Soda bread ...

[KC2]

Evening all
I've been meaning to make some soda bread for ages and in today's Observer Nigel Slater's theme was (soda) bread and butter! This is his recipe: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyl ... er-recipes

He starts by putting a heavy casserole + lid into a hot oven to warm up - I have a 22 cm Le Creuset - I imagine this would be the right sort of thing. What do you think? Presumably it wouldn't come to any harm by putting it into a hot oven empty, would it?

I like the look of his butters to have on the bread as well!

[aero280]

I have made the normal yeast raised bread using the "no knead method". This involves using less yeast and allowing the bread to prove in a colder environment overnight. It's cooked in the morning in a cast iron casserole that is made very hot. The lid keeps the whole thing sealed and has the same effect as spraying with water, or leaving a tray of boiling water in the oven. Check out hickybank's posts for details.

So you will be fine getting an empty casserole very hot. It survives having cold bread dough thrown into it as well!!

[KC2]

Thanks aero

[KC2]

A bit more advice please .... should I get strong bread flour or normal wholemeal plain flour? The own brands (Tesco, Waitrose, Sainsbugs) are all strong bread flour; or Allinsons does a plain wholemeal flour.

Thank you!

[Herbidacious]

My copy of the BBC good food magazine arrived at the weekend, and has a recipe for soda bread which Emma Freud says ‘takes literally five minutes from having the idea to putting it in the oven.” I would like to think she is too well-educated to use the word ‘literally’ to mean the opposite. I was considering making it. All this talk of heating casserole dishes and what type of flour, is making me wonder if there is more to it though!
Anyway she says 500g wholemeal flour which I would image means just that, rather than strong? Her recipe has the same overall amount of flour as Nigel's, same bicarb, more salt, honey and lemon juice instead of sugar, and rosemary.

[Herbidacious]

Felicity on flour in soda bread in the Guardian

Soda bread can be made with white or brown flour, although, as David points out in her English Bread and Yeast Cookery, there is little point using strong bread flour here: the Irish often talk of a "cake" of brown bread, which gives you a fair idea of the texture to aim for. Moist and crumbly, rather than light and airy, is the name of the game. I'll be concentrating on the wholemeal variety – white soda bread is nice enough, but you can't beat the dark, dense, almost absurdly wholesome kind.

Patrick Ryan uses 100% wholemeal flour, "the coarser the better", in the book Bread Revolution, as does David, and Rose Prince in her Pocket Bakery book, with the caveat that it should be "properly grainy". Chef Richard Corrigan uses half wholemeal and half white flour in The Clatter of Forks and Spoons, and Darina Allen uses one part white to just over five parts wholemeal in Forgotten Skills of Cooking.

It can't be denied that a proportion of plain flour gives a lighter result, but that's not what I'm after here. If you'd like a loaf to eat every day, then by all means swap in half the amount of white flour, but I love the nubbly texture and nutty flavour of the wholemeal loaves; they feel ridiculously good for me. Try to get the coarsest ground flour you can; health food shops are often fruitful hunting grounds, or visit the likes of Shipton Mill online.

Prince and Corrigan use rolled oats in their bread, which I'm also a fan of: the more grains the merrier.

[KC2]

Brilliant, thanks for searching that out, really helpful. I've got sunflower, pumpkin and chia seeds in the cupboard so those are the seeds I'm going to use.

I'll report back when I've made it ...

[Herbidacious]

Sounds delish

[aero280]

I've just found the post I made a while back about a Swedish soda bread. The recipe was from the host in the B&B.

There was some discussion about the quantity of bicarb, but she wrote down difference terms (in Swedish) for the spoon sizes...

viewtopic.php?f=13&t=14945&p=424275

[Pepper Pig]

I always fancied making Paul Hollywood’s having had a chum rave about it. Still haven’t got a round tuit.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/soda_bread_24837

[KC2]

Both those recipes look good - I got the wholemeal flour today but had to get Carrs as all the others were either strong, extra strong or self-raising ...
The buttermilk comes in a 300 ml carton - Nigel Slater's recipe says 350 ml and I see Paul Hollywood's uses 500 ml for only 50 gm more flour and several tbsp seeds ... I had planned just to add a little milk and hope that would work! Now I've got my doubts!

[Suelle]

[KC2]

[KC2]

Well, it's in the oven ... but the dough was incredibly dry and even though I had added the additional 50 ml of liquid to take the total up to 350 ml I had to add more in order to get it to stick together at all. I fear I have probably overworked it now so have no idea how it's going to turn out .... probably tough and leathery! But then I've never managed to make successful scones even though everyone always says how easy they are so it's more than likely my fault.

