Brown Soda Bread

March 16, 2016 ~ White House Red Door ~ 51 Comments

The smell of freshly baked bread, still warm, cooling on in the kitchen should be bottled and sold. Nothing is more comforting and evocative of nostalgia. This bread is no exception. There are many variations of Irish Soda Bread– some with raisins, seeds, or both; some have butter, sugar, or even an egg to make them a little richer; some with white flour, or some with whole wheat. They all share some sort of flour, salt, baking soda, and buttermilk. This brown soda bread, made with whole-wheat flour, is the most basic version.

Throughout Ireland, brown soda bread is offered with meals- and it is incredible! I make it here at home, and though delicious, nothing compares to the bread I’ve had in Ireland. It must be the flour- the brown soda bread in Ireland is coarser and nuttier than what I’ve been able to make in my own kitchen. I am seriously considering importing a bag of whole wheat flour, just so I can experiment!

Though not an exact replica (how could it be?), this dense, chewy and hearty bread comes together quickly and is well worth making. In less than an hour, you will be enjoying a warm slice of bread, slathered in butter, with a touch of jam. It is ideal for serving alongside your favorite soup or getting you through the late afternoon slump with a cup of tea. Add it to your cheese board with cheddar and apples. It is also delicious with smoked salmon.

Brown Soda Bread

Servings: 2 loaves
Time: 45-60 minutes
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*recipe adapted from Irish Traditional Cooking by Darina Allen

Ingredients:
4 cups whole wheat flour
4 cups all-purpose flour
3 rounded teaspoons of salt
2 rounded teaspoons of baking soda
3½-3¾ cups of buttermilk

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 450°F.

Mix the dry ingredients together. Make a well in the center and add most of the buttermilk all in one go. Working from the center, mix with a wooden spoon and add more buttermilk if necessary. The dough should be soft, but not sticky. Turn out onto a floured surface and divide dough in half. Knead each half lightly, just enough to shape it into a round loaf. Flatten each loaf to about 2 inches deep. Put into a cast iron skillet or lined baking sheet. Mark with a deep cross and bake in the hot oven for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 400°F for about 20-25 minutes more, or until bottom of the bread sounds hollow when tapped.

Remove from cast iron skillet or baking sheet and let cool on a wire rack.

Whole-wheat flour, all purpose flour, salt, baking soda, and buttermilk — Ingredients for Brown Soda Bread- whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, salt, baking soda, and buttermilk

Mixing dry ingredients with wooden spoon — Mix the dry ingredients together.

Well in the center of dry ingredients — Make a well in the center of your dry ingredients.

Pour buttermilk in center of well — Carefully pour almost the entire amount of buttermilk into the well.

Mixing brown soda bread dough with a wooden spoon — Use a wooden spoon to combine the buttermilk and dry ingredients.

Brown Soda Bread dough on lightly floured surface — When dough is soft, but not sticky, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Cut the dough in half.

Two loaves of brown soda bread dough — Knead dough just enough to form 2 round loaves about 2 inches deep.

Brown Soda Bread dough cut with deep cross on lined cookie sheet

Put each loaf in a cast iron skillet or lined cookie sheet. Cut deep cross in each.

Brown Soda Bread dough cut with deep cross in cast iron skillet

Cut deep cross in each.

Bake soda bread at 450°F for 15 minutes, then turn temperature down to 400° and bake for an additional 20-25 minutes…

or until bread sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.

Brown Soda Bread Loaves cooling on wire rack — Transfer loaves to wire rack and let cool.

Cashew Butterscotch Bars

January 27, 2016 ~ White House Red Door ~ 49 Comments

We’ve all be eating better this month, right? Sticking to our resolutions, exercising more, healthier eating choices, yes? Excellent! Then I don’t feel guilty about introducing you to a crazy crazy good treat, award winning actually. Take a look at the Cashew Butterscotch Bar…

This recipe is from one of my favorite cookbooks, The New York Times Cookbook, edited by Amanda Hesser. In her intro to this recipe she writes, “I never thought I’d recommend a recipe containing butterscotch chips, but I’m open to change. Are you?” Like Amanda, I never thought I’d use butterscotch chips, but let me tell you- I’m eating humble pie now, or actually Cashew Butterscotch Bars and I’m not going back.

I do have some standards though. The original recipe called for corn syrup; I couldn’t do butterscotch chips AND corn syrup at once, so I used Lyle’s Golden Syrup instead. The Golden Syrup actually adds a warmer more buttery flavor which compliments the butterscotch nicely. Corn syrup would have been just too straight up sweet.

Ooops, I almost forgot. In case you’re still on the fence… this is an award winning recipe; I have the trophy to prove it. My friend holds a cookie swap most years; but it’s not just any cookie swap. This is serious business. There is voting. A winner is declared. And in 2012, I was the winner, Jean “The Cookie Machine” with these Cashew Butterscotch Bars. You may notice there hasn’t been a cookie swap since… something about blizzards, busy lives, etc. I’m not buying it. They’re scared. You, on the other hand, should not be scared. These bars are easy, addictive, and well worth the occasional indulgence.

Cashew Butterscotch Bars

Servings: 5-6 dozen squares
Time: 45 minutes-1 hour + cooling
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*adapted from the New York Times Cookbook

Ingredients:
2 sticks plus 5½ tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup plus 2 Tablespoons packed light brown sugar
1¾ teaspoons kosher salt
2½ cups all-purpose flour
One 10-ounce bag butterscotch chips
½ cup plus 2 Tablespoons Lyle’s Golden Syrup
5½ teaspoons water
2½ cups salted cashew pieces

Instructions:
Center a rack in the oven and heat the oven to 350°F degrees. Line a 13-by-18 inch rimmed baking sheet with foil, including the sides. In a mixer fitted with a paddle, beat 2 sticks plus 2 tablespoons butter and the brown sugar together (or mix in a bowl with a rubber spatula) until smooth. Stir the salt into the flour, then add the flour to the butter and sugar mixture and mix until the dough is well combined but still crumbly (if the dough is mixed until a ball forms, the crust will be tough).

Pat the dough evenly into the bottom of the lined pan. Bake for 5 minutes. With a fork, prick the dough deeply all over, return the pan to the oven, and bake until the dough is lightly browned, dry, and no longer soft to the touch, 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack (leave the oven on).

Combine the remaining 3½ tablespoons butter, the butterscotch chips, golden syrup, and water and cook in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the butter and butterscotch chips are melted, about 5 minutes. Pour the topping over the crust, using a spatula to spread it evenly all the way to the corners. Sprinkle the cashew pieces on top, pressing down lightly.

Bake until the topping is bubbly and the cashews are lightly browned, 12 to 16 minutes. Transfer to a rack and cool completely before cutting into bars.

Note: These are rich and sweet; I cut them into approximately 1-1½ inch squares.

Butter and brown sugar in standing mixer. — Place 2 sticks + 2 Tablespoons of unsalted butter into a standing mixer fitted paddle attachment.

Creamed butter and brown sugar in standing mixer. — Cream butter and sugar until smooth.

Flour and creamed butter and sugar mixture in standing mixer. — Stir salt into flour, then add to creamed butter and sugar.

Crumbly flour mixture in standing mixer. — Mix quickly and lightly until crumbly. Do NOT mix so long that dough forms a ball otherwise cookie base will be too tough.

Crumbly flour mixture in foil lined sheet pan — Evenly distribute crumbly flour mixture around 18 x 13 inch sheet pan lined with foil.

Crumbly dough patted down evenly throughout sheet pan. — Using your fingertips or flat bottom of a measuring cup, gently pat dough evenly down throughout sheet pan. Place in 350°F oven for 5 minutes. Remove and prick all over with tines of a fork. Place back in the oven for an additional 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.

Butterscotch Bar cookie base — The cookie base is golden brown. Keep oven on as this will be going back into the oven as soon as we spread the butterscotch and sprinkle the cashews on top.

Ingredients to make butterscotch- butterscotch chips, butter, Lyle's Golden Syrup, water — Place butterscotch chips, remaining 3 1/2 Tablespoons of butter, Lyle’s Golden Syrup, and water into small sauce pan.

