Happy St Patty!

So, last year, I whipped up a batch of Soda Bread, as I do every year, and I wrote about it here. I also posted a recipe adapted from a cookbook that I use often. This year, I did soda bread two ways. Yesterday, I decided to venture out from my normal white loaf and do a more healthful wheat variety. This was not a raging success, but it wasnt bad either. it was just a far cry from my favorite soda bread of all time, from the ol' Crusty Loaf Bakery..rest her soul. it got me thinking, why dont I make that today, my all time favorite, instead of trying every other recipe out there. The thing about the ol CL recipe is that is sort of got lost in the shuffle. but, luckily, I can still remember portions of it and all the ingredients and ratios, so I was able to recreate it. thank goodness for all the repetition of making it weekly. thank goodness for that.

and, in the spirit of St pattys, I had to add a little green!



as promised, here is my recipe:

3 3/4 cups flour
2 Tabl corn starch
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teas baking soda
1 1/2 teas cream tartar
1 1/2 teas salt
2 Tabl butter
2 cups buttermilk (more or less..)

combine all the dry ingredients. add the butter and rub the mixture until the butter is incorporated and it resembles a more coarse mixture, yet uniform. add the buttermilk and stir just to combine. scoop it out onto table and knead barely, just make it hold its shape. you really want a sticky dough, barely handled. bake at 375 for 35-40 minutes until golden. this makes 2 loaves at about 20 oz each.