Fruit and Nut Irish Soda Bread and some Updates!

First and Foremost....

Did you see that I have a new article for TASTE? Read about my love for (and the history of) the beautiful continental breakfast. I'm so pleased to have gotten a chance to write for them again after writing about the Pittsburgh-area tradition of the cookie table last year.

And now the blog post!

I've slowed down a bit these last few months. I'm taking my time to read, spend time with the dogs. I gave up meat 2 weeks ago, but it's not dogmatic - it's practice. And in the meantime, I'm planning a redesign for the blog, adding more features and getting organized. More on that in a couple weeks.

I like to think I'm organized. I'd like to think I'm a planner. I write things down and follow-up to emails. But when it comes to the cupboards, the pantry, I close the doors and forget about it until the next time I bake. That's why this recipe is so great - you can use up any extra dried ingredients you have lying around. Fold it around dough. Bake it in a warm oven. And snack all weekend for St. Patrick's Day.

Fruit and Nut Irish Soda Bread

Ingredients:

• 2 cups AP flour
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 TB cocoa powder
• 6 TB salted butter, melted
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup plain yogurt
• 1 cup whole milk
• 2 TB molasses
• 1 1/2 cup nuts and dried fruit of your choice

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425*F and prepare a sheet pan with parchment paper or a SIlpat
2. Sift together flours, salt, soda, and cocoa
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together butter, egg, yogurt, and molasses
4. Create a well in the center of your dry ingredients
5. Slowly pour in your wet ingredients. Slowly stir your mixture as you go
6. Your dough may be a little dry, if you are in a higher elevation or depending on your wheat flour, so add a little more milk until dough is shaggy
7. Turn out onto a floured work surface
8. Flatten out with the heel of your hand, pour in your choices of nuts and fruit and knead into the dough 
9. Continue knead a few times until a more solid ball forms
10. Place on your prepared pan
11. Score top with an X
12. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until crust is browned and bread is puffed
13. Allow to cool before serving

A Simple Bread for a Simple Life

The dogs always seem to want up before the sun. I'm not sure what it will be like when we get chickens, but I hope my sluggish eyes can keep up with their demands. The sun rises right over the white barn that sits at the edge of our neighbor's property and blinds us by 10 in the morning. The house needs curtains. We are not shut-ins, but we need our own form of privacy from the world, the elements, the mailman, and the buzzards that circle and circle and circle the roadside.

We bought food in bulk before we moved in, things we thought we'd crave that weren't perishable. We have a sack of rice hidden in the back of the cupboard behind the dog food. Pasta sauce that doesn't look as appealing as it did on the store shelf. In the back of the cabinet, behind the clover honey and the tomato paste, I found a jar of kalamata olives that became the inspiration for this bread. 

While a quick bread is not my go-to, I love the ease and convenience of this Irish soda bread, cut into rolls and kneaded by hand. They are still delicate, crumbly, and can last for a couple days. Just long enough to enjoy for the weekend while watching the sun cast shadows on the house you own now.

Olive Irish Soda Rolls

Ingredients:

• 4 cup AP flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 4 TB cultured butter (or unsalted butter), cold
• 1 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 1 egg, room temperature, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup chopped kalamata olives

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375*F and grease a 12 inch cast iron skillet or casserole dish 
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients
3. Using your hands, pinch your butter between your fingers into the dry mixture until fats are the size of peas
4. Create a well in the center of your ingredients and, using a wooden spoon, slowly stir in your buttermilk and egg
5. Turn out onto a floured work surface and knead until dough is springy (will be sticky at first)
6. Knead in olives
7. Cut into eights and roll into balls
8. Place into greased skillet and bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown