irish soda bread x 2 /
soda bread is easily my favorite baked good. whether it's fresh out of the oven, a few days old, slathered with butter or jam, or plain, soda bread is one of those foods that speaks to me. i chose to post two irish soda bread recipes - one is grain and gluten free soda bread that is almond-based. the other is a whole wheat recipe that resembles a more traditional st. patty's day soda bread (i figured i shouldn't deprive poor frank of some soda bread just because i can't eat wheat). i was curious as to how the gluten free/grain free soda bread would compare to the wheat soda bread. i have to say its consistency is obviously different, but the taste was spot on! needless to say, i was impressed. in any event, whichever soda bread recipe you choose you will not be disappointed!
the whole wheat soda bread recipe (which is seen above on the dish towel) originally called for 4 cups whole wheat flour. i substituted 2 cups with whole wheat pastry flour just to make it a little softer and not as grain-y. the recipe does not call for any sweetener, i chose not to add any simply because i don't like my soda bread sweet, plus i figured it's healthier without the sugar. if you do want to add sugar, i would say 1 tablespoon + 1 1/2 teaspoons should sweeten things up a bit. also, i used yogourt here. alternatively, you can substitute it with buttermilk, or even sour cream. and lastly, because this was a real irish soda bread recipe, it did't call for currants (apparently that's an american thing), but i love currants, especially in soda bread! so i added them.
// gluten free irish soda bread
recipe adapted from Elana's Pantry
pre heat oven to 350°
line a baking sheet with parchment paper
// ingredients
2 3/4 cups almond flour
1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 cup dried currants
2 eggs (room temperature)
2 tablespoons raw honey
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
// directions
in a large bowl, combine the almond flour, salt, baking soda, and currants. mix with a whisk
in a small bowl, whisk eggs with honey and apple cider vinegar
using a spatula, mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients
place dough on the parchment paper lined baking sheet and form dough into a flattened disk - about 8" across, and 1 1/2" tall
using a sharp knife, score the dough a half inch deep, making an "x" over the top
bake for 20 minutes. then, turn oven off and leave in the oven for another 10 minutescool bread before serving, and enjoy
// whole wheat irish soda bread
adapted from: the dish towel with no author
pre heat oven to 375°
line a baking sheet with parchment paper
// ingredients
2 cups stone ground whole wheat flour
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
3/4 cup dried currants
1 egg, beaten
1 1/2 cups yogourt (i used 2% fage greek yogourt)
// directions
in a large bowl, mix flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and currants
in a medium bowl, beat egg and add yogourt - combine
add the wet ingredients to the dry - combine with a spatula
when dough gets crumbly, start kneading it
divide into 2 equal, slightly flattened rounds
slash the tops with a knife
bake for 35 minutes
enjoy your weekend and/or st. patty's day!
garlicky accordion potatoes /
i'm pretty sure i've eaten potatoes every which way. that is until the accordion potato, or as some people refer to it: hasselback potatoes. accordion potatoes are a swedish tradition dating back to the 18th century. i never knew about them until i saw a picture of them on instagram. since that day i have been obsessed with getting them perfect - tender and mushy on the inside, and crispy and crunchy on the outside. it took many attempts and caused quite a bit of frustration...first, i tried covering them with foil for the first 40 minutes, then uncovering them and bumping up the heat for the last 20 minutes. the second time i tried keeping them uncovered at a steady temperature for a little under an hour - this yielded dry and unevenly cooked potatoes, yuck. the third time i kept them uncovered, at a steady temp, and i checked on them every 20 minutes to turn them and coat them with olive oil - this yielded some pretty amazing accordions!
the thing i didn't think about was the fact that these are essentially a baked potato, but by cutting the slits in them you're exposing them to air (duh), and therefore they are much more prone to drying out during the baking process. so, the trick is to coat them with a generous slather of olive oil before baking, and to continually re-coat them with olive oil while they are baking. i chose to stuff these little guys with thinly sliced garlic. similarly, you can stuff them with shallots, onions, or herbs. the only piece of advise i have is to slice the stuffings thin enough so that they fit in the potato slices. in this recipe i use white yams, they tend to take longer to cook so i chose to slice them in 1/8" slices - if you're using a regular potato i would probably use 1/4" slices.
*non-vegans, you can totally use melted butter in conjunction with the olive oil. just melt a tablespoon or 2 (depending on how many potatoes you are using) in a microwave safe bowl, and slather all over the potatoes.
thank you, frank for taking these lovely photos. couldn't have done it without you
bake time: 60 minutes
pre heat oven to 400°
prepare a baking dish with a thin layer of olive oil
// ingredients
3 medium sized yams
3 large cloves of garlic
1/4 cup olive oil (decrease amount of oil if using butter as well)
sea salt
// directions
prepare a small bowl with a 1/4 cup of olive oil
scrub potatoes clean
while the potatoes are drying, thinly slice the garlic (i used 3 cloves because i love garlic, if you're not such a lover reduce the amount)
slice the potatoes 3/4 of the way down being careful not to slice them all the way through. repeat with the other potatoes
take your garlic slices; one at a time insert them into the potato slices (like i mentioned, i love garlic so i put a slice in each potato slit. likewise, you can do every other slit or every third slit)
using a pastry brush, brush the potatoes with the olive oil making sure to get in between each potato slit - repeat with remaining potatoes. use the leftover oil and drizzle it around the bottom of the baking dish (this will be used when you re-coat the potatoes as they are baking)
season with salt place in the middle of your oven - set a timer for 20 minutes. after 20 minutes take the potatoes out. using your pastry brush re-coat the potatoes with the oil at the bottom of the baking dish, trying to get in between each slit. place back in oven and set timer for another 20 minutes - repeat when buzzer goes off. set for an additional 20 minutes - when the buzzer goes off your potatoes should be cooked through. if you like a crisp skin, keep them in the oven and turn the heat up to 500° or broil, for 5 minutes to get them really crispy. serve, and enjoy