Impress your guests with salmon, smoked urban style at home. Enjoy it with fresh-from-the-oven baked bannock and homemade aioli or on top of a crisp salad.
Ingredients
Oven-baked bannock
1 1/2 cups (350 mL) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/4 Tbsp (19 mL) baking powder
3/4 tsp (4 mL) salt
2/3 cup (160 mL) cold water
Organic canola oil, for brushing
Lemon aioli
2 large organic eggs
2 tsp (10 mL) Dijon mustard
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 lemon, zested and juiced
1 1/2 cups (350 mL) organic canola oil
Sage brine
1 Tbsp (15 mL) ground dry white buffalo sage
1 Tbsp (15 mL) ground juniper berry
1 Tbsp (15 mL) ground bay leaves
1 Tbsp (15 mL) ground sweetgrass
1 1/2 Tbsp (22 mL) ground dry dill
1 1/4 cups (310 mL) brown sugar
1 cup (250 mL) kosher salt
6 – 5 oz (142 g) salmon fillets
Handful of white buffalo sage
Pickles and arugula, to serve
Directions
For bannock, preheat oven to 400 F (200 C). In large bowl, mix dry ingredients. Make a well in the middle and add about half the water to fill well. With sturdy spoon, start incorporating flour mixture, beginning with walls of the well. Once water is incorporated, add more water as needed and continue to mix until dough becomes sticky. Do not overmix.
Sprinkle generous amount of flour onto work surface and form dough into 6 puck-sized portions.
Oil baking sheet and place bannock directly on sheet. Brush entire surface of dough with oil. Place baking sheet on middle rack of oven and bake for 10 minutes. Flip bannock and bake for an additional 10 minutes or until lightly golden brown.
In stand mixer with whisk attachment, combine all aioli ingredients, except oil, on medium speed. Once combined, turn mixer to high speed and add oil very slowly to start the emulsion. Continue to add oil in a slow, steady stream and continue to mix until thick. Aioli will keep for up to 1 week in the refrigerator.
Meanwhile, assemble your “smoking station” by placing small fireproof bowl in large, deep-dish container big enough to hold both the salmon and the bowl.
(A metal roasting pan works well for this, with the small bowl placed in the corner.)
In another bowl, with whisk, combine sage brine ingredients and then rub each salmon fillet with a generous coating. Place fish in deep-dish container and place handful of white buffalo sage into small fireproof bowl. Light sage on fire and quickly cover the container with lid (or aluminum foil if your roasting pan doesn’t have a lid). Allow salmon to smoke for 20 minutes. Relight sage if you desire a smokier flavour.
Preheat oven to 425 F (220 C). Remove cover from roasting pan with smoked salmon. Place in preheated oven and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, or until almost baked through (salmon will continue to cook once removed from oven).
To assemble, cut bannock in half horizontally, spread lemon aioli onto both halves, add salmon fillet, and top with pickles and arugula.
Store extra aioli in fridge for up to 1 week. Store brine in cupboard for use on fish and meats.
Each serving contains: 497 calories; 36 g protein; 27 g total fat (4 g sat. fat, 0 g trans fat); 26 g total carbohydrates (1 g sugars, 1 g fibre); 377 mg sodium
