The Swedes and Dill
The Swedes have an obsession with dill. Dill is the king of herbs in Sweden. In most Swedish grocery stores, live plants are sold in pots like basil in the United States. Gravadlax, or gravlax as you often see it marketed in the United States, is a cured salmon dish made with fresh dill, salt, lemon, and vodka or gin. Gravadlax is cured, refrigerated, and not smoked. The cured salmon is sliced razor thin and served on simple buttered toast, rye, or pumpernickel.
Alaskan Fishing Lodges
One of my favorite jobs was cooking in the remote areas of Alaska. The lodge(s) are conveniently located next to the largest wild salmon runs in the world. Thus, cooking, curing, and smoking salmon happens daily. Swedish dill bread is one of my favorite indulgences. This enriched bread is made with fresh chopped dill, onions, and cream cheese baked right into the bread. It is delicious hot out of the oven or toasted, either dry or brushed with butter on the grill.
Swedish Dill Bread with salmon lox and cream cheese is a delicious breakfast, afternoon snack, appetizer before dinner.
To start, bloom the instant yeast with warm water (79°- 81°F) or (26° – 27°C). Reserve
Measure out the 2/3 cup pre-softened cream cheese. (Neufchâtel cheese is a perfect substitute.)
Measure out the 2 tbsp fresh chopped dill.
Finely chop 2 cups of white or yellow onion.
Add the whole egg, two tbs butter, and whisk together.
Next, add the 2/3 cup softened cream cheese. Combine thoroughly with a whisk or whisk attachment.
Continue by adding the fresh chopped dill to the yeast, butter, egg, and cream cheese mixture and combine thoroughly.
Finally, add the onions to the mixture. Finally, stir the mixture with a rubber spatula or paddle attachment.
The complete wet mixture with onions, dill, cream cheese, butter, egg, and bloomed yeast.
Measure out the 3 1/4 cups bread flour and teaspoon of salt. Prepare a mixing bowl with the dough hook kneading attachment.
Add 1/3 of the wet mixture to the dry mix. Start the dough hook on low to incorporate the wet mixture. Next, add 2/3 of the wet to the dry and mix until all is incorporated.
The kneading hook of a mixing machine will take you only so far. After that, you will have to knead by hand until the dough has been fully incorporated. Don’t let the machine do the whole job. Over kneading by the device could lead to overworking the gluten, making a tricky product.
Prepare a working surface for the bread dough by lightly covering the surface with flour.
Turn out the dough on the work surface and begin kneading the bread. Many of the onions will fall out. Just keep incorporating them back into the dough ball.
Use the palm of your hand to push through the dough. Then, fold the dough back over itself and repeat this motion until the bread dough is soft and thoroughly combined.
I kneaded the dough for 10 minutes. Many onion pieces fell out during the process but were eventually incorporated back into the dough.
Get a medium to large mixing bowl ready for the first rise. Lightly oil the entire inner surface with oil. I like to use extra virgin olive oil.
Place the dough ball into the center of the prepared mixing bowl. Roll the dough around to allow a thin coat of oil to cover the surface of the dough ball.
Cover the dough ball with a clean cloth. I’m lucky enough to have a proofing option in my oven. The first proof is at (100°F or 38°C) for 1 1/2 hours. This will do fine if you have a warm kitchen (80°F or 27°C). It may take a little longer to double in size, but the result will be the same.
The dough has doubled after 1 1/2 hours of rising at (100°F or 28°C).
Roll the dough back onto the prepared lightly floured work surface. The dough should be very elastic and soft. Form the dough into a rough loaf shape.
Prepare a bread loaf pan with oil or butter. Place the dough loaf inside the bread pan. Cover with a clean cloth and allow to rise for a second time. I like to raise the dough this time at (80°F or 27°C) for 1 1/2 hours. However, you can rise at (100°F – 38°C) for 1 hour. The second rise may vary a little due to the conditions of your kitchen. Look for a fully risen dough to be about (2 inches – 5 cm) above the rim of the bread pan.
Ensure there is enough room in the oven to bake the bread without touching the top of the oven or the sides.
Brush on a thin coating of extra virgin olive oil to aid the crust browning, though any oil will work. Place the bread pan on the center of the rack. Make sure the top of the bread is not touching the oven’s interior.
Swedish dill bread baked at (350°F – 175°C) for 1 hour.
Using your finger, tap the bottom of the loaf and listen for a hollow sound. A more full-proof method checks the internal temperature (195°F or 90°C) with an instant-read thermometer. Because of all the onions and cream cheese in this recipe, the bottom crust tends to be a little undercooked. To correct this, place back into the oven upside down on a cooling rack for 10-15 minutes to crisp up the bottom of the bread.
After baking upside down for 10-15 minutes, the bottom of the bread takes on a golden crust. Turn the loaf over and rest before slicing.
For extra umami (optional), brush the fresh-baked Swedish dill bread with extra virgin olive oil.
Notice the tight crumb structure of the bread. I prefer to use an electric bread knife for super clean cuts; however, a sharp bread knife will work.
Try Swedish dill bread with softened cream cheese, your favorite smear, and fresh slices of gravlax (Gravadlax).
