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Warm weather leaves me with little inclination to bake, steam, fry or grill. These recipes for cold-cured salmon (gravlax) and chopped herring salad won’t heat up the kitchen, and they work well as starters for a Shabbat dinner or as appetizers or light entrées anytime.

Back-of-the-Box Gravlax reminds me of lox or smoked salmon. I adapted the recipe from one on the back of an old carton of kosher Diamond Crystal Salt. Choose very fresh, wild-caught or sustainably raised salmon for this dish. Try serving it with Mustard Dill Sauce (also from the back of the Diamond Crystal box).

Aunt Lee was my husband’s aunt. Friends have said her Chopped Herring Salad tasted just like something their grandmothers might have made. The recipe calls for herring in wine sauce (sometimes called marinated or pickled herring). Do not substitute herring in cream sauce.

 

Back-of-the-Box Gravlax

Serves 6-8

1⁄4 cup kosher salt

3 Tbs. sugar

2 Tbs. cracked or crushed peppercorns

1 lb. salmon fillet

1⁄2 bunch fresh dill

Mustard Dill Sauce:

31⁄2 Tbs. Dijon mustard

1 tsp. dry mustard

21⁄2 Tbs. sugar

11⁄2 Tbs. white vinegar

1⁄3 cup oil

3 Tbs. chopped fresh dill

For sauce, blend mustards, sugar and vinegar well. Whisk in oil to form a thick sauce. Stir in chopped dill. Cover and chill until ready to use.

For fish, mix together salt, sugar and peppercorns. Rub half of the mix on both sides of the fillet. Place salmon in a nonreactive pan or dish, skin side down. Sprinkle the rest on top of the fillet. Scatter the dill branches over the top.

Cover with plastic wrap. Put a plate on top of the fish and place a heavy weight (such as a can or brick) on top of the plate. Let sit at room temperature for six hours. The salmon will exude liquids.

Move to refrigerator (with weight on top). Refrigerate for 1-3 days, turning the fish over every 12 hours, basting it with the liquids when you do. The fish should be nicely finished throughout and have a cured taste. (The longer you allow it to cure, the stronger the flavor. Very thin fillets will cure faster.)

Remove from the brine, discard dill and brush off any remaining salt or peppercorns. Remove skin from the salmon if necessary. Slice thinly on the bias in short strips.

 

Aunt Lee’s Chopped Herring Salad

Serves 4-8

1 12-ounce jar of herring in wine sauce

6 hard-boiled eggs

2 medium-size tart apples, peeled and cored

2 small onions, peeled

2-3 Tbs. vinegar or to taste

1-2 Tbs. sugar or to taste

3 Tbs. unseasoned bread crumbs or matzah meal, more or less, as needed

Drain herring, reserving liquid. Chop herring into very small pieces (but do not purée). Chop eggs into very small pieces, being careful not to purée. Chop or grate apples and onions. Combine herring, eggs, apples and onions in a bowl. Mix well.

Add 1 Tbs. of the reserved herring liquid. Add the lesser amounts of vinegar and sugar. Taste and adjust, adding more herring liquid, vinegar and/or sugar as needed.

Stir in the bread or matzah crumbs as needed to bind the salad. Serve on top of lettuce as a first course or with crackers or matzah as an appetizer or snack.

Faith Kramer is a Bay area food writer. Her columns alternate with those of Louise Fiszer. She blogs her food at www.clickblogappetit.blogspot.com. Contact her at [email protected].