And just in time for St. Paddy's Day, I bring you Irish Soda Bread by way of the Secret Recipe Club and this blog, The Tasty Cheapskate.
I was perusing Jean's recipes for my SRC monthly assigned blog and ran across this recipe for Irish Soda Bread. And since I do a killer (even if I do say so myself) Corned Beef, I had to make this bread to go with it. Jean also has a No-Knead Oatmeal Bread recipe that sounded intriguing. as well as Dal with Tomato and Cream. And the Reuben Dip, well, I think it will be making an appearance at one of our Tapas Nights.
The Secret Recipe Club is a bunch of bloggers who are divided into four groups, and each one of the groups is responsible for posting a recipe on consecutive Mondays. Group A gets to post first, then Group B posts the next week, Group C the following week and Group D is last and then we start all over again for the next month.
I'm in Group B, and it's our week to post the recipe we chose from our assigned blog, so here it is.
I've actually had a tried and true Soda Bread recipe that I've been making since high school, so was curious to see how this recipe differed from my tried and true one. And it was very good. A little denser, but that's really alright, I like a good dense bread. And best of all, a good soda bread recipe should be in every cook's arsenal.
You never know just when you'll need one.
Soda Bread
4 Cups flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 C sugar
1 tsp baking soda
2 C buttermilk
1/2 C raisins (optional)
Combine flour, salt, sugar and baking soda in a large bowl. Stir the buttermilk in, a cup at a time, depending on the humidity, you may not need all of it. Mix together well, then place on a floured surface and form into two balls. Be warned, this is a 'wet' dough, but you can make it into a ball. Slash an 'X' into the tops, quite deeply, then place on a greased cookie sheet and bake in a 375 degree oven for 40-45 minutes.
In the oven, a few minutes into the baking process, the 'X' slashed into the top allows the bread to expand and still look good.
I was expecting company for a Corned Beef dinner so this was a perfect choice for me to make as my recipe this month.
We also had some Haluska and Green Beans brought by my friend Donna, as well as some boiled taters and the requisite Cabbage, Carrots and Potatoes cooked in the corned beef liquid.
And then I had to try making the Soda Bread again, cause I spaced getting pictures of the process, and decided that the Craisins I had in the cupboard would go well in the bread. And somehow the toasted chopped pecans that had been leftover from a previous recipe found their way into the dough as well. Gotta say, it's even better with the addition of the craisins and pecans. And I did halve the recipe, mainly cause I can only eat so much bread.
Just kidding... Bread is good food.
I love my Kitchen Aid stand mixer, it's the only way I can mix up a lot of the stiffer doughs anymore.
Shaped and ready to be 'slashed'.
Amazing how much these rise with the soda and buttermilk reaction.
I will be making the bread again, with the Craisins and the Pecans.
Take a look at the recipes my fellow bloggers in Group B made this month:
I was perusing Jean's recipes for my SRC monthly assigned blog and ran across this recipe for Irish Soda Bread. And since I do a killer (even if I do say so myself) Corned Beef, I had to make this bread to go with it. Jean also has a No-Knead Oatmeal Bread recipe that sounded intriguing. as well as Dal with Tomato and Cream. And the Reuben Dip, well, I think it will be making an appearance at one of our Tapas Nights.
The Secret Recipe Club is a bunch of bloggers who are divided into four groups, and each one of the groups is responsible for posting a recipe on consecutive Mondays. Group A gets to post first, then Group B posts the next week, Group C the following week and Group D is last and then we start all over again for the next month.
I'm in Group B, and it's our week to post the recipe we chose from our assigned blog, so here it is.
I've actually had a tried and true Soda Bread recipe that I've been making since high school, so was curious to see how this recipe differed from my tried and true one. And it was very good. A little denser, but that's really alright, I like a good dense bread. And best of all, a good soda bread recipe should be in every cook's arsenal.
You never know just when you'll need one.
Soda Bread
4 Cups flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 C sugar
1 tsp baking soda
2 C buttermilk
1/2 C raisins (optional)
Combine flour, salt, sugar and baking soda in a large bowl. Stir the buttermilk in, a cup at a time, depending on the humidity, you may not need all of it. Mix together well, then place on a floured surface and form into two balls. Be warned, this is a 'wet' dough, but you can make it into a ball. Slash an 'X' into the tops, quite deeply, then place on a greased cookie sheet and bake in a 375 degree oven for 40-45 minutes.
In the oven, a few minutes into the baking process, the 'X' slashed into the top allows the bread to expand and still look good.
We also had some Haluska and Green Beans brought by my friend Donna, as well as some boiled taters and the requisite Cabbage, Carrots and Potatoes cooked in the corned beef liquid.
And then I had to try making the Soda Bread again, cause I spaced getting pictures of the process, and decided that the Craisins I had in the cupboard would go well in the bread. And somehow the toasted chopped pecans that had been leftover from a previous recipe found their way into the dough as well. Gotta say, it's even better with the addition of the craisins and pecans. And I did halve the recipe, mainly cause I can only eat so much bread.
Just kidding... Bread is good food.
I love my Kitchen Aid stand mixer, it's the only way I can mix up a lot of the stiffer doughs anymore.
Take a look at the recipes my fellow bloggers in Group B made this month:
Posts
Hi! I had you too. How fun. I made your truffles and they were a super huge hit in my house. I had no idea how easy they were. And I'm totally going to try the pecan/cranberry combo (for the soda bread, not the truffles, although, heck, it might work for truffles too). Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was funny that we got each other as well. BTW, I just toasted a slice of the pecan/cranberry soda bread for breakfast and it was soooo good. Love the recipe and will be making it again. Glad you liked the truffle recipe, I have fun with it all the time. As you said, you can tint the coconut different colors and they're great for Easter, St. Paddy's Day, or ...
ReplyDeleteThis looks so good, especially with your additions of pecans and craisins.
ReplyDeleteAnd it was good,still is good, that is. I've been toasting the bread and eating it that way as well. YUM
DeleteOk, the addition of cranberries and pecans? Genius
ReplyDeleteThank you, my mouth thought so too. As did my dog, she actually begged me for a taste of it. And she's usually very well behaved.
DeleteDefinitely one of the nicest kinds of bread, is soda bread. Looks marvellous! :)
ReplyDeleteIt was/ is very good. A good soda bread recipe is a good thing to have in the recipe box.
DeleteI haven't made soda bread but this recipe looks great... here from SRC - first time participating.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the SRC, a fun bunch of cooks. And a good soda bread should be in everyone's cooking arsenal, for a quick bread that is.
DeleteI don't think I've ever made soda bread. I'll give it a try! Thanks for sharing with the SRC.
ReplyDeleteTry it, you'll like it. And this month, we had some really awesome recipes submitted to the SRC. I've got a few pinned to try later on.
DeleteI made this a few years ago for St. Pat's day. The bread is delicious and a great choice for SRC>
ReplyDeleteThis is also a great bread recipe if you need a quick bread to serve with a dinner. It goes great with stew or soup. I usually don't add as much sugar to it when it's going to be served with something very savoury.
DeleteI make bread all the time but I never tried soda bread - adding it to my list of things to make soon.
ReplyDeleteIt's a great quick and easy bread to make, and a good one to have handy.
DeleteWhat a perfect choice for our reveal date :) Looks fantastic, too. I love a good, traditional Irish Soda Bread (and corned beef and cabbage, too! YUM!)
ReplyDeleteThank you, I thought it was fortuitous. And found out that, properly prepared, cabbage cooked in the corned beef liquid is very good. I had never liked it til now.
DeleteI've always wanted to make an Irish soda bread...now's my chance!
ReplyDelete