Oat cakes with salmon terrine & gin-pickled cucumbers
Ginny Grant
Makes
25Ingredients
| GIN & CUCUMBER PICKLES Makes approx 3 x 200g jars / preparation 15 minutes plus salting time & 3 days to pickle / cooking 5 minutes. | |
| 2 cucumbers, sliced into rounds | |
| 2 teaspoons flaky (non-iodised) sea salt | |
| 1 cup white wine vinegar | |
| ½ cup water | |
| 3 tablespoons sugar | |
| 6 juniper berries, lightly crushed | |
| 125ml gin or alcohol-free gin | |
| 2 teaspoons dried dill leaves | |
| DILL OAT CAKES Makes approx. 50 / preparation 20 minutes / cooking 25 minutes | |
| 125g rolled oats (I used Harraway’s extra creamy Scotch oats) | |
| â…› teaspoon salt | |
| â…› teaspoon baking soda | |
| 1½ tablespoons flour | |
| ½ teaspoon dried dill leaves | |
| 25g butter (or lard, dripping or vegetable oil) | |
| 50ml water | |
| SMOKED SALMON TERRINE Serves 6-8 as a nibble / preparation 20 minutes plus overnight chilling | |
| 100g cream cheese | |
| ½ teaspoon wasabi paste | |
| ½ teaspoon dried dill | |
| finely grated zest of 1 lemon and 1 tablespoon lemon juice | |
| 90g hot-smoked salmon, flaked | |
| 180g cold-smoked salmon | |
| fresh dill or chives to garnish |
Dried dill tips or leaves have become something of an obsession of mine. I love fresh dill but it is unavailable for most of the year so I make full use of the dried when I have to. This
cracker, salmon and cucumber combination is a love letter to dill, which features as the minor player to the retro-inspired double salmon terrine. Do make the pickles; they keep for ages in the fridge and help to cut the richness of the salmon.
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Instructions
| 1. | GIN & CUCUMBER PICKLES |
| 2. | This recipe makes more pickles than you need for the salmon crackers, but they will keep for a couple of months in the fridge. Also, they’re great for gifting. You could make these with vodka if you prefer. |
| 3. | Put the cucumber into a colander with 1 teaspoon of the salt, mix well and leave for a couple of hours. |
| 4. | Put the remaining salt, white wine vinegar, water, sugar and juniper berries into a saucepan and bring up to a simmer. Set aside to cool then add the gin and the dill. |
| 5. | Pack the cucumber into 3 x 200ml sterilised jars and pour over the brine. Remove any air bubbles and seal. Chill for at least 3 days before using. Best used within 2 months. |
| 6. | DILL OAT CAKES |
| 7. | Heat the oven to 160°C. |
| 8. | Put three-quarters of the oats into a food processor with the salt and baking soda. Blitz to a flour and add to a large bowl along with the remaining oats, flour and the dill. Stir well. |
| 9. | Heat the butter and water together in a pan (or in the microwave) and bring to a boil. Stir into the oats until it forms a reasonably sticky dough. |
| 10. | Roll out between layers of baking paper to 3-4mm thickness. Cut into rounds (I used a 6cm round cutter), squares or rectangles and put onto a couple of trays lined with baking paper. Any scraps can be re-rolled and if you find it is drying out just add a splash of water to the mix. |
| 11. | Bake for 25 minutes or until just colouring at the edges. |
| 12. | Cool and keep in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. |
| 13. | SMOKED SALMON TERRINE |
| 14. | Mash the cream cheese with the wasabi, dill, lemon zest and juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Mash the hot-smoked salmon through the mix. |
| 15. | Line a mini loaf tin with plastic wrap or baking paper (it’s easiest to do this by wetting the tin, then pressing the cling film against the base and sides). |
| 16. | Line the tin with slices of cold-smoked salmon, ensuring that there is some overlap. |
| 17. | Spoon in a thin layer of the hot-smoked salmon mix, pressing lightly so there are no air pockets. Add another layer of cold-smoked salmon. Repeat until you have used up all the ingredients. Fold the overlapping salmon over the top (if necessary cut the cold-smoked salmon slices to fit. |
| 18. | Cover with cling film, cut some cardboard to fit on top and weigh down with some cans and chill in the fridge overnight. |
| 19. | Just before serving, remove from the fridge and remove the plastic wrap or baking paper. Use a very sharp knife to cut into thin slices, wiping the blade clean between slices. |
| 20. | Put a slice of terrine onto each oatcake, top with 1-2 cucumber slices and garnish with dill. |
Recipes & food styling Ginny Grant / Photography Aaron McLean / Styling Jessica Crowe
