IRISH SODA BREAD
HAPPY ST. PATRICK’S DAY
Gotta be honest. I’ve not a smidgen of blood – red cells, white cells, platelets, or plasma – that runs Irish. I’m pretty sure David Lebovitz, an American living in Paris and author of My Paris Kitchen, is not Irish either. This week, however, CookTheBookFridays, our international crew cooking its way through his new cookbook, salutes our Emerald Isle brethren with his Carbonade Flamande, a hearty Belgian Beef Stew with Beer and Spice Bread.
BELGIAN BEEF STEW with BEER and SPICE BREAD
Although it may border on blasphemy to tout a Belgian stew today, David’s recipe is unique and worthy of this holiday. His Pain d’Épices, a delicious addition, is addictive. Following a LightsonBright tradition, I’m sharing my 2016 version of Irish Soda Bread. No crumbs remain.
PAIN d’ÉPICES, Honey-Spice Bread
I’m a woman of few words today. My post is simply a photo flurry. Go green, be joyous, everybody’s Irish today. Can’t we all agree on that? Let’s have some fun. You deserve it.
A FOGGY DAY on the CENTRAL COAST of CALIFORNIA
David describes Carbonade Flamande (his Belgian Beef Stew with Beer and Spice Bread) as a ‘well-seasoned beef dish’ with its main ingredients being ‘beer, beef, spice and bacon.’ This stew is unlike any I’ve ever tasted due to the addition of beer, of course, but also Pain d’Épices slathered with Dijon mustard.
Every great stew needs onions in abundance. Peel. Slice. Dice.
After first browning the beef chunks, followed by adding onions and bacon to soften and cook, transfer the mixture to a bowl.
After adding beer, water and spices, the meat mixture is returned to the Dutch oven, spices are added and it’s left to simmer for an hour.
After a meal of Carbonade Flamande served with mashed potatoes. rice or pasta, it may be naptime.
Mr. California Sea Otter
The headliner of this stew, for me, is the classic Pain d’Épices, a chewy, dense honey-spice bread (or, cake). For taste purposes, it’s a cousin to gingerbread. This recipe, at the end of the post, earned the #1 berth on my new hostess gift list. One batter batch makes two 8” x 3 3/4” loaves.
Get to know this exquisite Pain d’Epices. Try toast, making croutons, using spreads like cream cheese or jams or serving with ice cream. The French serve it with Foie Gras. An acquired taste, perhaps.
It’s a joy to spot the threatened Snowy Plover during breeding season. Although their numbers are depleted (These pictures demonstrate Why.), the state of Cali ropes off beach nesting areas to protect these little guys. (We bird lovers thank you, California.)
The Snowy Plover sits on her nest.
Even though I was quite a distance from the plovers, they did not like me and left their nests. I quickly left and they returned to duty.
Every year I choose a different Irish Soda bread recipe to bake for SPDay. This March I revisited a decade-old recipe of the Barefoot Contessa’s. Don’t forget to slash an X into the dough to either 1) ward off the devil; 2) bless the bread; or 3) let heat penetrate into the thickest part of the bread. Your choice.
Irish Soda Bread dough
Last year I borrowed Sweet Paul’s recipe, totally different from Ina’s but delectable as well. You’ll find his recipe here.
Sweet Paul’s Irish Soda Bread (2015 photo)
RECIPES
Shamrocks (thank you, Trader Joe’s) and Seaglass, Shells and Moonstones collected from the public beaches.
PAIN d’EPICES (Honey-Spice Bread) from My Paris Kitchen by David Lebovitz
INGREDIENTS
3/4 cup honey
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon whole or ground anise seed
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 9-inch loaf pan and line the bottom with a sheet of parchment paper.
2. Heat the honey, brown sugar, water, and salt in a saucepan until it begins to boil. Decrease the heat to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in 1 cup of the all-purpose flour. Let cool to room temperature.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the remaining 1/3 cup all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, anise, cinnamon, allspice, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves.
4. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and egg yolk.
5. Stir half the honey mixture into the dry ingredients. Add the eggs, then the rest of the honey mixture, stirring until smooth. (If any bits of flour remain, whisk the batter briefly to break them up and incorporate them.)
6. Scrape the mixture into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool for 20 minutes, loosen the sides of the cake from the pan with a knife, then tip the cake out onto a wire cooling rack and cool completely. If possible, wait a day before slicing. Pain d’Epices will keep for at least 1 week at room temperature, if well wrapped. It can also be frozen for up to 2 months.
David Lebovitz also has an excellent post on Pain d’Epices here.
IRISH SODA BREAD From Barefoot Contessa at Home, by Ina Garten, 2006.
INGREDIENTS
4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for currants
4 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 3/4 cups cold buttermilk, shaken
1 extra-large egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
1 cup dried currants
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
2. Combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the butter and mix on low speed until the butter is mixed into the flour.
