I'm starting to get further into Ruhlman and Polcyn's "Charcuterie," and since I scored a lot of free salmon from a restaurant closing, I've made some gravlax. I was so amazed that it actually worked!

Warning: this dish contains sugar. I don't think it ends up being a really big amount, but if you're counting carbs I can't tell you how much ends up in the fish.

1 large salmon filet, all bones removed (about 12 inches long, maybe 2 pounds).
3 cups unrefined sea salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 very large bunch dill
Sprinkle of ground black pepper

Most recipes call for equal parts salt & sugar. I cut the sugar by half and it still worked - you could probably reduce it even more.

I used a really huge amount of cure because I had a somewhat large dish to put the fish in. If you wrap it tightly in plastic instead of using a dish, you can get away with quite a small amount of cure. But you won't get all the juice that I got. Even using a dish that fits better will allow you to reduce the amount of cure by about half.

Mix the salt and sugar, and pepper together. This is the cure.

Cover the bottom of a nonreactive dish with the cure. Place the fish skin side down on top of it. Some recipes remove the skin first. This might be a good idea; when I left it on it got very tough and is difficult to remove.

Cover the top of the fish with the rest of the cure. Put the dill on top of that. Cover the whole thing with plastic wrap.

Put a plate or baking dish on top of the fish and weight it down. Place in the refrigerator. Since our fridge is so small, I just placed objects on top of the plate to wedge it underneath the shelf above.

Refrigerate for 2-3 days. Redistribute the cure after the first day. A lot of liquid will come out of the fish, creating a brine. You will know the fish is done when there are no soft, raw spots even where it's thickest. It took me almost 3 days.

When it's done, remove the fish from the brine and rinse well. Place on a rack in the fridge to drain. Save the brine - it can be used as an ingredient (I don't know how yet, though).

Slice the salmon paper-thin to serve. I discovered that it's easier, and you can get bigger slices, if you slice diagonally downwards.

I had a friend over this afternoon who likes to have bagels and nova lox. He was initially put off by the dill, but in the end he told me that the gravlax was very good. I was pleased and flattered! To me it was quite salty, but I had some parsley with it and it was perfect.