* johnny read that folks like it when we tell you about our trials, tribulations & successes in the kitchen...
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in honor of the St. Patrick's Day holiday today, i figured it was a good day to finally try and bake up some irish soda bread...which i've been wanting to do since seeing that "bobby's ireland" special on the food network a few years ago...
what struck me was that there was something blissful about a 4 ingredient bread that came out so dense but light and full of flavor despite being so simple.
what struck me was that there was something blissful about a 4 ingredient bread that came out so dense but light and full of flavor despite being so simple.
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as i investigated recipes this morning i found that the traditional "irish soda bread" by name is literally just flour, baking soda, salt & soured milk (our buttermilk) and the twists & additions like currents, raisins, caraway, sugar, eggs etc. that are in most popular or "americanized" recipes should not even be considered "soda bread"... (if this debate interests you in detail, i found this website to contain an abundance of information on the soda bread issue: www.sodabread.info).
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...that all being said, i decided i was indeed still going to put a hobson's homemade spin on my inaugural soda bread attempt ...i'm irish, but only 15%... so i figured i wouldn't offend my ancestors too much if i went for it...luckily the 15 % provided me with enough "luck of the irish" because our thrown together soda bread attempt came out to be nothing less than scrumptious perfection.
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we cooked it up in our cast iron skillet - just like my irish grammy did with hers this morning, and sliced it up hot out of the oven with some melted butter & a sprinkle of sugar. we'll definitely perfect it a bit and will be baking up some to share with all of you next St. Patrick's Day if not before.
- laura
- laura