BAGEL AND LOX
Serves 6
This dish is simple: a concentrated form of the classic morning routine of having your bagel with lox and cream cheese. The bagels are toasted and pureed with cream cheese, amplifying the bagel flavor, and are accompanied by toasted bagel croutons for texture. Fresh dill sprigs shoot up from the bagel puree, providing a bright aromatic quality. Salmon is cured with bay leaves and peppercorns and smoked in an Erlenmeyer flask at the table with a smoking gun. When eaten together, the components harmonize into a familiar breakfast experience. The briny intensity of this dish became Richie’s inspiration for the “River” course in 2013 (see here).
BAGEL STOCK:
100 grams (1 large) bagel
700 grams water
4 grams salt
BAGEL AND CREAM CHEESE PUREE:
100 grams (1 large) bagel
400 grams Bagel Stock
75 grams cream cheese, room temperature
5 grams salt
BAGEL CROUTONS:
100 grams (1 large) bagel
20 grams vegetable oil
5 grams salt
CURED SALMON:
5 bay leaves
15 black peppercorns
10 cloves
300 grams salt
150 grams sugar
50 grams onion powder
50 grams garlic powder
5 grams grated nutmeg
One 300-gram salmon fillet
TO FINISH:
36 small dill sprigs
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT:
Applewood chips
Smoking gun or Super Aladin Smoker (see Sources, here)
Erlenmeyer flask or Aladin Smoking Dome (see Sources, here)
BAGEL STOCK:
Slice the bagel in half and toast until golden brown. Break it into pieces and transfer to a blender. Add the water and salt, and puree on high for 30 seconds, until smooth. Transfer to a covered container and let the stock infuse for 1 hour. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve and reserve.
BAGEL AND CREAM CHEESE PUREE:
Slice the bagel in half and toast until golden brown. Break it into pieces and put it in a blender with the bagel stock, cream cheese, and salt. Puree on high for 1 minute, until smooth. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a large plain tip and refrigerate until ready to serve.
BAGEL CROUTONS:
Preheat the oven to 300°F.
Cut the bagel in half and square off the pieces to create rectangles. Trim off the crust and dice the rectangles into ¼-inch cubes. Put them in a bowl and coat with the oil and salt. Spread the croutons out on a sheet pan and bake for 10 minutes, until golden brown and dry. Remove from the oven and cool to room temperature. Reserve in an airtight container until ready to serve.
CURED SALMON:
Put the bay leaves, peppercorns, and cloves in a spice grinder and grind to a powder. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and add the salt, sugar, onion powder, garlic powder, and nutmeg. Whisk to blend the cure.
Check the salmon fillet for pin bones and remove if necessary. Put 150 grams of salmon cure in a baking dish large enough to hold the fish. Lay the fillet on top of the cure and cover with the remaining cure. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 5 hours.
Remove the fish from the cure and rinse under cold water. Pat dry with paper towels and portion the Cured Salmon into 30-gram pieces. Refrigerate in a covered container until ready to serve.
TO FINISH:
Use a piping bag to pipe 20 grams of Bagel and Cream Cheese Puree in a curvy line the length of each plate. Top the bagel puree with 12 grams of Bagel Croutons. Line 6 dill sprigs along the Bagel and Cream Cheese Puree.
Set the plates in front of the guests at the table. Put a piece of the Cured Salmon on the ends of 6 forks. Place the forks with the salmon in an Erlenmeyer flask. Place the end of the fork in a cork, or cover with plastic wrap and poke a hole in the wrap. Fill the flask with applewood smoke from a smoking gun and close the top of the flask so the fish is inside with the fork. Let the salmon smoke for 5 minutes. Remove the fork from the flask and place on the plate. Alternatively, place the 6 forks on a plate and cover with the Aladin dome. Use the Super Aladin Smoker to fill the dome with applewood smoke and let it smoke for 5 minutes. Remove the dome from the plate, set a fork with Cured Salmon on each plate, and instruct everyone to enjoy the dish.
