Rye Crispbread Crackers With Pepper Dill Crème Fraîche And Smoked Salmon Food

RYE CRISPBREAD CRACKERS WITH PEPPER-DILL CRèME FRAîCHE AND SMOKED SALMON

Steps:

• Make crispbreads:
• Stir together yeast and warm water in bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Add rye flour, 1 cup all-purpose flour, caraway, and salt and beat at medium speed until incorporated. Attach dough hook to mixer and gradually beat in remaining 2/3 cup flour at medium speed. Beat dough until it begins to pull away from side of bowl, then beat 5 minutes more.
• Gather dough into a ball and put in a lightly oiled large bowl, turning dough to coat with oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let dough rise at room temperature until doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• Punch down dough and divide in half. Flatten dough with lightly floured fingers to form 2 (6- by 4-inch) rectangles and let stand 3 minutes. Roll out each piece of dough on a floured surface into a 15- by 10-inch rectangle (1/8 inch thick). Transfer each rectangle to a lightly oiled large baking sheet, trimming any overhang. Cover each rectangle with a dampened kitchen towel or with plastic wrap and let stand 15 minutes.
• Make perforated lines lengthwise and crosswise on rectangles, about 2 inches apart, with tines of a fork (to facilitate breaking crispbreads into crackers). Bake in upper and lower thirds of oven, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until golden brown and crisp, about 20 minutes total. Transfer to racks and cool. Break each crispbread into about 24 (roughly 2-inch) crackers.
• Make pepper-dill crème fraîche and assemble hors d'oeuvres:
• Stir together crème fraîche, dill, pepper, and salt. Spoon 1/2 teaspoon crème fraîche onto each cracker, then drape a piece of salmon on top and sprinkle with zest.

SMOKED SALMON FILLETS WITH DILL-PICKLED VEGETABLES, CRèME FRAîCHE & SALMON ROE

Steps:

• First, for the pickles, cut the cucumber into rounds and layer it in a sieve, sprinkling with 2 tsp salt as you go. Set over a bowl and leave for a couple of hours - the salt will draw out the moisture.
• Bring 200ml water to the boil in a pan with the white wine vinegar, sugar, 1 tsp salt, celery seeds and black peppercorns. Leave to cool.
• Peel the carrots and cut them into batons. Clean the radishes really well, then cut them in half lengthways. Squeeze the drained cucumbers of excess moisture.
• Put all the vegetables in a 1-litre sterilised jar with the dill and pour the cooled vinegar over them, then seal with a lid. Leave to sit at room temperature for two days before serving, or keep chilled. Will keep in the fridge for four weeks.
• Heat the oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5 and put the salmon fillets on a baking sheet. Brush the fillets with the melted butter and scatter with black pepper. Cook for 14 mins.
• Serve the salmon with some of the pickled vegetables, a generous tablespoon of crème fraîche on each fillet, finished with a spoonful of salmon roe on top.

GRAVLAX AND DILL CRèME FRAîCHE ON RYE BREAD

Steps:

• In a small bowl, mix together the lemon zest, chopped dill, creme fraiche and Pernod. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
• Cut the rye bread into 24-30 bite sized squares, about 1 1/2in square. Spoon a small amount of the crème fraîche mixture on top of each square of bread. Cut the gravlax salmon into small pieces and arrange a piece on top of the creme fraiche.
• Garnish with a small sprig of dill and a couple of strips of grated lemon rind.

SMOKED SALMON ON CUCUMBER WITH CREME FRAICHE AND DILL

Steps:

• Using a mandoline (or better knife skills than I have), slice the cucumber into sturdy, even slices and arrange on a service plate.
• Top each with an equal tidbit of salmon. Hint: it folds into pretty shapes if cut with the grain of the fish.
• Stir the creme fraiche until smooth and dab a mere teaspoonful over salmon.
• Separate tiny branches of the baby dill and set upright in or atop cream fraiche. Use remaining branches to garnish plate.
• Put the pepper in one palm and scatter by pinches from about a foot above the platter.