Nouveau irish soda bread
Bread
I use a blend of all-purpose flour and cake flour in an effort to mimic the soft, low-protein flour grown in Ireland. I added a small amount of mashed potatoes for further tenderness and some good moistness, along with the tender parts of celery for its gentle texture and deeper cooked flavor, and scallions for their deep green and bright flavor. <br /> <br />And about the slashing of the top: "Most soda bread recipes call for an “X” slashed into the top before baking. According to www.kitchenproject.com, there are several explanations for this. It may honor the Christian symbol of the cross, or it may be the baker’s way of “letting the devil out” during baking. Most likely, it’s simply a technique for making it easy to divide the bread into four pieces." To be honest, I'd never thought of it in any of these contexts. In culinary school, I was so thoroughly inculcated with the fact that bread must be slashed in order to direct the direction in which the baker wants it to expand as it rises because expand it will. I'm very happy to have the blinders lifted. <br /> <br />A note on the beer. Do use a good Irish-style lager. It's going to have a bright quality to both its flavor and color. I used one made by one of my favorite breweries in the beautiful mountain town of Red Lodge, about an hour's drive from where I live. Fortunately, all the local grocery stores also carry it.
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