Gin & Scandi inspired Feast

Inspired by Nina at Silver Circle Distillery these recipes for rye soda bread, dill new potato salad and gin-cured salmon will give you a scandi-inspired feast.

Rye Soda Bread – Makes 1 loaf

Depending on the brand of flour you use, the dough may seem a little wetter than usual bread dough, but fear not! It will give a really delicious loaf once baked.

Ingredients

• 25g oats
• 400ml natural yoghurt
• 1tbsp brown sugar
• 400g wholemeal rye flour, such as Talgarth Mill flour
• 1tsp fine sea salt
• 1.5tsp bicarbonate of soda

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas mark 4
2. Soak the oats in 25ml of boiling water for 10-15 minutes, in a large bowl.
3. Once soaked, stir in the yoghurt and sugar.
4. Mix in the flour, salt and bicarbonate of soda until completely combined.
5. Shape the mixture into a long baton shape on a baking sheet. Place into the preheated oven and bake for 45 – 55 minutes. Or until cooked through.
6. Once cooked, the loaf should sound hollow if tapped on the underside.
7. Place on a cooling rack and leave to cool before slicing and serving.

Dill New Potato Salad – Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1kg new potatoes, scrubbed
• 1 ½ tsp Dijon mustard
• 20g fresh dill, stalks removed
• 2 spring onions, trimmed and finely chopped
• 150ml extra virgin olive oil
• 1 lemon, zest and juice
• a couple of pinches of sugar
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Halve or quarter any larger potatoes so they are all a similar size. Put the potatoes, and a good couple of really good pinches of salt into a large saucepan. Cover with cold water. Bring to the boil then simmer until the potatoes are tender. Once cooked, drain and leave to cool.
2. Meanwhile, make the dressing: Finely chop 2/3 of the dill, reserving the rest for garnish. Put the mustard, finely chopped dill, spring onions and oil into a jug. Season with salt and pepper. Add the zest and juice of the whole lemon, along with the sugar. Whisk by hand until completely combined. Taste and adjust if necessary. It may need a bit more salt, or some extra sugar.
3. Dress the potatoes. They can be made and dressed in advance if needed (they are fine for a day or two, dressed, in the fridge) otherwise can be served straight away.
4. Garnish with the remaining dill, roughly chopped before serving.

Gin Cured Salmon – Serves 4

Ingredients

• 500g whole fillet of centre cut, skin-on salmon, pin boned, any thin belly trimmed off
• 150g caster sugar
• 150g coarse sea salt
• 50ml gin
• 40g fresh dill

Method

1. Place the salmon, skin side down into a dish such as a baking dish or similar, slightly larger than the piece of fish, so it can lie flat.
2. Mix the sugar, salt and gin together. Then roughly chop the dill (including the stalks) and stir into the curing mix. Spread the curing mix over the flesh of the salmon, trying to make sure all of the flesh is covered in at least a thin layer. You may need to pat some cure against the sides of the salmon, building up a wall of it to make sure the edges are covered.
3. Cover the salmon with a few layers of cling film, pressed against the flesh, then add a board or plate on top and weigh it down with something heavy such as cans or jars.
4. Place in the fridge and leave for 24 hours for a light cure, or 36 hours for a firmer cure. However, if you can, turn the fillet over every 12 hours and weigh it down again. This will give you an even cure throughout the piece of fish. (If the end of your first 12 hours is in the middle of the night then don’t get yourself up! Just turn it the next morning.)
5. Remove from the fridge. Take as much cure off as possible then rinse the salmon under the cold tap briefly, to remove any last bits of salt. Don’t worry about any dill stuck to the salmon, it will look and taste great. Pat dry.
6. Slice and serve.

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