Best Thing Since Sliced Bread

Okay, okay, so to eat this Irish Soda Bread, technically you have to slice up the loaf.  Semantics.  Prior to tonight, I had never had nor really thought much about Irish Soda Bread.  I've read books, plays, and the like that mentioned it, but it never really occurred to me to try making it.  Let me just say, "Thank goodness I finally did." Because, yum. I got this recipe from the back of Karen Marie Moning's Dreamfever, though I did alter some ingredients and procedures to make it better. (I also left out the book's call for wriggling Unseelie flesh.  You're welcome). Irish Soda Bread is a thick bread, leavened (made to rise) by using baking soda rather than yeast.  Traditionally the bread simply consists of the base bread; however, additions of items like raisins or nuts can be made, as you see here.  I imagine that the bread would go really well with a nice stew, since the thickness would help sop up any broth.

What You'll Need

Supplies

Large mixing bowl                                                        2 butter knives

Whisk                                                                            Small bowl

Measuring cups                                                             Wooden mixing spoon

Measuring spoons                                                          Large cast iron skillet

Ingredients

4 cups all-purpose flour, + some for shaping              4 Tbsp butter (1/2 stick)

2 Tbsp sugar                                                                 1 cup raisins

1 tsp salt                                                                        1 large egg

1 tsp baking soda                                                          1 3/4 cup buttermilk

Now Let's Make Irish Soda Bread

Whisk away

To begin, preheat the oven to 425F. Take your large mixing bowl and add the flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda. Whisk these ingredients together until evenly smooth in texture.  You can also use a sifter and sift them together, but whisking is just as effective with a lot less hassle and is less bulky.

Cut the butter into large chunks and soften it very slightly (about 10 seconds in a microwave if it wasn't already softened). Plop that into the flour mixture. Now, if you happen to have a pastry cutter around use that (fancy pants), otherwise, cut the butter into the flour mixture using your two butter knives.  When you get frustrated with that smash the butter into the flour mixture using the whisk (cause those wires are about the same as a pastry cutter, let's face it). When you're done, run your fingers through the mixture to make sure you've taken care of any large chunks of butter.  The flour mixture should now have a course meal texture (also known as chunky flour).

Once your butter is sufficiently cut in, add the raisins to the bowl and mix them in using your hands (if you're squeamish about sticking your hand - clean I hope - in food, you'll need to get over it quick; it only gets messier).

Buttermilk

Crack an egg into your small bowl and beat the egg.  Add this to the flour along with the buttermilk.  Stir with your wooden spoon until all the flour is mixed in and dough is stiff.  Lightly flour your hands and begin to gently work the dough into a ball shape.  Do NOT knead the dough; if you over work it the soda bread will be tough. (unless of course you like to nosh on concrete) If the dough is too wet to work, gradually add small amounts of flour, working it in with your hands gently until dough is workable.  Keep in mind that you may need to wash the dough off your hands to form it completely, since the dough will stick to the dough on your hands rather than shaping.

When ready, remove the dough from the bowl and place it on a lightly floured surface (aka counter). Shape the dough into a round loaf.  Grease the cast iron skillet using what remains of your stick of butter. Just use the stick to do it, don't grease it with the whole thing). Rub the butter on both the base and sides of the skillet, but do not coat too heavily.  Place your dough in the center of the greased skillet.  Using one of your butter knives, score the top of the loaf in the shape of an X in order to open the loaf and allow the center to cook through.

Irish Soda Bread

Bake the loaf at 425F for 40-50 minutes until the bread is golden brown. You can tell if it is done by inserting a knife into the center; if it comes out clean, your soda bread is cooked.  Serve in slices with butter or along with a stew.  I for one, will be serving it next week along with Brunswich Stew. (Not the exact same loaf! Blegh.)  Mmmmmmm.  What would you serve it with?

Presented by my fabulous assistant

   

More from the Land of Faerie

The fourth installment of Karen Marie Moning's Fever Series, Dreamfever, sees our heroine finally begin to rise up from the dark, moving on to some more triumphant moments (though its still not all peaches and cream).  I have to say that blogging about a series is quite challenging; I was pretty gung ho when I started, since I love series. However, it's difficult to continue finding new topics or fresh ways to discuss old themes. I imagine its a smaller scale version of some of the challenges an author faces when writing an actual series, a challenge, I am pleased to say, that Moning continues to live up to.

The Basics
Moning, Karen Marie. Dreamfever. New York: Delacorte P., 2009. Print.

Dreamfever opens with Mac making a slow recovery from what was done to her in the previous novel, Faefever, helped along by our favorite enigma, Barrons.  The walls between Faerie and the human world have come crashing down after Halloween. The book follows Mac as she tries to organize and fight her foes, introducing Dani, a character from the previous books, as a more involved character and a sort of sidekick/ kid sister for Mac.

