The Versatility of Irish Soda Bread

Quick breads which are comprised of batter leavened with baking powder/soda are the ones I made early on in my continuing love affair with a hot oven. The yeasted glories came later. Cornbread, muffins, and griddle cakes, all boasting a hefty dose of levure chimique, topped my list way back then. One day a spunky upstart invaded the kitchen in the form of Irish Soda Bread.

Its fragrant crustiness made bumpy by raisins and caraway seeds along with its humility as it was neither too airy nor too rich won my heart...

...though this spartan aspect does not preclude slathering a wedge with sweet butter.

Or merrily drizzling a lemon glaze*. Or dusting a fine veil of icing sugar. Or filling a split wedge. With what you might ask? How about cream cheese, perhaps lemon curd? And the best tuna salad sandwich I ever had, was made with, you guess it, Irish Soda Bread.

The addition of caraway helps this bread straddle the line between sweet and savoury

INGREDIENTS
makes 6 good-sized wedges
recipe adapted from my culinary bible, Fannie Farmer

• Flour, plain, white, 16 fluid ounces/280 grams
• Baking powder, 4 tsp
• Salt, 1/2 tsp
• Sugar, 1 T
• Butter, sweet, 3 T, cut into small pieces
• Milk, 5 1/3 fluid ounces/1 1/2 dL
• Raisins, 4 fluid ounces/1dL
• Caraway seeds, 1 T

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F/190 degrees C. Butter a 9 inch/23 cm round pan. Put the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a large bowl. Using your fingers, work the butter into the mixture until it resembles coarse meal which takes just a few minutes.

Stir the milk in all at once to get a lumpy, moist mass. Add the raisins and caraway seeds, blending just enough to distribute them evenly, or as evenly as you can!

Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead about twenty times to get a fairly smooth, cohesive ball.

Place the dough in the center of the pan and press it to the sides. There shouldn't be any very thin spots, but in general the lumpy shape of the bread is one of its charms. Pop in the oven for about twenty minutes until a golden brown, and when its center springs back just a little when pressed. Cut into wedges of the size desired.

I would be the last one in the world to advise against the butter-melting indulgence of eating it hot from the oven, but when cooler or cool, the crumb is more conducive to making sandwiches. In any case, the raisins and caraway seeds along with an exceedingly tasty crust do a stand-up job of focusing your taste buds.

In the potager, the fall harvest is finally over. The Calm One and I have been conversing for the last month thusly:
Me (huffing and puffing up the sous sol stairs lugging a basket of just picked late-season tomatoes): Okay, these are the last!
Him:  You said that the last time.
Me:  Yes, you are right. Perhaps these are not the last.

I hate when an unusually long growing season makes a liar out of me, especially since we both look forward to topping The Calm One's macaroni and cheese with our tomatoes, sprinkling with even more cheese, then broiling the dish until they become saucy and the cheese bubbly.

The green stuff is chiffonade of basil

As there are no tomatoes whatsoever on the vines, red or green, I can say with certainty, these are the last! Whether or not they all will turn red is another story. So begins the impatient wait for next season's bounty as we do without fresh ones until then.

On the right is a jar of bay leaf cuttings waiting for their eventual potting up

À la prochaine!

*To make a fluid lemon glaze, add lemon juice to confectioner's sugar until you get the desired consistency. For extra punch, stir in some lemon zest.

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How to make lemon curd
How to make griddle cakes
Drying bay leaves for culinary use and potting up cuttings

RELATED LINKS

Joe Pastry discussing 'the continental divide', that is, the use of different leavening agents in America and Europe.

Sweet Red Pepper & Green Bean Pakoras

These will always be known chez nous as thunder blackout fritters. Last night as I just was going to shallow fry some pakora batter a tremendous clap of thunder occurred, and then the lights went out. Dirac the kitten was playing with a clove of garlic around my feet before this surprise événement. From the sound of it, he still was. I stayed put because I didn't want to stomp on him. The Calm One's well, calm, voice boomed out from the dark depths of the house, are you two OK? Being informed of the situation, he quickly did what was needed to be done, and there was light once again. Into the fry pan the fritters did go!

The flower is a blue cranesbill

All the Piments doux très long des Landes in our potager have turned red encouraging me to come up with recipes containing them. There is also a late flush of young, tender, and very slender green beans.

The snap beans are a bush French variety:  haricots nains extra fins de bagnols

Adding some corn starch to the pakora batter is something that several cooks knowledgeable in Indian cuisine have told me will make these fried goodies nice and crisp. They are absolutely correct as I did some with and without. I regard proper frying closer to steaming and am never reluctant to go the sizzle route.

