Saturday, March 13, 2010

Irish Soda Bread

Took the Boonsta to Costco yesterday. Many of you know of my undying admiration and love for Costco, but like any good love affair, eventually you end up seeing the seamier side of your consort.

It was Friday, an always busy day down to the Costco. They've got the recently-thawed-shellfish stand ready, and of course there are samples galore. You can try everything from fresh fruit and little white cups of chicken pot pie to 1-ounce samples of Vitamin Water and lo-fat chocolate mousse desserts.

Of course these free samples mean that the crowds are up as well, especially the seniors. I've seen grandmas pushing industrial sized shopping carts, practically run over their own grandkids to get a free sample of Irish butter on Italian bread. I've watched stooped shouldered elders turn into Schwarzeneggers elbowing their way up to get the free Mandarin Oranges after they finished off the single bite of Polish Ham.

Of course Costco wins. These same seniors, after having grazed their way through the store, approach the cashiers, carts brimming with 5 pound jars of cashews, 2 pound sacks of dried cherries, a half-gallon of ketchup and the 128-ounce "Economy Size" tub of Metamucil. The place is like catnip for old people.

Yesterday was St.Patrick's promotion day at Costco - Corned Beef, Irish Whiskey, Genuine Authentic Irish Butter and just about anything you could think of that would accept green food coloring and be portioned into convenient 10 pound bags. I don't have many Irish recipes so I've turned to our friend MacSully for inspiration. She offered up her latest favorite Irish Soda Bread recipe along with a photo by MoMacSully. Please enjoy...

Irish Soda Bread
by Margaret Johnson from Cooking Light, March 2010

Cooking Spray
11.25 ounces (about 2 1/2 cups) whole-wheat flour
2.25 ounces (about 1/2 cup) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Steel Cut Oats
2 TBSP brown sugar
1 TBSP wheat germ
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups low-fat buttermilk
1 large egg, lightly beaten


Preheat oven to 325 degrees F

Coat a 9x5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray. Line the pan with parchment paper, and coat with cooking spray.

Weigh or lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cup and level with a knife. Combine flours and next 6 ingredients (through salt). Combine buttermilk and egg; add to flour mixture. Stir just until combined.

Spoon mixture into prepared pan. Bake for 65 minutes or until wooden toothpick comes out clean.

Invert bread onto cooling rack and allow to cool completely. Remove parchment and serve.


There you go O'Crablings. I haven't made this recipe but all of MacSully's other Irish inspired recipes have worked out very well.

Until next time, have some green beer and remember, you can do it, you can cook.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yummmmy....and I have another one for next year! Grandpa's favorite recipe for the white soda bread. Happy St. Patrick's Day to all. MacSully

Anonymous said...

Made this with some Irish lamb stew. Yum!

WineWizardBob said...

It's bread and butter and according to the late great James Beard, no chef no matter how great cannot come up with a better dish than fresh bread out of the oven served with lots of butter lots of butter. Hey I'm paraphrasing, but you get the idea.

So beer is best, Smithwick's if you can find it.

And any wine you like works too.

But not a buttery Chardonnay!

Two rights make a wrong.