The Book
Speaking of Dani, she has quickly become one of my favorite characters, going from a not-so-developed side character in the earlier books to a more active figure in Dreamfever.  From the moment she takes over the first person narration of the book (briefly and during one of Mac's less than lucid moments), readers have a good idea of her spunky, brooding nature. It helps that the know-it-all, moody thirteen-year-old occupies a liminal space in life, with which many female readers will be familiar and can identify (and I'm sure my parents could recognize it as well. Heh heh).  Dani is both worldly, having the life experience to back up some of her bad attitude, and youthful, lacking the self-possessed maturity that only growing up can give you.  Aside from being an entertaining and engaging character, Dani serves a couple purposes for Moning's writing.  Firstly, it sets up Dani as an excellent lead for Moning's next set of Fever books. Secondly and most importantly to this particular series, Dani's sisterly relationship with Mac nicely mirrors Mac's relationship with her deceased sister Alina.  We are told in the earlier books that Mac looked up to her sister, a situation that is now reversed by Mac looking out for Dani and Dani's admiration of Mac.  This weaves a subtle signal throughout Dreamfever that indicates to readers Mac's new, stronger position and growth as a character.

In order to grow and continue, however, Mac must first recover from what was done to her.  This is a touchy part of the book, since after her return to awareness, Mac practically ignores what she suffered, only occasionally thinking about it with a tinge of horror.  I could see how this could be quite controversial, and some might suggest Moning sweeps the terrible violation Mac endured under the rug.  And yet, while I am by no means comfortable with the events in question, I think sometimes a great book should make you squirm. Furthermore, Moning's handling of the situation is in perfect keeping with Mac's character and her ostrich-like tendency of denial - her fatal flaw.

Barrons and Mac's relationship continues to be a delightful clashing and simultaneous attraction of wills. He helps Mac recover but immediately reverts to the distant and immutable character once she has.  Meanwhile, Mac continues to resent him, avoiding him for much of the book.  While this period apart is essential to the development of Mac's character, allowing her to grow a little on her own and test herself without Barrons to act as buffer and safety net. Only after she strikes out on her own for a while is Mac finally able to admit that there is more strength to be found in partnership with other characters.

Despite her acceptance of Barrons as an acceptable aid towards the end of the novel, he still remains shrouded in mystery. Only the tiniest of clues are revealed, never enough to solve him but always enough to keep us wanting to know more.  Nevertheless, I am convinced that Moning has finally provided us with some tangible evidence about Barrons essential nature in the last few chapters of Dreamfever.  The beast that comes to Mac's aid is surly and aggressive yet possessive and protective of Mac.  This interaction coupled with the references to Barrons's animal nature that have pervaded the series has me convince that Barrons and the beast are one and the same. Mac's horror at the end of Dreamfever only confirms this for me, since Barrons is the only character I can see her expressing such strong emotions for aside from Dani (who is clearly not involved here). But, due to a monstrously eeeevil cliffhanger, I will have to wait for Shadowfever before I find out if I'm right.  It makes me grateful that this part of the Fever series has already reached its conclusion with the fifth and final novel.

Now, since this is also a blog about food, I think I must address a recurring theme in the series: the cannibalization of Unseelie.  First and foremost, I must say blegh, blarg, and mumph. But let me explain.  Eating the foully evil Unseelie imbues the character with remarkable healing abilities and superhuman strength, stamina, and etc.  Great, right?  The Unseelie are all jerks and bad guys anyway, so who cares? Let's just say it's a rare book that I can't eat while reading, but I routinely have to stop when I encounter parts describing the imbibing of Unseelie.  Unseelie flesh is always living, even when removed from the body of its original owner, so it goes down . . . wriggling and trying to escape.  As if that weren't already enough for my overactive imagination, Mac informs me that Unseelie flesh is also primarily made up of chewy gristle, popping cartilage, and scads of bursting pustules.  Mmmmmm . . . tasty! But, Moning takes her delight in this theme a step further (clearly writing these books was getting to her) by appending a set of recipes to the back of Dreamfever.  These feature instructions for Irish soda bread; traditional Irish stew; buttermilk/strawberry scones; tea, aka finger, sandwiches; and Shepherd's pie.  All of which call for Unseelie flesh.  Needless to say I'm planning to feature the results of that Irish soda bread recipe as my next blog post.  Aren't you excited? (I can tell by your barely suppressed gags that you are. *nods head*).

Extras

• For a synopsis of and excerpt from Dreamfever, see the book's webpage. I also recommend following the links on the sidebar to the previous books and to any deleted scenes offered.
• Because every good fantasy realm need its own conference, I direct you towards Fevercon. (Frankly, though, the idea makes me giggle, but who am I to judge.) 

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