Chick pea flour is fantastic, I love its pale yellow colour!

INGREDIENTS
makes around twenty five 3 inch fritters

Chick pea flour, 8 fluid ounces
Cornstarch, 2 fluid ounces
Water, 6 fluid ounces
Salt, 1/2 tsp
Red pepper, sweet, thinly sliced, 4 fluid ounces
Green beans, finely sliced, 4 fluid ounces
Garlic, crushed, 1 tsp
Ginger, finely minced, 2 tsp
Hot red pepper flakes, a large pinch, more if you want HOT
Garnishes/Accompaniments: fleur de sel, lime slices, chutney, yogurt
Enough fresh frying oil like sunflower or canola to cover a skillet a 1/2 inch with it; if you have already used oil, add about a tablespoon of that into the pan

Mix the first four ingredients with a spoon then switch to a whisk and blend until the smooth consistency of a pancake batter.

Add the next five ingredients and stir.

Heat the oil. To test for the right temperature, insert the handle of a wooden spoon to check if a continuous stream of tiny bubbles is being made.

For safety, use a tablespoon to measure the batter (make sure each spoonful has enough veggies in it) into a long-handled ladle and then carefully pour that amount into the oil. Leave enough room between the fritters so they will not touch each other. In my eight-inch skillet, I was able to make seven pakora at a time.

Fry for about a total of four minutes, two minutes on each side. Check the oil temperature for each batch; if too hot the bubbles will be large during the wooden spoon test. Fish out the tiny bits that break off the fritters during frying after each batch or else someone may rush into the kitchen wondering what's that burning smell. Blot the finished pakora well with paper towels.

I use a metal skimmer for turning and scooping them out

They are best when piping hot, but I had no problem polishing off the still crisp leftovers straight from the fridge the following day. They were very much like thick veggie chips. A sprinkling of fleur de sel is a nice touch as is serving them with chutney or lime slices.

The bits of red and green are a cheery colour combination. 

Not to mention dipping them in yogurt is very refreshing!

Our garlic player, Dirac, continues to grow. When having a timeout from his strenuous kicking of cloves, he sits in the rocking chair near my computer. When he gets bored, he notices his reflection in the full length mirror close by and charges right into it like the determined athlete that he is.

À la prochaine!

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Fusilli with sweet red peppers, garlic, and capers

Fresh Raspberry Maple Oatmeal Bars & Cream Cheese Icing

One recent cool day, our neglected oven abruptly demanded, turn me on! But what to bake? The raspberry bushes energetically nodded, us of course! Harvesting yielded just two cups and before I could think that was not enough for serious baking, the smallish and exceedingly stylish ceramic casserole that my sister-in-law and I agreed was a must have when we went to Emmaus* during her visit from Britain a few weeks ago, breathlessly uttered, use me, my dear!

These juicy, fruity, buttery bars make a wonderful dessert...or breakfast...or brunch...or snack. Their flavour stands up even after they spend the night in the fridge.

INGREDIENTS
(makes six 2 x 2.5 inch rectangles if using a 5 inch x 6 inch dish though recipe can be doubled and doubled again necessitating a 8 inch x 8 inch pan for the former and a 9 inch x 12 inch one for the latter)

DOUGH
Flour, white, plain, 4 fluid ounces
Oatmeal, 4 fluid ounces
Sugar, white, 2 fluid ounces
Maple syrup, 1-2 T
Baking soda, a large pinch
Salt, a small pinch
Cinnamon, a large pinch
Nutmeg, freshly grated, a small pinch
Butter, sweet, softened, 4 T

FILLING
(makes about 8 fluid ounces of filling plus around 3 fluid ounces of juice for the icing)
Raspberries (reserve 6 for garnishing), fresh, 16 fluid ounces
Sugar, white, 1-2 T
Lemon juice, freshly squeezed, 1 T

ICING/TOPPING
Strained raspberry juice from cooking the berries, around 3 fluid ounces
Icing sugar/confectioner's/powdered, around 2 T or to taste
Cream cheese, 2-3 T, more can be added for thicker consistency
Raspberries, 6

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Take butter out to get to room temperature. Add the maple syrup to the sugar.

It's a nice substitute for brown sugar

Rinse the berries. I tossed in the few strawberries remaining in the potager.

Strawberries were coarsely chopped, the raspberries were left whole

Heat gently all the filling ingredients, mashing them a bit as they cook for around two minutes. Reserve.

Mix all the dough ingredients except the butter together.

Work in the butter. Using my fingers, it took me about five minutes. The mixture needs to look like coarse, damp sand.

When properly mixed, the dough will clump if a small amount is pressed in your hand.