3. With a fork, lightly beat the buttermilk, egg, and orange zest together in a measuring cup. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture. Combine the currants with 1 tablespoon of flour and mix into the dough. It will be very wet.
4. Dump the dough onto a well-floured board and knead it a few times into a round loaf. Place the loaf on the prepared sheet pan and lightly cut an X into the top of the bread with a serrated knife. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. When you tap the loaf, it will have a hollow sound.
5. Cool on a baking rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.
TIP: I never use grated orange zest when baking this bread. I sometimes add a teaspoon of caraway seeds. Since I could not find currants, I used raisins but prefer currants.
Our group can only reprint My Paris Kitchen’s recipe if they are already on the Web. If you wish the stew recipe, please e-mail me. Cook The Book Fridays is an international group cooking its way virtually through David Lebovitz’s newest cookbook. To visit our link or join us, go here.
Gorgeous photos, Mary!
I’m half-Irish, or thereabouts, and my first thought when reading this recipe was that it reminded me of a good stout stew. If we’re lucky, my mother makes a pot of Irish stew for us around St. Paddy’s Day, but Guinness stew was something I started making as an adult. I haven’t figured out what the gluten-free, vegan version of this is yet.
I love your tradition of sharing different soda bread recipes each year.
Well, I’m half Irish and you’re making much more of an effort than I am for St. Patty’s Day! Loving the look of David’s honey spice bread, though I could easily whip up Ina’s soda bread sans raisins. Decisions, decisions. 🙂
Stealing Keep Calm thingy from your post!
Baked the bread last night, sliced it this morning (for hubby’s snacking today), but forgot to taste it myself (am I loosing it?). Making the beef stew tonight! I had only baked Irish soda bread once, so time for another visit perhaps, soon, or maybe next StP’s!
Thanks for the lovely nature photos and a Big Thank You to the state of California, for doing the very best for nature!
ps: Gorgeous results you got there regards… the food!
I stole the Keep Calm to send to my 100% 2nd generation Irish friend, Erin O’Connell (how’s that for Irish?) And she has a beautiful lilting Irish Soprano voice and red hair! Can’t get too much more Irish than that.
We can’t wait to try the Beef stew recipe. Sounds yummy
Hi Mary, Happy St. Patrick’s Day. I finally got around to making the Irish Soda Bread from your post last year. I am a little behind. Looks like I have next year’s assignment too. That honey bread looks delicious too. My post today is all about Mary’s blog:)
Hello, Mary!
You have not slowed down one bit in the kitchen, nor on the beach! Cheers!
If it wasn’t for Facebook, St. Pats day is one of those holidays which I would probably forget about completely, since they do not celebrate it here. Actually, my fellow expat Irish friends don’t celebrate it either. But every year, when I see it pop up on my facebook feed, I tell myself that I’m going to recreate my late grandfather’s annual cabbage and corned beef dinner. He wasn’t Irish either, but he knew a good thing when he tasted it:-) I never seem to get around to it though.
Love the plovers! It is almost sea turtle season here and soon sections of the beach will be cordoned off to protect the nests. How delightful!
I love that every post of yours is about some sort of celebration, Mary! I want a slice of your soda bread!
Your breads look amazing! How wonderful! Thanks so much for sharing!
Green with envy for the lovely natural environment that is your home base. The hostess gift idea also resonates with me. I made a yeast version of this bread. It is one of the best of its kind.
Okay, I have to admit that we celebrated St. Paddy’s Day by going to an Indian restaurant. We went into Saratoga and all the tavern/ pub-like restaurants were overflowing with drunken revelers. The girls and I decided to take advantage of the blissfully empty, but delightful Indian restaurant and burned our mouths on spicy tandoori foods and Vindaloo for Joe 🙂
love your photo flurry – the perfect mix of food and nature.
I do not have a smidge of Irish blood either but I do love my Irish friends! My husband has a sponsored a few Irish guys that work for him so they can move permanently to Australia and they’ve declared us part of their family, so I’m going to claim that as my own link to the Irish 🙂
I love your photos! The breads look amazing and the stew looks delicious. The nature shots are awesome!
I agree with you! St. Patrick’s Day makes everyone Irish. We have an annual corned beef and cabbage dinner every year to celebrate! I always make Irish soda bread, but I repeat the same recipe I’ve used for years. This year, I shaped it into individual rolls instead of one big loaf (Martha’s idea). It was popular! I was channeling my inner Mary this week and shared lots of nature photos (which I know you saw).
Loved your post here, Mary. Those snowy plovers are so adorable–like little cartoon birds darting around the beach, standing on one leg. 🙂 People here aren’t so fond of them as our closest beach is closed half the year due to their nesting habits. Well, 1 mile is open and then once there are 50 violations, which happens every year as a violation can even be counted if there are footprints in the closed-off area, the entire beach is shut down. Oh and the 6 months it’s closed? March to October. I’ll also have to try your soda bread recipe!!
This looks delicious Mary – I’m definitely going to have to try it out!