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I've never made soda bread. I thought maybe I'd make some for tomorrow. Is CI's skillet recipe any good? The bread seems simple enough. If not I can always make never fail beer bread. Have not baked bread in a long time, thought maybe this would get me started again.
Going to make C@H Whiskey-Glazed Corned Beef, but have nothing else yet, and thought if I had bread, I could pass on the parsnip-mashed potatoes and save myself a trip to the store.

A second question, I was thinking of making cabbage with bacon, lemon, and maple, which calls for red onion which I don't have. I could sub a white or shallots but any thoughts on fennel? I have some I should use soon. TIA

I've never tried the CI recipe, but it certainly isn't the way my Irish grandmother made it. I've never seen butter and sugar in soda bread. It's really a peasant bread, made without the expensive ingredients of the gentry - butter & sugar. Of course, the Shanty Irish really aren't very good cooks! That being said, soda bread should be eaten the day it's made. With no fat, it dries out rapidly. The butter and sugar will make it more tender & moist and may help it last a little longer.

Grandma's Soda Bread

3 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp soda
1 3/4 cup buttermilk

Sift the dry into a bowl & make a well. Add most of the buttermilk. Mix with your hands - the dough should be soft, but not wet. If necessary, add the rest of the milk. Knead lightly on a floured counter. Shape into an 8" circle on an oiled baking sheet. Cut a cross in the top with a sharp knife to let the spirits out (no kidding). Bake 25-30 minutes until golden brown.


Stepping onto soapbox........
.......Corned beef is not Irish!!!!!!!!.........
.............Getting off soapbox.


Not sure what else you need at the store, but if it's the parsnips, skip them and use leeks if you have them. Champ is mashed potatoes & leeks. Or add cabbage to the champ and you have colcannon. Both champ & colcannon are very traditional.

Darina Allen has an Irish soda bread recipe in FC with same indredients. Simple & tasty. I'd make it but my oven's on the fritz

fitzie

Thank you both. The FC recipe is the same as Silver Sage's recipe, so I'll go with that one and make it tomorrow. Alas, no leeks though I usually have some, but just realized I skipped the veggie section when I was last a TJ's. I guess I'll improvise with the cabbage and fennel. Can't really go wrong with a bacon, lemon and maple dressing. Might even add an apple

I've made the CI recipe. I've made it on a baking sheet and in a dutch oven (well, actually a chicken fryer is a better size and the dutch oven wins hands down. Think of the crust on no-knead bread -- it doesn't turn out that dark but it gets great crunch.

I've made this recipe many times, and use currants instead of raisins. It's excellent.
MARILYN O' REILLY'S IRISH SODA BREAD
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/mari ... index.html

That recipe looks great, Merstar! I've never been much for Irish soda bread; as Sage noted, it is pretty much a peasant bread, and though you can make really delicious breads using minimal ingredients when using yeast or starters, these kinds of breads need those special ingredients to make them interesting, IMO.

Dave, it's soooo good, and easy to make! It comes out looking very close to the one in this photo (it's not from the same recipe):

I used to make Irish soda bread for the bakery back when. Don't remember the recipe at all, except the dough was very sticky. Never cared for it.

I'm going to make boxty instead, for breakfast. From the Betty's Diner recipe.

We're having our St. Patrick's/Dad's Birthday/Grandpa's Birthday/Uncle Harry's Birthday celebration next week. I'll be making both plain Irish soda bread and the fancy kind with currants and caraway.

This whole conversation is making seriously crave some bangers and mash.