Smoked salmon, cucumber, capers & soda bread

A crowd-pleasing, help-yourself starter. Take the bread out of the oven an hour before lunch and it'll still be warm when it hits the table

  • Serves 6
  • Easy

Nutrition per serving

  • kcal 403
  • fat 6g
  • saturates 1g
  • carbs 63g
  • sugars 5g
  • fibre 6g
  • protein 21g
  • salt 2g

Ingredients

  • 1 large cucumber
  • small pack dill, chopped
  • 200g pack smoked salmon
  • small jar capers in brine
  • 1 lemon, cut into 6 wedges
  • 280g strong white flour, plus a little extra for dusting
  • 200g wholegrain flour
  • 1 heaped tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 350g buttermilk
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 tsp clear honey
  • butter, to serve

Method

  1. First, make the soda bread. Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 4 and dust a large baking sheet with flour. In a large bowl, combine the flours, bicarbonate of soda and 1 /4 tsp salt. Pour the buttermilk, egg and honey into a jug and whisk to combine.

  2. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet mixture. Using a wooden spoon, bring the mixture together to form a dough – if it’s too wet and sticky, add a little extra flour. Shape into a rough ball and place on the prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle over a little flour, make a criss-cross incision on top of the loaf and bake in the oven for 35 mins – the bread is cooked when you tap the bottom and it sounds hollow. Slide onto a wire rack to cool a little before slicing.

  3. Meanwhile, using a peeler, slice the cucumber into long ribbons all the way around, but discard the seeded centre. Place in a bowl, sprinkle with a little seasoning and mix well with the dill.

  4. Serve at the table with the salmon slices, capers, lemon wedges, soda bread and butter.

Suggested recipes from this collection...