Salmon with Honey-Peppercorn Crust

Salmon peppercorn encrusted salmon served with marinated red onions and beurre blanc sauce.

Ingredients:
4 lbs salmon
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup coarsely cracked peppercorns
fresh dill for garnish

Salmon Brine
3 Cups water
6 Tablespoons kosher salt
2 Cups brown suger
2 Tablespoons grated fresh ginger to 2 teaspoons ground ginger
3 Bay leaves
2 Tablespoons Liquid smoke
2 teaspoons whole allspice, crushed

Marinated Red Onions
One large or two medium red onions, sliced into thin rings
3/4 Cup sugar
1 Cup distilled vinegar
1 Tablespoon kosher salt

Beurre Blanc
2 sticks unsalted butter
2 shallots, finely minced
1/2 Tablespoons white wine vinegar
lemon juice

Directions:
Purchase salmon 48 hours before the dinner. Figure about 8ounces per adult. Salmon can be a large fillet that will be cooked whole with the skin still on the back, or individual fillets or steaks.

First preparation step: Prepare the corning brine. In a sauce pot on the stove, combine water, salt,brown suger,ginger, bay leaves, liquid smoke, allspice. Bring ingredients to a simmer. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. Transfer to a large Ziploc bag with the salmon in it. Marinate in the refrigerator 8 - 10 hours or overnight. Remove salmon from corning brine and set to on a rack with a drip pan below it. Save corning brine for a later step. Refrigerate the salmon on the rack/drip tray to dry out, uncovered overnight.

Second Step: Prepare peppercorn crust.
Coarsely crack peppercorns(black, white, pink, green) to give you about 1/4 cup. Add the peppercorns to the brine in a sauce pot, bring to a simmer, turn off heat and let steep for 15 minutes.
Remove bay leaves. Use a fine sesh strainer or even a paper towel to drain off the marinade. (Your are done with the marinade now.) Remove salmon from the refrigerator, still on the rack/drip pan, and generously drizzle honey over the top of the salmon. Spread the peppercorn crust over the honeyed salmon. Refrigerate until ready to bake.

Fourth step: Prepare the marinated red onions.
Bring sugar, vinegar, and salt to a boil in a sauce pot over med-high heat. Remove from heat and pour into a glass container that has a lid. Add onion rings and cover loosely. Refrigeration is not needed if you will be serving the salmon with four hours.

Baking the salmon
Remove salmon from refrigerator, bake in the oven on the rack/drip pan at 350 degrees for 7-10 minutes for individual small portions, to 30 minutes for a whole fillet. Serve individual portions on plates. Drizzle the beurre blanc sauce over each fillet. Mound the onion rings over the top. Sprinkle with fresh dill.

advance prep time 48 hours. Actual work time about two hours.

Serves 8

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Recipe submitted by: sam's sensation's -