they play it in English in Switzerland? In Hungary it is dubbed in Hungarian, it is very funny to watch.
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Eva, on Swiss tv (and French because we mainly watch French tv here) most films are dubbed alas. There are however recently more and more films with a dubbed or subtitled option which can be choosed through the remote control (although I don’t remember if it’s only cable tv or the standard tv channels too).
The thing I absolute hate are dubbed films in the cinema. Luckily here only American “light” films have two versions (dubbed and subtitled, depending on the hours or cinema), but I suppose a big part of their target public is not able to read subtitles and follow the screen action at the same time…
Good, intelligent films are always only with subtitles. I have heard that in some countries (like Germany) it’s really difficult to find a subtitled film in the cinema.
I’ve heard that in Sweden everything is subtitled on tv, this is probably one of the main reasons of their good level of English.
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I think your idea to serve a cold meal is a brilliant one. I can only imagine how beautiful the smoky flavor paired with the lemon aioli
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I wish I had made more so we could have left overs, Sawsan. It is one of my favourite summer meals.
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Looks fantastic Eva – I don’t have a smoker, would love to have one one day though… can’t wait to get working on things like this. Planning on smoking reindeer and elk too (that’s for when I live in Sweden I mean) – my… er… “uncle-in-law” (is that even a name?) hunts and fishes so hopefully I’ll be able to come to a meat arrangement with him 😀
I recent read some tips on how to smoke at home (as in, in a wok, in the kitchen) – I wouldn’t mind giving that a try!
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Smoking elk and reindeer (we call it venison, for some strange reason; perhaps it’s because we prefer not to eat Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer!). I’ve not heard of smoking in a wok, but it sounds interesting. You would need a very strong vent hood fan to draw the smoke out so you don’t suffocate!
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Hi Eva – we don’t have reindeer in England, so we get our venison from normal deer, the small ones… I didn’t realise that reindeer meat was called venison too. Love venison – so tasty!
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What a delicious course! I bet everyone was looking forward to coming over to your house. And hehe I saw that DH episode although the ending was not the ideal ending for a progressive dinner! 😮
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Yes, it worked out wonderfully well. And we didn’t have any mishaps either. That was some shoe, wasn’t it. We saw Teri Hatcher live when she performed with Band from TV in February and she is very, very thin.
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Goodness! Salmon for a progressive dinner. You spoil your guests. What time is dinner? 😀
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It was at around 8:00, and it worked out perfectly Genie. Not sure how I’m going to handle this in the fall when we will likely have a hot meal. Perhaps I will impose on JT to cook his splendid Bœuff Bourgignon!
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I love this!! What a great idea for keeping things straightforward so that you get to enjoy the progressive dinner as well (and no fires!). I have a Webber and will look to see if we can do the same with ours. I’m terrified of smokers (and a great admirer of Greg’s) and this would be easier to figure out I think?? Enjoy your party!!
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Let me know if you buy one, Smidge, JT figured out how to attach it without a lot of problems, we’d be happy to take pictures and send you instructions. Apparently, you can also attach the Smoke Daddy to a plastic container, but I like it in the Weber, it’s nice and clean. We take ours on and off as needed, so it’s not even a pain to remove and reattach.
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Haha! What a fun idea for a dinner party – hopefully everyone will behave ;-). This salmon looks perfect. A simple preparation rendering dependable results – that’s what I like in a dinner party situation! I guess if you were serving it cold you could prepare it in advance and have it ‘resting’ in the fridge until show time… how convenient!
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Thanks Kelly, that’s exactly how we played it out that night; it worked our perfectly! And it was so yummy.
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Love your smoked salmon Eva! It’s been a long time since I’ve had salmon smoked at home (we had a smoker when I was a child, I assume it just wore out or something because it’s not around anymore) – oh the memories your post has brought back! Hope your guests enjoyed the smoked salmon!
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Thanks Amber, so glad it brought back such great memories. We loved the dish, I wished I had made extra for left overs!
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Mmmmm! I want to come to your house for sure! What a fun event! And hopefully no one will burn dinner or run out on a spouse! Lol!
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Everything turned out OK Kristy! And we were all fine the next day too, the rowdy bunch that we are.
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This salmon looks awesome! I have never given smoking a try but my brother and dad love it so with your post I could 🙂
Hot or cold its gorgeous 🙂
Cheers
CCU
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Thanks CCU, it was certainly a treat for us.
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I had no idea that pinker salmon meant that it ate more shrimp…I can’t tell my husband that, though because he hates shrimp! This looks great and is really making me wish we had a smoker of any kind. I’m sure your guests were delighted!
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I won’t say anything to your husband Betsy! Mums the word! The guests loved the salmon, I wish I had made more for left overs.
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What a lovely idea for a social event with the neighbours, Eva. Not too much work or stress for any one person.
The planked salmon sounds wonderful for those of us who don’t have a “smoke daddy’. 🙂 And of course, Metro sells the pre-cut planks and the salmon so it’s one stop shopping. But I’m resisting. It’s so frustrating being a single person who likes to cook .. but not too often. I’ll have to wait til my nephew comes home and do some salmon on the bbq for him. With lemon aioli, of course.
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I generally cook for four anyway so we could have left overs for lunches. The salmon planks are great too, I’ve done both in the past. Makes a wonderful summer dinner.
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This sounds delicious. Eva. Your neighbors are lucky.
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How very sweet of you to say, Sharyn. It was a very fun evening. We plan to have another in the fall.
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I participated in one progressive dinner and it was a great deal of fun. Your idea of serving a cold main, in that heatwave we all experienced, was inspired, Eva. I bet your salmon & aioli were the big hits of the evening — and rightfully so.
Thanks, too, for giving such great, detailed instructions for us smoker novices. This is actually doable.
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It was so easy to do, John. I even fired up the BBQ and the smoker on my own as JT had to work (they are usually his domain). The salmon went over extremely well, in fact, so well, I did not have ANY left overs!
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Looks pretty darn good to me. I don’t think I’m a pro, but I do appreciate the compliment!
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Thanks Greg; you can smoke a turkey, which is well beyond my means. That’s pretty pro to me. But you are so welcome.
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I think a progressive dinner between neighbours is a fabulous idea. And another good idea is to have cold food on a stinking hot night (that might be an Australian expression!) Your salmon and the way you cooked it sounds really delicious. I have a sister-in-law from Vancouver and she cooks ‘board salmon’. You buy special boards of wood and cook the salmon on them over wood chips in the BBQ and it give the salmon a very distinct flavour. Have you heard of it? xx
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Hi Charlie, yes, it was indeed stinkin’ hot that night. Our first stop was for cocktails and hors d’œuvres at my friend’s place with the new patio, someone decided to sit outside (the host had placed all the food inside, with good reason). The sweat was dripping down my back, it was horrible. I had to seek refuge indoors a couple of times just to dry off.
Yes, I’ve done that type of salmon, they do it mainly on cedar planks. It’s quite lovely too. In fact, the last time I made this cold/hot smoked salmon, I did it on two cedar planks. I guess I just forgot about that this time. Can you get this type of really pink salmon in Australia?
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Hot or cold…as long as it’s salmon!!! Lemon aioli sounds terrific to me too.
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Thanks Angie. Wish I made a bigger fish for leftovers!
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Thank you kindly Angie. I also love salmon and it paired with the lemon aioli very well.
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