Irish Soda Bread

Having lived in Ireland, I've tasted some mighty fine soda bread. It's tough to find an authentic loaf here in the US.

Soda bread is made without yeast and this one is made with both baking soda and buttermilk. It's about as authentic to traditional Irish as it can be. It's crusty outside and moist but dense inside. This recipe is adjusted from SimplyRecipes.com.

I soaked a cup of dried raisins in Jameson's Irish Whiskey to plump them (for about a day.) I then drained them in a colander an hour or so before adding them to the dough.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Grease a baking sheet or cast iron skillet.

Mix 4 cups* of all-purpose flour with 1 T sugar, 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp of baking soda. *Keep the flour handy to add more if needed when mixing the dough into a round.

I grated 4 T of good, cold butter (Kerrygold or Kirkland or one of the good European brands). The cold grated butter is easier to work into the flour. 

In a larger work bowl, and using your hands (using thin plastic gloves work well) mix the dry ingredients and the butter, grinding the butter with your fingers. The SimplyRecipes instructions call for thoroughly mixing until the flour is the consistency of cornmeal. I'd say that the flour is a bit shy of being cornmeal, but it does feel different than just plain flour. Make sure the butter is mixed in well. Add the raisins and mix to coat them. 

Whisk a large egg and 1-3/4 cups of buttermilk together and pour it into a well of the flour/butter. 

At this point, you can continue mixing with the gloves on to make things easier, or you can use a wooden spoon. Whatever  you do, do not overmix. The goal here is to have a wet dough but no dry flour at the bottom of the bowl. Pour this mixture out onto a floured board and gently and quickly form somewhat of a ball of shaggy, wet dough. Overmixing makes for a tough bread.

I, in fact. added a small scoop of flour to the dough as I was shaping it and then poured the dough out of the bowl onto a greased griddle and formed it into a ball, shaping the edges into a round shape mounded on the griddle. I then placed a large 10" greased cheesecake pan round (without the flat bottom) around the dough so that it formed a nice round loaf when baking. You can use a greased cast-iron skillet instead.

Traditionally, Irish soda bread is cut with an X or cross with a serrated knife about 1-1/2 inch deep. 

I did not wash with milk or egg, but might next time. You can also sprinkle the milk or egg with crusty baking sugar. 

Place the skillet or griddle in the center of the hot oven. At the end of 30 minutes test for doneness with a skewer. Add 5 minutes and test again.  Repeat as necessary. It should be crusty and golden. 

Serve warm! The bread is great toasted with butter the next day.

All Things Lemon Gourmet

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Aperitif - Janice

Lemon Drop Martini

Prosecco

White & Red Wine (dinner)

 Nancy Garfield

Shrimp Ceviche w/plantain chips

 JoAnne Barone

Lemony Pearl Barley Soup

 Deb Zyduck

Lemon Ricotta Pasta w/Chicken

Katie Deeg

Lemon Brussel Sprouts Salad

Charlotte Canelli

Five-Ingredient Lemon Bars 

w/Canelli homemade pistachio ice cream

March's Gourmet Dinner in Verandah at Janice's home was absolutely delicious from the martinis to the homemade limoncello. Hosted by Janice and Deb Zyduck, it was simply a delightful evening. Janice supplied us with take-home containers for leftovers.

Nancy added diced cucumber to her recipe. The StayAtHomeChef also adds that you can add diced avocado. It was delicious and I brought some home to Gerry who scarfed it down at 9:30 pm!

JoAnne's soup was also a hit. It's a NYT Cooking recipe so I won't link it to NYT  (due to the paywall), but have posted the recipe on this blog, linked above. Gerry also enjoyed the soup when I got home.

Katie's delicious salad was ooohh'd and aaaah'd over. In fact, I made it at home the very next day!  It's a Costco Recipe of the Month and one I'll be making again and again. Note that you can add prosciutto bits or bacon which I did for a main-dish salad.

The Lemon Ricotta Pasta from Lemon Tree Dwelling was perfect, just enough to finish the meal. Deb and Janice put it together for our main dish, fresh from the cooktop.

The evening ended with the lemon bars*, homemade ice cream,and Janice's homemade limoncello on the Cartwright's Magnolia Isle Drive lanai in beautiful Verandah here in Fort Myers. 

*The lemon bars were nicely lemony and the recipe was simple. If I were making them again I would use a larger baking dish (other than 9x9 suggested - perhaps a 12x9 or 12x10) so that the layers of shortbread and lemon were thinner. 

Lemony Pearl Barley Soup from NYT

Photo credit New York Times

Here's the soup that JoAnne made for the March 2024 Gourmet All Things Lemon dinner. The recipe is from NYT Cooking by Hetty Lui McKinnon.  

Don't forget the garnish! Yogurt or crème fraîche and half the dill plus a bit of drizzled olive oil. (You could use Dill infused oil from any of the olive oil shops such as Fort Myers Olive Oil at Cypress Lake in Fort Myers, Florida or Ripe from the Vine on Route 6 in Marion, Massachusetts.)

Ingredients

• Extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 yellow finely diced onion
• 2 finely chopped garlic cloves
• 2 thinly sliced celery stalks
• 1 cup of chopped fresh dill leaves AND stalks (half for soup and half for garnish)
• Sea salt and ground pepper
• 1 cup (6 oz) of pearl barley
• 6 cups vegetable stock
• 3-4 T freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 oz. baby spinach
• Greek yogurt or Crème Fraîche to serve

Heat a large pot over medium-high heat and add 1-2 T of the olive oil first, adding the onion and cooking until softened (always stirring) - about 2-3 minutes. Add the garlic, celery, half the dill and 1/2 tsp. salt.  Stir until fragrant about 1-2 minutes.

Add the pearl barley and the stock and bring to a boil.  Cover and reduce the heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally until the barley is swollen and tender, about 25-30 minutes.

Turn off the heat, adding the lemon juice and seasoning with salt and pepper. Taste!

Stir in the spinach, letting it wilt in the heat of the soup.

Ladle the soup into bowls and top with yogurt or Crème Fraîche, the remaining dill and drizzle with olive oil.