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.

Prep Time

    •    Prep time: 10 minutes
    •    Prep time: 35 minutes
    •    Yield: Serves 6

Ingredients

    •    1 large cucumber
    •    small jar capers in brine
    •    small pack dill, chopped
    •    200g pack smoked salmon
    •    1 lemon, cut into 6 wedges

For the soda bread:

    •    1 large egg
    •    butter, to serve
    •    350g buttermilk
    •    1 tsp clear honey
    •    200g wholegrain flour
    •    1 heaped tsp bicarbonate of soda
    •    280g strong white flour , plus a little extra for dusting

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.

This great family recipe is thanks to BBC Good Food at https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/smoked-salmon-cucmber-capers-soda-bread