Swedish Dill Bread
Equipment
- measuring cups and spoons
- chef knife
- cutting board
- 9x5x3 inch bread pan
- rubber spatula
- stand mixer or wire whisk
- cooling rack
- bread knife or electric knife
Ingredients
- 3¼ cups flour, bread
- ½ cup water, room temperature (79°- 81°F or 26°- 27°C) works best
- 1 tsp salt, kosher
- 2¼ tsp yeast, instant or one packet
- 2 tbsp butter, melted good quality
- 1 whole egg
- 2/3 cup cream cheese softened to room temperature Neufchâtel cheese is a perfect substitute.
- 2 tbsp dill, fresh stemmed, and chopped fine
- 2 cups onions(white or yellow) peeled, cored, and finely chopped
- 2 tbsp olive oil for glazing (optional)
Instructions
Blooming the Yeast
- Blooming the yeast is to verify the yeast is still alive and will do its job. Blooming is not always necessary with modern supplies, but something I still do, just in case.
- Add the packet of yeast or 2¼ tsp to a large mixing bowl. To this, add warm water (79°-81°F or 27° - 32°C) and mix thoroughly. You should see the yeast bubbling up and blooming in about 5-6 minutes.
Making the Wet Mixture
- First, peel, chop, and measure 2 cups of onions to prepare the wet mixture and set aside. Next, pull the soft fronds off the more rigid dill stem and chop to yield 2 tbsp.
- Measure out the 2/3 cup softened cream cheese.
- In a small saucepan or pot, melt 2 tbsp of good quality butter.
- To make the wet mixture add the whole egg to the bloomed yeast. Then, use a whisk or the whisk attachment on a stand mixer to incorporate.
- Next, add the melted butter, fresh chopped dill, and cream cheese. Whisk again until the mixture is incorporated.
- The onions are the last item to go into the wet mixture. The onions can be mixed with the paddle attachment of a stand mixer or folded using a rubber spatula.
Prepare the Dry Mixture
- In the mixing bowl of a stand mixer, combine the bread flour and salt. Next, attach the kneading hook attachment.
- Make the dough; add ⅓ of the wet mixture into the dry mix, lower the dough hook attachment, and start the stand mixer on low.
- After the first 1/3 of the bread flour (mix about 1 minute), add another ⅔ and allow the dough hook to knead the bread.
- Once the dough has come together (about 2-3 minutes), turn the mixer off. The dough will need to be worked by hand at this point.
Kneading the Dough
- Prepare the working surface with a light covering of flour, just enough to keep the dough from sticking. Turn the dough out onto the prepared surface and begin to knead the bread. Use the heel of your hand to push through the dough.
- Fold over the dough upon itself and repeat the process. (Note* Many of the onions will fall out of the dough during this process. Just add them back into the dough as you knead.) I typically knead the dough for 10 minutes until the dough is soft, elastic, and fully incorporated.
- Form the dough into a large ball.
First Proof
- To prepare for proofing, add a thin layer of oil inside a large mixing bowl or container. I prefer to use extra virgin olive oil, but any oil will work. Next, add the dough ball to the oiled mixing bowl and roll it around to cover the dough with oil.
- Cover the dough ball with a clean, light towel. Place in a warm spot in your kitchen or use the proofing program on your oven. Proofing times will vary depending on how warm the kitchen is. The more generous the kitchen, the shorter the time will be. Whichever system you use, the idea is to proof the bread until doubled in size.
- While the dough ball is proofing, prepare a bread pan by coating it with a light coating of olive oil or butter for the second proof.
- Using the proofing feature in the oven, I set the first proof at (100°F or 38°C) for 1½ hours.
Second Proof
- Once the dough ball has doubled in size, form the dough ball into a rectangular loaf shape.
- Place the dough into the prepared bread pan and cover with a clean, light towel.
- Proof the dough a second time as you did the first time until the dough has doubled in size. The dough loaf is ready for baking once it has risen 2 inches above the rim of the bread pan.
- If you have a proofing feature in the oven, lower the temperature to (80°F or 25°-27°C). This time the dough loaf should reach 2 inches above the bread pan rim in 1 hour.
Baking and Testing for Doneness
- Once the bread is ready to be baked, preheat the oven to (350°F or 175°C). Ensure there is enough clearance in the range to accommodate the bread, so the top of the bread will not touch the top of the oven. You may need to adjust the oven racks.
- Just before baking the bread, brush on a thin layer of oil on top of the dough to help brown the crust. I prefer extra virgin olive oil, but any oil will work.
- Place the bread dough into the center of the rack in the oven and bake for one hour.
- After one hour, check. The bread should be golden brown. To verify the bread is done, gently roll the bread out onto a work surface or cooling rack and lift the bread pan off. Using your finger, you can test doneness by thumping the bottom for a hollow sound. Another method is to check with an instant-read thermometer. The bread's internal temperature should be (195°F or 90°C).
- Notice that the bottom of the bread crust is not as golden as the top of the bread. You can fix this by putting the bread back into the oven upside down for 10-15 minutes until the crust becomes golden.
- After crisping up the bottom of the bread, please remove it from the oven and place it right side up once again. Brush on a little more extra virgin olive oil or butter and allow to rest for at least 15-20 minutes before slicing.
Slicing the bread
- Use a very sharp bread knife or electric bread knife to make clean cuts to slice the bread.
Notes
- If you have any leftovers, store them in a bread bag or gallon plastic ziplock. Make sure the bread is completely cooled before storing.
- Set the cream cheese out on the counter for at least 1 hour before making the bread.
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