Friday Foodblogging: Salmon Tartare

Yesterday evening, I came upon a little slab of sashimi-quality salmon in the grocery store, and having acquired a new piece of food processing equipment on trial, I decided to turn it into salmon tartare.  But I didn't have all of the ingredients on hand for any of the recipes I found, so I improvised something that turned out pretty well.  At the request of a twitter follower, I'm posting the recipe.  I mostly measured by eye, so amounts are somewhat approximate:

1/2 teaspoon peppercorns, cracked/crushed

1/4-1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon avocado oil

1/2 teaspoon Asian sesame oil

3/4 teaspoon minced or grated ginger--pickled, prepared, or fresh

1 small clove garlic (optional)

Fresh chives

Fresh cilantro leaves only (i didn't measure either, just clipped them from the garden, but about a teaspoon of each seems right)

A dash or two of tabasco, or hot chili oil, to taste

The juice of one lemon

5-6 ounces sashimi-grade salmon

Put all the ingredients except salmon in a food processor or blender and blend until emulsified and the herbs are finely chopped.  You can either chop the salmon into small cubes and toss them with the dressing, or do what I did and toss the salmon into the food processor for a few quick pulses.

(Note: because the amounts are small, you'll either need a pretty good food processor/blender, or a pretty small one.  If you don't have either, put the salmon in with everything else, which will give it enough volume to work with.  Or chop all the herbs fine and mix the dressing by hand, by sealing it in a good tupperware container and shaking).

Serve with crusty bread and wedges of lemon, and capers, if you have some (I didn't, and they weren't really missed).