Potato Pancakes with Smoked Salmon and a Cucumber and Dill Salad Recipe

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  Potato Pancakes with Smoked Salmon are a delicious afternoon delight.
  Photo By Jan Baldwin
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  “Very Fond of Food” is a stylish and charming cookbook from rising food star Sophie Dahl that interweaves personal anecdotes about food and the good life with 100 simple and appealing seasonal recipes.
  Photo Courtesy Ten Speed Press

Refine a traditional recipe and try making these warm Potato Pancakes, which are topped with smoked salmon curls and a spoonful of crème fraîche. A Cucumber and Dill Salad completes the meal as a tangy side. These recipes are excerpted from Sophie Dahl’s Very Fond of Food: A Year in Recipes (Ten Speed Press, 2012). One-hundred simple and appealing seasonal recipes accompany personal anecdotes about food and the good life from author and rising food star Sophie Dahl. These Potato Pancakes with Smoked Salmon and Cucumber and Dill Salad recipes are taken from the chapter “Spring Lunches.” 

Potato Pancakes with Smoked Salmon and a Cucumber and Dill Salad Recipe

makes 8 pancakes 

For the Cucumber Salad
• 1/2 cucumber, peeled and thinly sliced into rounds
• 1 tablespoon buttermilk
• 1 tablespoon light olive oil
• 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
• A squeeze of lemon juice
• Salt and pepper
• A small handful of chopped fresh dill

For the Potato Pancakes
• 2/3 cup/125 g mashed potato
• Scant 1/2 cup/50 g spelt flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• Salt and pepper
• Scant 1/2 cup/100 ml buttermilk
• 1 potato (about 3 1/2 ounces/100 g), peeled
• A small handful of chopped fresh parsley
• 1 tablespoon butter

• 7 ounces/200 g smoked salmon
• 3 tablespoons crème fraîche

Make the Cucumber Salad by assembling the cucumber rounds onto a big plate and mixing the buttermilk, olive oil, white wine vinegar, lemon, and salt and pepper together into a dressing in a small bowl. Pour the dressing over the cucumber and garnish with dill, reserving a bit for the salmon.