Recipe Friday: Classic Soda Bread

I'm going to be making this today so I thought I might share it with you. I'll be putting up 1 recipe a week. Todays is what is called a classic soda bread. Most people don't bother making bread anymore as it's cheap to buy and to make at home can be a bit tedious for todays time poor parents.

But this is SOOO EASY.

Once the ingredients are measured out, it should take less than a minute from mixing bowl to oven!!

1 Minute Bread!!

Ok so maybe for your first time it will take a bit longer than a minute, but it won't be that much more. Once in the oven, it will take 40 odd minutes and then you have delicious, hot, steaming bread. Great for the impromptu saturday lunch or afternoon tea.

MMMMMM. It is perfect with butter and jam, or a selection of meats and cheeses and dips. It's a bread that's meant to be eaten in one go, You'd be hard pressed not to anyway.

The recipe is so forgiving and flexible too, you can put nuts, grains and fruit in if thats what you want. Last week I made one with Guinness, apple and cheese and it was an amazing meal in one.


So here's the recipe:

CLASSIC SODA BREAD:

Ingredients

• 500g plain flour
• 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tsp fine sea salt
• Approx 400ml buttermilk or live yoghurt
• A little milk, if necessary

METHOD

How to make classic soda bread

1. Sift the flour and bicarbonate of soda into a large mixing bowl and stir in the salt. Make a well in the centre and pour in the buttermilk, stirring as you go. If necessary, add a tablespoon or two of milk to bring the mixture together; it should form a soft dough, just this side of sticky.

2. Tip it out on to a lightly floured work surface and knead lightly for about a minute, just long enough to pull it together into a loose ball but no longer - you need to get it into the oven while the bicarb is still doing its stuff. You're not looking for the kind of smooth, elastic dough you'd get with a yeast-based bread.

3. Put the round of dough on a lightly floured baking sheet and dust generously with flour. I like to squash it so that it's flatter.  Mark a deep cross in it with a sharp, serrated knife, cutting about two-thirds of the way through the loaf. Put it in an oven preheated to 200°C/Gas Mark 6 and bake for 40-45 minutes, until the loaf sounds hollow when tapped underneath.

4. Cool on a wire rack if you like a crunchy crust, or wrap in a clean tea towel if you prefer a soft crust. Soda bread is best eaten while still warm, spread with salty butter and/or a dollop of your favourite jam. But if you have some left over the next day, it makes great toast.

 I've added a link to a you tube video so you can get the idea of the steps involved(the quantities are different though). I prefer to use my hands to mix everything as it's easier to feel when the dough is ready.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqhNAl7MBUg

Give it a try, get your kids to help. I get Noah to help and he loves getting his hands sticky and then promptly tells me to wash them for him. (I think he just wants to play with the water.)

-Wes-
The Family Man.

P.S- Do you have any great home recipes? If so I'd love it if you sent some in for me to have a go at and post them on here.