Butterscotch Sauce in small saucepan — Place over medium heat, stirring constantly until butterscotch chips are melted, about 5 minutes.

Butterscotch spreading on cookie base. — Immediately after butterscotch comes off the stove, pour it onto the cookie base.

Spreading butterscotch with offset spatula — Using an offset spatula, spread butterscotch evenly out to corners.

Butterscotch on cookie base — Ready for the cashews…

Cashews sprinkled on top of butterscotch — Sprinkle entire surface with cashew pieces, gently pressing down to adhere…

until entire surface is covered. Return to the oven to bake for an additional 12-16 minutes until the top is bubbly and the cashews are lightly brown.

Irish Soda Bread

January 13, 2016January 13, 2016 ~ White House Red Door ~ 34 Comments

As some of you may know, my mom’s parents were from Ireland. Nanny was a wonderful home cook, bringing her Irish food traditions from Belfast to Brooklyn where her Italian, German, and Jewish neighbors influenced her cooking in America.

But Nanny wasn’t the only one to bring Irish food traditions, my grandfather ruled the kitchen on weekend mornings. According to my mom, Saturday mornings would be met with plenty of hot tea, eggs, bacon (or ham or sausages), potato farls, and soda bread. My grandfather would fry bacon, set it aside, then in the same pan, immediately fry the eggs in the bacon fat. From there, in went slices of plain soda bread, fried quickly on both sides until lightly brown. Can you imagine? Heaven!!! Unfortunately, my grandfather died before I was born, but I still grew up enjoying his Irish Soda Bread, first made by my mother, and now my dad.

My father has tweaked the recipe over the years, as I’m sure my grandfather had tweaked his own recipe. My guess is that if you ask 10 different people how they make Irish soda bread you will get 10 different recipes. What is generally accepted throughout is a combination of flour, salt, baking soda, and buttermilk. The baking soda and buttermilk give this quick bread its rise. Another common practice is cutting a cross deep on top. Tradition states that the cross is to let the devil out and ward off evil. Practically speaking, it also helps the heat penetrate the center of the loaf as well as providing the guidelines to break the bread up beautifully when served. My mom recalls my grandfather usually making plain soda bread, and only occasionally making a sweeter version with raisins. This makes sense as years ago the addition of sugar, dried fruits, or eggs would have been a treat and only done on special occasions.

The recipe below is my version of my dad’s recipe, slightly sweet and full of raisins. This loaf is perfect for breakfast, snacking, in lunch boxes, and definitely with a cup of tea or two. I do make other soda breads, a hearty Brown Soda Bread (made with whole wheat flour) and plain White Soda Bread that is unsweetened and wonderful with soups and stews- or fried eggs and bacon. Those recipes will show up here, but first I’d like to introduce this lovely raisin studded Irish Soda Bread.

Irish Soda Bread

Servings: 1 large loaf
Time: 1 hour
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Ingredients:
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup raisins or currants (my dad loads his with raisins and uses up to 2 cups)
1¼ -1¾ cups buttermilk

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 450°F.

In a large bowl use a pastry blender to cut butter into flour.

Using a wooden spoon, stir in sugar, salt, and baking soda. Add the raisins or currants and mix well.

Pour in 1¼ cups buttermilk and mix, adding more milk if necessary. The dough should be soft, slightly sticky, but not too wet. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead it just enough to completely bring it together. Shape into a round about 1½ -inches deep. Transfer to cast iron skillet or lined baking sheet. Using a sharp knife or bench scraper cut a cross on it, deep- but not completely through.

Bake for 15 minutes, then turn the oven down to 400°F and continue baking for an additional 30 minutes. The bread is done when it is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.

Allow to cool slightly before enjoying!

Irish Soda Bread Ingredients: flour, unsalted butter, sugar, salt, baking soda, raisins, and buttermilk. — This is all you need for Irish Soda Bread: flour, unsalted butter, sugar, salt, baking soda, raisins, and buttermilk.

Using a pastry blender to cut butter into flour. — Using a pastry blender, cut butter into flour.

