Recipe Friday: Maple-Cured, Sweetgrass Smoked Steelhead with Corn Cake + Saskatoon + Sage + Wild Rice

Line multiple 2-inch full hotel pans with Saran wrap and set aside.

Combine brine ingredients.

Place salmon filet flesh side down in the hotel pan and lightly rub the skin with the brine.

Flip the salmon so the skin side is down, rub the remaining brine into the flesh side of the salmon.

Cover the salmon with the Saran wrap, ensure it is touching the flesh, and then fold over the wrap that is lining the pan.

Let salmon cure for 12 hours, then flip and cure for an additional 12 hours.

Rinse salmon under cold running water and pat dry. Refrigerate for 24 hours, unwrapped to form a pellicle.

Cold smoke (75°F) using sweetgrass and maple wood for 45 minutes.

Combine all wet ingredients, lard, and mix.

Blend in dry ingredients to form a batter.

Preheat a cast skillet to medium heat.

Add enough lard to coat the bottom of the pan.

Scoop batter into the skillet, approx. 30 g (.5-1 oz) portion.

Cook until lightly golden brown, adding lard as required, flip and cook the second side until lightly golden brown, flip over again for an additional minute, flip one last time and cook for an additional minute. *See Puffed Rice & Fried Sage, below

5. Do not refrigerate, serve at room temperature, or slightly warmed.

Combine berries and sugar in an appropriately sized pot and bring to a simmer.

Let cook until the berries are soft and residual moisture has reduced by half, remove from the heat, and stir in salt and fresh thyme. Let steep for 10 minutes, remove thyme and pulse two to three times in a food processor.

After frying the corn cakes, remove any left-over batter crumbs.

Add 250 ml lard to the skillet and let melt.

Add sage leaves, careful they may splatter slightly, fry until dark green in color and translucent, remove and place onto a paper towel to drain.

Add wild rice to the lard, stir lightly and let crisp until lightly golden, remove and place onto a paper towel to let dry, lightly season with sea salt.