The sour cream and onion dip of fish toasts!

 Ingredients:

1 piece of sourdough bread, toasted in olive oil

1 tin Fishwife smoked salmon

Heaping spoonful of labneh, recipe follows

Pickled red onions

Black pepper

Dill

 Directions:

Drizzle a piece of sourdough bread in olive oil and toast over medium heat in a small skillet till golden on both sides. Set aside to cool for a couple of minutes - if you add the labne to the toast straight off the skillet it will begin to melt. When the toast has cooled down slightly, slather it in labne. Layer on the tinned salmon and pickled onions, then finish with a generous grind of black pepper and fresh dill.

For the labne:

1 quart plain full fat yogurt

2 cloves of garlic

Juice from half a lemon

Generous pinch salt

Generous pinch sumac

Set a colander over a big bowl. Line the colander with a thick layer of cheesecloth, or use something along the lines of a nut milk bag. Pour the yogurt into the cheesecloth (or cloth bag), and fold the edges of the cheesecloth over the yogurt. Set a plate or any object that could function as a light weight on top of the covered yogurt. Set this aside to strain for anywhere between 6 and 24 hours. The longer you strain, the thicker your labne. For this toast, we want the texture to be akin to cream cheese. When it’s reached the desired texture, remove it from the cheesecloth and add it to a medium sized mixing bowl. Microplane the garlic into a small bowl and macerate in the lemon juice, set this aside for 5 minutes. Add the macerated garlic/lemon mixture, salt, and sumac to the labne and mix to combine. Taste for seasoning.

This recipe yields far more labne than you’ll need for the toast. Use the leftovers with reckless abandon! It’s especially delicious with flatbreads and pickles, alongside roasted vegetables, as a dip for crudite, etc.

Note that you’ll be left with a considerable amount of whey; the tangy liquid that’s being strained out of the yogurt. Whey is delicious taken as a probiotic shot, can be used in baking, and is an excellent base for fruity popsicles!