Recipe - Tequila-Cured Salmon Gravlax

2 pound Fresh; boneless salmon
fillet (skin on), all pin
bones
Removed
One fourth cup Black peppercorns
One half cup Firmlypacked dark brown
sugar
One half cup Coarse kosherstyle salt
1 small Bunch Fresh cilantro;
washed, dried
1 small Bunch Fresh clean dill weed
1 small Bunch Fresh scallions
One half cup Goodquality golden tequila
Culinarygrade cheesecloth
to wrap the
Fillets
Weight for weighing down the
salmon as it
Cures; such as unopened
plastic bags of
Dried beans; or gallon jugs
of cooking oil
1 cup Looselypacked fresh
cilantro leaves
Sliced pumpernickel bread
One half cup Dijon mustard
3 tablespoon Confectioners' sugar
Lime wedges

Put the peppercorns in a spice mill and crush to a coarse grind. In a bowl
combine the pepper, sugar and salt and blend well together. Place the
bunches of cilantro, dill, and scallions together in the bowl of a food
processor and process until finely chopped. Rinse some cheese cloth under
cold running water. Unfold the cheese cloth and lay a large piece out on
your work surface. The cloth will have to be large enough to wrap
completely around the salmon several times. Choose the freshest salmon
possible for this dish as this is a cured but not cooked dish and fresh
really counts. Cut the fish fillet into two equal pieces and lay it, skin
side down, in the center of the cheesecloth. Spread the sugar, salt, and
pepper mixture evenly over the salmon flesh. Spread the chopped herbs in
the same manner and then sprinkle the tequila over the herbs. The flesh of
the salmon should be totally coated in this curing seasoning. Once all the
tequila has been absorbed, sandwich the two fillets together,
fleshtoflesh and skinsidesout. Position the fillet "sandwich" in the
center of the cloth and wrap as you would a gift, pulling the cloth as
tightly as possible around the fillets. Lay the package on a cake cooling
rack set over a cookie sheet. The rack allows air to circulate for more
efficient drying, while the cookie sheet will catch the liquid extracted
during the threeday curing period. Put the weight in a second, smaller
cake pan and place it on top of the fish. The weight must be properly and
evenly distributed so as to press out the unwanted water. Place the entire
curing setup in the bottom, the coldest area, of your refrigerator and
begin the 3 day curing process. Remove the weight and flip the fish package
over every 24 hours, replacing the weight each time. Drain off and discard
any liquid that collects in the pan when you do this. At the end of the 72
hours the fish must be cleaned. Remove the cheesecloth and discard it.
Drain any accumulated liquid, scrape off all of the used herbs and salt and
pepper. Rinse the fish under cold running water and pat the fish totally
dry. The salmon is now fully cured and as entirely edible as smoked salmon
but must be kept refrigerated. To serve, finely chop one cup of fresh
cilantro and cover the flesh side of the fish. Using a very sharp knife,
slice the salmon as thinly as possible, at a 45 degree angle. Your first
slices may look a bit rough, but be patient. With a little practice you'll
soon be turning out elegant greenedged red ribbons of gravlax. Mix the
mustard and confectioner's sugar and serve with pumpernickel and wedges of
lime. This recipe yields 8 to 10