Unless it involves a microwave, you better leave me out.
No Irish cook would dream of using a microwave for cooking, maybe to defrost or warm up something.
I have eaten tons of soda bread in every part of Ireland, and none of it had raisins or fruit in it.
When the members of our Irish club bring soda bread to the meetings, you can tell the cooks born in the USA - they put fruit in it, the Irish-born cooks don't.
Here is a traditional recipe:
The original recipe for Irish soda bread uses only four ingredients: flour, baking soda, salt, and buttermilk or sour milk. Soda bread is best when fresh, the same day as
it is baked.
Ingredients
4 cups wholemeal flour
4 cups white flour
2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
3½ cups buttermilk
If you can't get buttermilk, use fresh milk soured with a tablespoon of lemon juice.
Method:
Mix together all the dry ingredients.
Create a well in the center and pour in half of the buttermilk. Mix carefully and slowly add just enough buttermilk to make a soft dough. You may not need to use all of the buttermilk. Add fruit if desired.
Turn dough out on a floured surface. Do not knead or handle dough too much, this could cause the bread to toughen. Seperate the dough into 2 loaves and quickly shape into 2 circles.
Place the loaves on a baking sheet, or in a greased 7 inch pie pan and cut a deep cross onto the top with a knife. Let it rest about 30 minutes, covered by a clean cloth.
# Bake at 450° F (230 ° C) for 15 minutes, then reduce to 400° F (200 ° C) and bake for an additional 25 minutes. The bread will be a light brown. Turn out onto a rack to cool.
Tomorrow: My specialty - Beef in Guinness!
(My Priest is from Ireland and loves this one)
