NEWS for North Dakotans
Agriculture Communication, North Dakota State
University
7 Morrill Hall, Fargo, ND 58105-5665
February 26, 1998
I'm not Irish, but I nonetheless celebrate St. Patrick's Day. And believe it or not, the main reason I do has nothing to do with food.
St. Patrick is credited with having driven the snakes out of Ireland. Given my proclivity to eschew reptiles in general and snakes in particular, I'd be among the first to say that this man, who wasn't even Irish, is due his day of homage.
But of course, food does enter into my St. Patrick's Day celebration. This year there'll be a piece or two of hearty bread on my plate. Irish soda bread to be precise. It'll make a nice accompaniment to another Celtic classic, Irish stew.
I've reviewed a number of Irish stew recipes in the past weeks and found, not surprisingly, that all contain lamb and potatoes, along with a combination of other ingredients. One recipe said to use a bouquet garni (boo-KAY gar-KNEE), which is a bunch of herbs, usually parsley, thyme and some bay leaves, that you wrap in cheese cloth and then tie up the ends to make a bag. Drop the bouquet garni into your pot of stew or soup as it begins to cook and then remove the herbs before serving.
When I experimented with Irish stew recently, I used parsley and thyme and nothing more. The reason? I got carried away with the amount of carrots, parsnips and turnips I put in the stew, so I had no room in my pot for the potatoes. My solution was to serve the stew on top of skin-on mashed potatoes, which were seasoned with salt, white pepper and finely minced fresh rosemary. To further enhance the flavor and texture of the mashed potatoes, I whipped in some warm cream and melted butter.
The sweetness of parsnips and carrots did for the flavor of the stew what the fork-tender lamb added to its texture. And the potatoes? The red speckles from the skin, along with the green flecks from the rosemary, created eye appeal that was equal to the creamy consistency.
Believe me, stew served like this is worth the effort. Try it and see. Substitute lamb for the meat your favorite recipe calls for. If you do, I'd advise eliminating the rutabagas if you usually put those in your stew so you don't overpower the lamb's delicacy. Or, maybe you want to eliminate the meat altogether and add more rutabagas. I love rutabagas, so this option works for me.
At any rate, you really should make some Irish soda bread. The recipe that follows truly is simple to make—one hour from when you start until when you're eating. This would be a good recipe for novice bread makers to try or for those whose bread-making memories and skills may have waned a bit since they've acquired bread machines. The taste and character of this bread are reminiscent of a biscuit. It's perfect for sopping up all that savory stew broth.
Whole Wheat Irish Soda Bread
Yield: 15 servings, 1 slice per servingIngredients:
3 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1½ - 2 cups buttermilkProcedure:
Thoroughly combine dry ingredients; add 1½ cups of the buttermilk and mix into a soft dough. If mixture is too dry, add remaining buttermilk, as needed, 1/4 cup at a time. Knead dough 2 to 3 minutes until smooth (it will be stiff) and shape into a round loaf. Place on baking sheet or 8-inch round cake pan that's been buttered or sprayed with cooking oil. Cut a 1-inch deep cross in the top of the loaf and bake at 375 F for 35 to 40 minutes, or until tapping the loaf produces a thunk.
What's Your Take on This, Julie?
You may have people lined up at your door on St. Patrick's Day with their plates and bowls. While some people associate green beer with St. Patrick's Day celebrations, Irish soda bread is probably more traditionally Irish.
You won't be waiting too long for your creation to be ready to eat, either. This recipe is complete in an hour from start to finish, compared with four hours or more for yeast bread. As with other quick breads, Irish soda bread gets its leavening power from the combination of baking soda and an acid, in this case, buttermilk. Oven heat leads to the production of carbon dioxide and expansion of the dough. In yeast bread, the fermentation of sugar by yeast results in gas production.
Not only is March a time to wear green and commemorate St. Pat, it's also National Nutrition Month. Breads, grains and cereals form the base of the Food Guide Pyramid. Six to eleven servings from the grain group is the current recommendation, depending on your age, gender, and size.
Irish soda bread is a low-fat way to work toward your grain recommendation. A slice of Irish soda bread has about 120 calories, less than 1 gram of fat and about 8 percent of the daily recommendation for iron. A serving also contains about 3 grams of dietary fiber from the whole wheat flour, which is significantly more than what's contained in white bread.
Getting adequate fiber in the diet is a shortfall for many Americans, but reaching the goal for fiber doesn't have to be like gnawing on a cardboard box or eating sawdust. Whole grains and cereals, fruits and vegetables and beans are excellent sources. The recommendation for adults is 25 or more grams of fiber per day. The general rule for children is "age plus 5," so a 5-year-old's recommendation would be 10 grams of fiber daily.
You'll have a new reason to celebrate St. Patrick's Day if you're not a reptile fan. Whether it's soda bread, corned beef and cabbage or stew, try something a little Irish this year, even if your ancestors weren't from the Emerald Isle.
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Sources: Dean Hulse (701) 231-6136
Julie Garden-Robinson (701) 231-7187
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