Beetroot salmon gravlax blinis

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I’m not sure if it’s as much of a thing here in Australia as it is in the UK, but when I think about quintessentially Christmas food, salmon always comes to mind. Whether that’s eggs and smoked salmon for breakfast on Christmas morning, a roast side of salmon as part of Boxing Day celebrations, or a fancy little canapé at any party or celebration.

Blinis are probably one of the most iconic canapés that tend to feature salmon, and while you can buy all of the ingredients ready made leaving nothing but the assembly left to do, I think making these from scratch results in an extra delicious and special nibble!

If you’ve not tried a blini before, it’s essentially a very small, savoury pancake (with roots in Eastern Europe). If you’ve never heard of gravlax, it’s a Nordic dish of cured salmon - the translation roughly equates to graved salmon, as the salmon is “buried” in the cure - fun fact: apparently fishermen used to do this by fermenting the fish by salting it and burying in sand.

Anyway, back to the recipe. You will need 48 hours to cure the salmon ready to make your blinis, however you can also do this well in advance and have it ready to go in the fridge. But, if like me you leave everything to the last minute, you still have plenty of time to make this for Christmas :)

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Beetroot salmon gravlax blinis

Makes 30 blinis and 800g side of salmon

Ingredients 

Beetroot cured salmon gravlax

• 800g skin on side of salmon - ask your fishmonger to clean/de-bone for you

• 300g raw beetroot, peeled

• 150g flaky sea salt

• 60g sugar

• 75ml vodka

• Zest of 1 lemon

• Couple of handfuls of fresh dill - plus extra for storing and serving

Blinis

• 1 cup flour

• 1/2 tsp baking powder

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1 cup whole milk

• 1 large egg

• 2 tbsp olive oil

Horseradish cream

• 200g creme fraiche

• 1-2 tbsp horseradish (depending on how strong it is)

• 1 tsp lemon zest

Method 

For the gravlax

1. Combine all of the ingredients (besides the salmon!) in a blender and whizz to a paste - it’ll be quite liquid-y.

2. Place the salmon on a baking tray. Rub a little of the beetroot cure into the skin then place the fish skin down in the tray.

3. Pour the rest of the cure all over the salmon and use your hands to press as much of it into the flesh as possible.

4. Cover the tray with clingfilm and place another tray with a weight on it on top to press down onto the salmon.

5. Store in the fridge for 48 hours.

6. After curing for two days, pour the liquid from the tray and use your hands to scrape away the cure from the flesh and skin of the salmon. Use kitchen paper to further wipe away any of the curing mix.

7. Now it’s ready to use! You can cut away thin slices on a slight angle along the length of the flesh.

8. To store, press some fresh dill into the flesh and tightly cover with clingfilm. You can store this for up to a couple of weeks.

For the blinis

1. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and whisk to form a smooth batter.

2. Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a non-stick frying pan, then add a tablespoon measure of batter for each blini - cook about 4-5 at a time.

3. When bubbles start to form on the blinis, flip them over. They should take a few minutes to cook both sides.

4. Add more oil to the pan as needed with each batch.

5. Place cooked blinis on a wire rack to cool and to stop them from getting clammy as they do. These can be made in advance - story in a Tupperware container - use baking paper to separate layers of blinis.

For the horseradish cream

1. Whisk together all of the ingredients. That’s it!

To assemble

1. Add a tsp of the horseradish cream to a blini. Top with a couple of slithers of gravlax and a little fresh dill.