Brown soda bread
My Irish Table Copyright (c) 2014 by Cathal Armstrong and David Hagedorn
Apart from potatoes, nothing is more synonymous with the food of Ireland than brown bread. You find it served there with just about anything, from breakfast to Christmas dinner.
Ingredients
-
2 cups
Irish-style wholemeal
flour
-
2 cups
all-purpose
flour
-
1 tsp
baking soda
-
1 tsp
kosher
salt
-
1/2 cup
cold unsalted
butter
, diced, plus more for serving
-
1 3/4 cups
buttermilk
-
1
large
egg
, lightly beaten
Instructions
-
Make the dough: Preheat the oven to 400°F. Lightly dust a baking sheet with flour. In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, baking soda, and salt. Using your fingertips, rub the butter pieces into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal. Make a well in the center of the mixture and pour in the buttermilk and egg; work them into the dough with your hands just until they are incorporated. Do not overmix the dough.
-
Bake the bread: Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and form it into a round loaf about 8 inches in diameter. Place it on the baking sheet and, using a sharp knife, cut a cross into its top about 1/2 inch deep. Bake for 40 minutes, until well browned. Transfer the bread to a wire rack and let it rest for at least 20 minutes before serving with lots of butter.
Reprinted from My Irish Table Copyright (c) 2014 by Cathal Armstrong and David Hagedorn. Published by Ten Speed Press, a division of Random House, LLC, a Penguin Random House Company.
My Irish Table goes on sale March 11th, 2014.
