I'm not Irish but St. Patrick's Day gave me an excuse to make a favorite stew recipe and my first loaf of Irish soda bread. The stew recipe is from Tyler Florence and can be found here. It's a fantastic recipe. I've thrown away all my other beef stew recipes because I've finally got the best one.
The Irish soda bread recipe can be found in any Betty Crocker cookbook in the "Quick Breads" section. You can also read it online here. Since I'd never made it before I wasn't sure what to expect. And this was the first time I've ever kneaded a quick bread! The texture reminded me of heavy biscuit dough and it smelled like pancake batter. The taste was mildly sweet and the raisins added a nice flavor. It wasn't a dry bread, but it was very dense. Here's how it looked when it came out of the oven.
I learned that the cross on the top is not a religious symbol but simply an escape vent for the carbon dioxide that is formed from the baking soda. Without it, the bread would take on an unappetizing exploded look by the end of baking.
It's kinda like the Irish equivalent of scones. I had it a couple of years ago at the Irish Festival in Dublin, OH. I really liked it and don't know why I haven't made it before.
ReplyDeleteYour bread looked a lot prettier than the photo at BC!
Mmmmm Call me when dinner's ready :)!!!
ReplyDeleteIt all looks very wonderful Amy! I can almost taste the stew.....
ReplyDeleteI wanna come eat, too!
ReplyDeleteLucy
Okay, everyone's invited for dinner!!!
ReplyDeleteI'll be right over. Ha, I wish! I'd love to visit. I check out that beef stew recipe and that sounds good and it looked good. Thanks for sharing. I may refer back to it.
ReplyDeleteAmy, you sure are cooking up a storm! It all looks yummy!
ReplyDeleteYum, I'm glad to see someone else cook a traditional Irish dinner that isn't corned beef and cabbage.
ReplyDeleteMmmm! There ya go again...always making me hungry.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the recipes, too. :)
The soda bread looks so good!
~Lisa