We shall see ... I have found in the past that Nigel Slater's recipes can sometimes be a bit vague - they can be more like guidelines rather than a precise set of instructions to be followed to the letter. That's why OH gets on very well with them as he is not a great one for measuring and weighing.

[suffolk]

I find that wholemeal flour varies considerable in the amount of liquid it absorbs ... each brand needs getting used to :, and if you buy it from a local mill it can change from batch to batch as the loads of wheat delivered to them can vary.

[KC2]

It tastes really good!

If I could work out how, I'd post a pic ...

[KC2]

My son just showed me how ... so here it is!

[suffolk]

Can't see it ... you need to click on Post Reply (bottom left) and upload a photo from there

[KC2]

Oh dear, I'll have to try again so I'll need to get the link again from my google drive ... Easier said than done!!

[KC2]

Ah, the file is too big. I'll get there eventually ...

[KC2]

Try this one ...

[suffolk]

That looks tasty!

This thread has got me inspired about soda bread again ... I bought some buttermilk this morning ......

[KC2]

[suffolk]

I often use a mix of plain yoghurt or creme fraiche with milk if I don't have any buttermilk in the fridge ... it works just as well

[KC2]

[dennispc]

Rachael Allan bakes soda bread every day at her cookery school.

450g plain flour, 1 tsp caster sugar, 1 tsp bicarb, 1 tsp salt, 350 - 425 ml buttermilk or sour milk.

Bring together in bowl, don’t knead, form into a round shape on floured surface. Cut crosses to let the fairies out, baking tray into hot oven, 200C for about 30mins.

To make sour milk, she suggests gently heating the milk, remove from heat, add juice of half a lemon and leave at room temperature overnight.

For interest, Andrew Whitley suggests the high incidence of coeliac disease in Ireland maybe because of their love of soda bread.

[earthmaiden]

I used to make soda bread quite a lot - but not with buttermilk and it came out quite well with a crumb between scone and normal bread. I too have used yogurt with milk which I like very much.

[suffolk]

Wholemeal soda bread with a few pumpkin seeds ... I used the River Cottage Handbook recipe for sodabread, using Duchy Organic plain wholemeal and a tablespoon of black treacle as suggested.

It's turned out very tasty ... slightly chewy in a pleasant way ... just what I was hoping for ... perfect with a bowl of squash soup for lunch.

[KC2]

[suffolk]

It's pretty good even if I say so myself ... I put a pic on Gardeners World and an Irish chap living in Russia says he's catching the next plane over

[Zosherooney]

[Seatallan]

[dennispc]

Cut crosses to let the fairies out

Or

To let the devil out

Take your pick.

[PatsyMFagan]

I have been confined to barracks this morning as my boiler wouldn't fire up (I know all the DIY remedies, but not when the white pipe comes out from the first floor bedroom wall, with no easy access) ... Anyway, that is now all sorted (I'm now £100 lighter in my pocket as the plastic pipe was so brittle it had to be replaced, plus his call out charge ! ) and since reading this thread yesterday, I decided to have a go - that's the problem with being home all day, I tend to bake more (yesterday it was welsh cakes ) I have made a half size loaf as there is just me and instead of buttermilk, I used kefir as I had just right amount Now waiting with baited breath

[KC2]

Looking forward to your report on it ...

I made a full size one yesterday as I had a carton of buttermilk I bought weeks ago half price because it was at its expiry date ... and 3/4 of it is already gone! Son who is here at the moment has eaten most of it

btw £100 including the call-out charge seems not too bad!!

[KC2]

[PatsyMFagan]

[KC2]

[PatsyMFagan]

I get the peanut butter and jelly (jam) thing ... I used to have that most week-day mornings as our caff at Hilton HO provided free toast and toppings .. but really cant get my head round marmite and jam !

[suffolk]

A lad at art school used to bring cheese and jam sandwiches in his packed lunch He said it was perfectly normal in his village

[PatsyMFagan]

Yup, I enjoy cheese and jam in a sarnie too

[KC2]

... and Membrillo with Manchego or Iberico is absolutely delicious

Unfortunately I finished off the end of my last batch of Membrillo with some aged Iberico quite recently and the Membrillo I've bought at Waitrose isn't as good as mine

[Herbidacious]

What role does buttermilk play in this? I fancied making some, but getting buttermilk will be a bit involved without a car.

[Suelle]

[Herbidacious]

Thanks!