Adding sugar, salt, and baking powder to flour/butter mixture — Add sugar, salt, and baking soda to flour/butter mixture. Still well to combine.

Adding raisins to dry ingredients in bowl. — Add raisins to dry ingredients.

Pouring buttermilk into bowl of dry ingredients. — Pour buttermilk into dry ingredients and mix well.

Irish soda bread dough forming in bowl. — The flour mixture is coming together to form a soft, but not too sticky dough.

Irish soda bread dough in bowl — The dough is soft, not too sticky or wet.

Irish soda bread dough on lightly floured cutting board. — Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Knead it just enough to clean it up and bring it together- no more than a few seconds.

On a wooden cutting board, the lightly kneaded dough is patted into a round about 1 1/2-inches deep. — The lightly kneaded dough is patted into a round about 1 1/2-inches deep.

Irish soda bread dough with cross cut into it in cast iron skillet. — Transfer dough to a cast iron skillet or sheet pan. Using a sharp knife or bench scraper, cut a deep cross into the dough- almost completely through, but not all the way. Bake in a 450°F oven for 15 minutes, then lower temperature to 400°F and bake for another 30 minutes.

Cranberry Nut Bread

December 9, 2015 ~ White House Red Door ~ 14 Comments

Quick post today. It’s a busy time of year for everybody… school concerts, Nutcracker performances, decorating the house and tree, sending cards, shopping for gifts, and events every weekend. It’s incredibly easy to become overwhelmed and miss the magic and beauty that is Christmas… the twinkling lights, carols being sung, and the warm spicy scent of pine. When I do feel like I’m becoming engulfed in the frenzy, I escape to the kitchen, put on some Christmas music and start baking… nothing elaborate though, believe me! You will not find homemade gingerbread houses or meticulously cut out and decorated cookies worthy of the front cover of a magazine. I’m more of drop or roll cookie maker (think gingersnaps or Mexican Wedding Cakes) and quick bread baker. Being in the kitchen is like therapy for me, and if I tried to make photo shoot worthy decorated Christmas cookies, I would royal ice and silver dragee my way straight into real therapy!

This Cranberry Nut Bread is quick, coming together in about 15 minutes, then off to the oven for an hour. Golden brown crust, slightly tart, and studded with cranberry jewels and sweet pecans, the bread is perfect for breakfast, late afternoon snack, or even dessert. It’s also ideal to share with family and friends over a cup of tea, enjoying each other’s company and the season for even just a quiet moment or two.

Cranberry Nut Bread

Servings: 1 loaf
Time: 15 minutes active + 50 -60 minutes baking
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*recipe adapted from Kathleen’s Bake Shop Cookbook

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup granulated sugar
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
¾ cup orange juice (fresh or bottled)
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 Tablespoon freshly grated orange zest
1 ½ cups coarsely chopped cranberries
¾ cup chopped pecans

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan.

In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Cut butter into flour with a pastry blender. Stir in orange juice, lightly beat egg, and zest. Fold in cranberries and nuts. Scrape into prepared loaf pan.

Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.

Pastry blender cutting butter into dry ingredients. — Using a pastry blender, cut the butter into the dry ingredients

Chopped cranberries in a food processor. — Chop the cranberries by hand or in a food processor.

Roughly chopped pecans on a cutting board. — Roughly chop the pecans.

Orange, zest, and juice on a cutting board. — Zest the orange so that you have 1 Tablespoon set aside, then juice the oranges to yield 3/4 of a cup. I need three navel oranges to get the right amount of juice.

Wet ingredients and dry ingredients in mixing bowl. — Add juice, lightly beaten egg and zest to dry ingredients and mix.

Batter in bowl with wooden spoon. — Using a wooden spoon, combine the wet and dry ingredients.

Folding in the cranberries and pecans. — Fold in the cranberries and pecans.

Cranberry Nut Bread batter in a greased loaf pan getting ready to go in the oven. — Scrape the batter into a greased loaf pan and bake at 350°F for 50-60 minutes.

Testing the bread for doneness with a bamboo skewer. — Bake until a cake tester- or bamboo skewer in this case- inserted in the center comes out clean.

