St. Patrick’s Day is just around the corner and the American tradition of corned beef and cabbage will be making an appearance on our table. I say “American” tradition as I’m told this dish isn’t served at Irish homes on the holiday.
Growing up my mom prepared a corned beef and cabbage dinner each and every 17th of March. She had a job at a local supermarket and learned to prepare American-style dishes by asking her customers how they planned to prepare ingredients that were unfamiliar to her, having herself immigrated from China as a teen.
As she pulled out an item from her customers’ grocery basket, she wouldn’t hesitate to ask: “How are going to cook that?”. As a result, and to acclimate us to our lives here, she would commence preparing meals like corned beef and cabbage. Fortunately she has always been an excellent cook, having learned many skills from her mother.
Fast-forward many decades later and you will find me also preparing this comforting meal for my family. I look forward to this time of year when I begin seeing corned beef appearing at our markets. I’ve previously posted my colcannon recipe, my family’s favorite dish of the meal, and now I’m sharing a quick soda bread I also prepare.
My recipe is adapted from America’s Test Kitchen’s “Brown Soda Bread”, halved and adjusted to suit our taste and pantry. They prepared the recipe on Cook’s Country in about March of 2013.
We are always incorporating whole grains into our diet and this small loaf appears at mealtimes throughout the year. One reason for halving the original recipe is for a smaller loaf since we are now a household of two. While the bread is at its most delicious peak still warm from the oven, I can confirm it is also delicious sliced and toasted for a day or two thereafter. I always add a generous slather of salted, cultured butter to my slices, and if toasted later, a nice dollop of jam for a sweet bite.
As always, quality ingredients will produce the best results. We are fortunate to have access to locally milled whole wheat, and several quality national brands at our markets. You can toast the walnuts for additional flavor, as well as the wheat germ if adding, but often I skip the toasting step and the bread is very tasty.
This dough is pretty forgiving so you can take it to a sweet direction by adding a bit of dried fruit, or in a savory direction with some freshly snipped herbs and a bit of grated or tiny cubed cheese. Just take care to not put in too much so that the moisture level is altered too much. All to say, bake it without the add-ins first so you get a feel for how the dough is meant to be for a moist, not too dense crumb.
As the name suggest, this recipe is quick to put together, and not including yeast means it doesn’t need proofing and slow-rising. All the dry ingredients go into a big bowl, whisked to combine. Then the liquid ingredients are added. A few stirs with a spatula and a few turns/kneads on the counter and into the oven.
Quick Soda Bread with Whole Wheat and Walnuts
Ingredients
- 1-1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
- 2 tablespoons wheat germs toasted, optional
- 3/4 teaspoons sea salt
- 3/4 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 cup walnuts coarsely chopped
- 7 fluid ounces, 7/8 cup buttermilk preferably whole fat
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter melted and cooled slightly; plus an additional 1 - 2 tablespoons melted to brush over the baked loaf
Instructions
- Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position. Preheat the oven to 400° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Whisk the flours, wheat germ (if using), sugar, salt, baking soda and powder together. Stir in the walnuts.
- Add the two tablespoons of melted butter into the chillebuttermilk. The butter will clump a bit when added to the cold buttermilk,which is what you want. Stir to break up any large lumps. These lumps of butterwill translate into small, small, airy pockets in the finished loaf.
- Stir with a spatula until the dough just barely comes together. There will be some pockets of unincorporated flour and the dough will be shaggy, not at all cohesive. Turn onto a lightly floured surface then knead and turn a few times until the dough just comes together. Do not overwork the dough, it will be sticky but manageable.
- Shape into about a 4-1/ 2 to 5-inch round, about 2-inches tall. Place on the parchment lined baking sheet. Slice a large cross, or plus sign (+), about 1/ 4-inch deep and coming to about an inch from the edges with a sharp knife. The slicing is important to guide the bread’s expansion whilst it bakes.
- Bake about 45 – 50 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, or about 195° F on an instant-read thermometer.Rotate the pan about midway through the baking.
- Remove the bread from the oven and brush on the remaining one+ tablespoon of melted butter. Transfer the loaf to a wire rack to cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing.
