Well, rural Ireland turned out to be a little more rural than expected, hence the distinct lack of blog posts. For the last three weeks I stayed with another family, also with four kids. This time, though, with two sets of twin boys! That brings me to one lesson I've learned while in Ireland: there is no possible way I am having four kids!
The family runs a smallholding, with three polytunnels full of vegetables, chickens, ducks, and a goose. (Goose eggs are huge! Bigger than any bump on the head I've ever seen!) They sell vegetables, eggs, brown bread, and preserves every Friday in the on-site store. I mostly helped in the polytunnels, sowing seeds for the spring planting, transferring seedlings to plug trays or pots, and planting mature seedlings in beds, among other things.
This week I have two recipes for you! The first is for Irish Brown Bread, which is legendary for being both delicious and dense. I like it, but I'm sure I'll like it even more after a break (much like potatoes). The other recipe is one that my host made rather well, and that I enjoy with brown bread and cheese (cheddar, cream cheese, goat cheese, anything).
Interestingly, the American version of "Irish Soda Bread" with raisins and sometimes caraway seeds is a much older version of this same recipe that went out of fashion in Ireland but lived on in America through the emigrants of that time.
Brown Soda Bread
(Adapted from Darina Allen's Forgotten Skills of Cooking,' Kyle Cathie Ltd 2009)
Makes one loaf
8 oz wholemeal (whole wheat) flour
8 oz white flour
1 level teaspoon salt
1 level teaspoon baking soda (sieved)
13-16 oz buttermilk (more for thicker, less for thinner milk)
-Preheat oven to 450*F.
-Mix flours in a large, wide bowl, then add salt and baking soda.
-Make a well in the center and pour in the buttermilk. With your fingers stiff and outstretched like a claw, stir in a circular movement from the center to the outside of the bowl in ever-increasing concentric circles. When you reach the outside of the bowl a few seconds later, the dough is made.
-Turn dough out onto a floured worktop.Gently shape the dough into a round loaf about 1.5 inches thick, tucking in any ragged edges. Slide your hand underneath and transfer to a baking tray.
-Cut a deep cross in the bread, then bake for 15 minutes. Turn the oven down to 400*F and cook for another 15 minutes. Turn the bread over and cook for another 5-10 minutes, until the bottle sounds hollow when tapped. Cool on a wire rack.
Beet and Apple Chutney
(Adapted from Catherine Atkinson and Maggie Mayhew's 'Complete Book of Preserves and Pickles,' Hermes House 2006)
Makes 3 lbs.
12 oz raw beets
12 oz apples
1 1/4 cups malt or cider vinegar
1 cup granulated sugar
8 oz red onion, finely chopped
Finely grated rind and juice of 1 orange
1 garlic clove
1 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp salt
-Peel beets and apples and cut into 1/2 inch pieces.
-Put sugar and vinegar in a sauce pot and heat gently until sugar is dissolved.
-Add beets, apples, onions, garlic, orange, allspice, and salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, simmer 40 minutes.
-Increase heat slightly and boil 10 minutes, or until the chutney thickens, stirring frequently.
-Spoon chutney into jars, seal. Allow to mature for two weeks before eating. Keeps up to six months. Refrigerate after opening, then use within one month.
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