Irish Soda Bread - Tasty Tuesday!

This week, I had a plan for what I was going to put up on Tasty Tuesday. It's my week to bring in lunch for everyone at the bi-weekly PTO president meeting in my district. And hey, it's St. Patrick's Day on Wednesday, so making something Irish was an easy choice.

Not so easy? Figuring out what to bring for 25 or so people that's Irish but isn't something that half the people won't like. Thus, corned beef was out. And lamb stew. I was going to do baked potatoes with a variety of toppings, including chili, until that was done last meeting.

Ugh.

Then I found inspiration (literally). While cleaning off my book shelf to make more room for the wee ones' books, I discovered that I have a traditional Irish recipes cookbook. I eagerly leafed through it. And then I decided that I was bringing in the cookbook just to show everyone how lucky they are that I didn't bring in any of those items.

I was back to the drawing board and drawing a blank. I finally decided to make a potato soup (still deciding what recipe to use, if you have a suggestion), fresh bread, scones, and Irish soda bread. Wa-la. Hopefully that's enough food to make everyone happy.

The Irish soda bread I make is the same one that my mom makes that her mom made that she got from her husband's family who came from Ireland. That being said, I have a feeling it isn't the most traditional Irish soda bread, but it's ours and it's yummy.

You'll notice in the picture that the bread has butter on it. Odd, I know, but this is something my family does. While I rarely put butter on regular bread, my family has taught me to put butter on other bread-like products that definitely don't need any additional fat or calories - coffee cakes, muffins, cinnamon rolls, and the like. Go fig. It's what we do. And the butter on the Irish soda bread is pretty yummy.

Irish Soda Bread

Ingredients:
5 c flour
1 c sugar
1 T baking powder
2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1/2 c butter
2 1/2 c seedless raisins
2 1/2 c buttermilk
1 egg

Directions:
Grease two large loaf pans. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Cut in the butter until pea sized chunks appear. Add the raisins and stir to distribute.

In a liquid measuring cup, add the egg to the buttermilk and whisk gently until the egg is lightly beaten and no goopy strands remain. Add the buttermilk mixture to the dry ingredients, and stir gently until just combined.

Turn into the two loaf pans, and cut across the top lengthwise. Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour. Butter the top when it comes out of the oven. Lay on one side for a few minutes, then lay on the opposite side for a few minutes. After both sides, remove from the pan and continue cooling on a wire rack.

Enjoy warm or room temperature. This will keep for a few days but is best within the first two days. And yes, butter makes it better!

For this and more, go visit Blessed With Grace and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday.