Gnarly Soda Bread Muffins

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...If you enjoy soda bread I think you'll enjoy these muffins. They are easy to make and quite tasty, despite their rough appearance. While I've done hundreds of coffees and more than my share of cocktail parties, I have never done a tea. I've been told by those who have and do, that these are a nice addition to a tea table. I suspect they will not have universal appeal because they are barely sweet and their appearance will keep most from choosing them if more attractive selections are available. Rest assured, they are great when served warm with butter, clotted cream or a really fruity jam or jelly. Like larger soda breads, these rolls stale quickly, so you should plan to serve them the day they are made. It is hard to go wrong when making these muffins. They come together quickly and I think you will enjoy the hint of orange and caraway that is added to what is otherwise a basic dough for soda bread. The muffins can be made with just a bowl and wooden spoon, so this is a good recipe to keep in mind when working in a kitchen that has no modern amenities. I do hope you will give them a try. Here is how they are made.

"Emigrant" Soda Bread + The Real Deal

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...I wasn't going to talk about soda bread this year. Recipes for it abound as St. Patrick's Day approaches, and there's not really much to add to those that already exist. I've obviously changed my mind, but I've done so for a reason. Most of the recipes I've seen are for a loaf that bears no resemblance to true Irish Soda Bread. The ingredients in the real deal are limited to flour, salt, baking soda and buttermilk. The versions we make here are called Emigrant Soda Bread in Ireland, because they contain ingredients that were not found in Irish peasant kitchens. Raisins and caraway seeds are English additions to the simple load, and what we call Irish Soda Bread should actually be called Spotted Dog. That being said, I set out to find the best soda bread I could, and I found an outstanding one in Ina Garten's cookbook The Barefoot Contessa at Home. Hers is the first recipe I'm sharing with you tonight. The second comes from the kitchens of Ballymaloe in Ireland and it is the best approximation of true Irish Soda Bread that I could find.

Now for the bread itself. The Irish began to use baking soda in the mid 1800's. Bread was made mostly in the summer months when potato stores had been exhausted and grains were needed to carry the poor through to the next harvest. They called the summer months "meal months" . Irish peasants lived, for the most part, on a diet of potatoes, grains and milk. Eggs, butter, zests, currants and nuts appeared only in the breads of English landholders or successful Irish emigres. True soda bread was cooked in a bastible, a lidded cast-iron pot, that was put right into the coals or on a turf fire. In the Southern part of the country, the bread was shaped into a round loaf that was scored with a cross that was made to "let the devil out" as the bread cooked. In Northern Ireland, the bread was baked in a flat circle called a farl. We'll get to those but let's first take a look at the Emigrant version of the bread.