Spread ten fluid ounces of dough into a generously buttered pan. Firmly press down.

Spoon the strained berries and spread them 1/4 inch from the edges of the dough so the side of the bars will mostly stay dry making it easier to remove from the dish.

Scatter the remaining over the top and lightly press down.

Bake around 35 minutes or until nicely browned.  As the kitchen is being suffused with the most appetising aroma, make the icing. Strain the berry juice through a fine sieve.

Add the powdered sugar and cream cheese. Start mixing with a spoon, mashing the cheese. When almost smooth, switch to a wire whisk. Put in the fridge; when cold, it thickens.

Let the cake cool completely before cutting into bars.

Top with a dollop of the icing and a raspberry.

The icing added an appreciated creaminess to the crunch.

Dirac, after being with us for three weeks, is putting on weight. Not only does Dirac love his food, he also loves our food, and so fervent is this love that he kisses us after we finish a meal especially if there was cheese in it.

If any fingers recently have handled butter, he ensures that they will be clean in no time flat. His meow is closer to a cranky sheep's baah which when Dirac is being denied butter and confined inside lasts for a very long while.

Because of Dirac's over-eager mouth, pens, the more fragile of computer cables, anything really, is put away and put away in such a rush that we have no idea where we have put them. In a way, it is packing, but we have no place to go!

À la prochaine!

*All of us, that is, four adults and two kids had agreed to meet at a designated spot around closing time. One adult did not show up. So another adult went into the cavernous main building to see if any help was required. A few minutes passed and yet another adult decided to check the situation out. Noting the concerned faces of my nephew and niece, I solemnly promised, The building that eats adults will not get me.

Parfait Breakfast/Brunch: Layered Maple Cinnamon Granola, Yogurt & Blackberries

Figuring out what to do with our potager's largesse of plump, juicy, and zingy blackberries had me momentarily stumped. I first chose a colour scheme based on what is available and what would go together taste/texture-wise: a delectable brown=cocoa yogurt, a scrumptious gold=maple cinnamon oat granola, a passionate purple=blackberry coulis, a dramatic black=blackberries, and an alluring pink=yogurt mixed with a few drops of coulis. Then I mused about what kind of container? A fancy, tall dessert dish, replete with pedestal or a sturdy, hard-working canning jar which could easily keep its lid on if needed? The latter won, spoons down!

Our hibiscus bushes are in full bloom!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F/177 degrees C. For one large serving -- I used a 200 ml jar -- mix several large handfuls of oat flakes with about 1/2 tsp of cinnamon.

Add about 90 ml/3 fluid ounces of maple syrup. Adjust to taste -- aim for moderate sweetness, a definite tang of spice, and an uniform light moisture.

Spread mixture on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and bake about fifteen minutes or until nicely toasted, stirring with a large wooden spoon or with a spatula every five minutes. Let cool and pour into a storage jar.

Wash several handfuls of blackberries. Reserve one third for the parfait, saving the best one for a garnish, and the remaining two-thirds for the coulis.

To make the coulis, roughly puree the reserved amount either in a blender/processor or with a hand-held mixer. Work the puree in a fine-meshed sieve placed over a bowl until the berries are more dry than wet. Discard the sieved material and reserve the coulis. Sweeten to taste with confectioner's/icing sugar.

If you just have regular yogurt, and not Greek-styled, then drain about 250 ml in a fine-meshed sieve placed over a bowl, cover, keep in the fridge for least a few hours and if possible overnight for the best results.

Divide it in two equal portions. Flavour one with unsweetened cocoa powder. Though it could be sweetened with confectioners sugar, be careful not to go overboard as the coulis and granola are already fairly sweet additions.

This tasted like pudding!

Tint the other with a bit of the coulis until pink and sweeten with icing sugar if so desired.

Assemble together all ingredients and jar(s).

When layering, make sure it touches well the inside of the jar without any air pockets so it can be seen from the outside. Start with the cocoa yogurt (keep aside a heaping tsp for garnishing).

Then comes a sprinkling of granola, berries which are pressed against the sides of the jar so as to be visible from the outside, and another scattering of granola. Drench it all with a good deal of coulis. If a more creamy texture is preferred, then use less granola.

Next comes the pink yogurt.

Repeat with the cereal, berries, and coulis. Top with a dollop of the cocoa yogurt and a nice fat berry on its side.

The parfait's pleasing combo of tastes is accompanied with a nice contrast in texture.

I ate just one vertical half, and the rest got lidded and put in the fridge. By next morning, the granola had softened and absorbed more of the flavouring. It was a delight!

À la prochaine!