Ingredients
- For the brown bread:
- Soft butter, to grease the loaf tin
- 125g stout
- 60g treacle
- 60g honey
- 250g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
- 250g wholemeal flour
- 170g oatmeal, plus extra for sprinkling
- 50g mixed seed
- 16g bicarbonate of soda
- 1tbs sea salt
- 250ml buttermilk
- For the cucumber pickle:
- 1 cucumber
- 150ml white wine vinegar
- 80g caster sugar
- Pinch of sea salt
- 2 or 3 dill sprigs
- For the pâté:
- 200g hot smoked salmon
- 100g cream cheese
- 50g crème fraîche
- Juice and zest of 1 lemon
- 1tbs chopped dill
- Sea salt and black pepper
- Dill fronds, for garnish
- 1 Lemon, for wedges
- Start by making the bread. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees. Grease a loaf tin with some soft butter, then dust with some plain flour. Tap away any excess flour.
- Pour the stout, treacle and honey into a small saucepan and warm gently until incorporated, then leave to come back to room temperature.
- Put the plain flour, wholemeal flour, oatmeal, seeds, bicarbonate of soda and the salt in a large bowl. Mix by hand until evenly distributed. Now add the stout mix and buttermilk and mix to a firm batter consistency.
- Spoon the mix into the loaf tin so it fills about three-quarters of the way up. Sprinkle some extra oats and seeds on top. Place in the oven and bake for 50 minutes to an hour at 170 degrees until the base of the bread sounds hollow when you tap it. Pop it out of the tin and cool on a wire rack.
- To make the cucumber pickle, heat the white wine vinegar, sugar and salt in a pot on a low heat until the sugar dissolves. Allow to cool. Very thinly slice the cucumber and place in a bowl. Cover with the cooled vinegar mix and add some dill sprigs. Can be stored in a jar.
- To make the pâté, add the salmon, cream cheese, crème fraîche, lemon juice, lemon zest and chopped dill to a food processor. Season with salt and pepper. Lightly pulse until combined but still retaining some texture. Then spoon into a bowl. Check the seasoning, adding some more lemon juice or salt if needed.
- Slice the cooled soda bread and spoon on some smoked salmon pâté. Add some slices of pickled cucumber and some more dill fronds, and serve with some lemon wedges.