Sweet Potato Pie with Maple Meringue

November 18, 2015November 18, 2015 ~ White House Red Door ~ 22 Comments

Sweet Potato Meringue Pie begins with one of my favorite types of crust… the press in crust. I’ll be honest, making and rolling out traditional pie dough induces anxiety and nightmares of ruined desserts; so logically, I try to avoid them when I can. This crust is the result of toasted pecans, graham crackers, fresh ginger, dark brown sugar, cinnamon, a pinch of salt and melted butter taking a spin in a food processor before being pressed into a pie plate. After baking in the oven for 25 minutes you’ve got yourself a delicious pie crust without any tears, curses, or tell tale signs of patchwork.

The filling is very similar to pumpkin pie, but made with roasted sweet potatoes, along with eggs, cream, brown sugar, and a splash of bourbon to round everything out. After baking in the oven, then cooling, the pie could very easily (and tastily) be served with a dollop of whipped cream. However, I highly recommend you spend an extra 10 minutes to push this pie over the top. Blanket it with a heaping cloud of maple syrup meringue and pop it under the broiler for mere seconds to achieve a golden blush. Your family and friends will thank you. You will thank you.

Another plus for this recipe, especially when entertaining, is that it can be broken down into tasks over the course of a couple of days. For example, on day 1 make the crust, roast the sweet potatoes and puree the flesh. Cover tightly and refrigerate. On day 2, prepare the filling and bake. Allow the pie to cool, then whip up the meringue, top the pie and brown. The pie can be served immediately, or covered and tucked in the fridge overnight before making its big debut on your table.

There are a number of ways you could have fun with this recipe if you’re up for experimenting. Simply swap:

walnuts for pecans
rum for bourbon
pumpkin for sweet potato
gluten free graham crackers for regular graham crackers

The original meringue recipe from Food & Wine calls for quite a bit of simple syrup and tastes cloyingly sweet to me, without doing much to enhance the seasonal tastes of the pie. Instead of simple syrup, I use maple syrup (less than half the amount of syrup called for in the original) to make the meringue which pairs beautifully with the fall flavors of the sweet potatoes, cinnamon, and ginger. I also reduce the amount of sugar in the crust, as the graham crackers already have plenty of sugar in them.

Sweet Potato Meringue Pie and Apple Cream Pie will be on our dessert table this Thanksgiving and possibly even Christmas… what will be on yours?

Sweet Potato Meringue Pie

Servings: 8-10
Time: for the crust: 10 minutes active + 25 minutes baking; for the filling: 15 minutes active + 20 minutes inactive + 50 minutes baking; for the meringue: 5 minutes active + 5 minutes inactive
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*adapted from a recipe Chef Andrew Carmellini contributed to Food & Wine

Ingredients:
For the crust:
1 cup (4 ounces) pecan halves
11 whole graham crackers, broken (gluten free, if needed)
4 teaspoons minced ginger
1 Tablespoons dark brown sugar
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For the filling:
32 ounces of sweet potatoes (about 3 large sweet potatoes)
½ cup dark brown sugar
3 large eggs
2 Tablespoons bourbon
½ cup heavy cream

For the meringue:
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
3 large egg whites
pinch of salt

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 325°F. In a pie plate, toast the pecans for about 10 minutes or until fragrant and browned. Let the nuts cool completely.

In a food processor, combine the pecans, graham crackers, ginger, brown sugar, salt, and cinnamon; pulse until crumbs form. Add melted butter and process until incorporated. Press the crumbs evenly into a 9-inch deep dish pie plate. Bake the crust for 25 minutes, or until lightly browned and fragrant. Set aside to cool. Keep the oven on.

Prick sweet potatoes all over with a fork and cook in a microwave oven for 10 minutes. Transfer the potatoes to the 325°F oven and roast for 10 minutes longer, or until soft. Let cool, then scrape out the flesh; you should have about 2¼ cups.

Transfer the sweet potato to the food processor and puree until smooth. Add the brown sugar, eggs, and bourbon and process until blended. Add the heavy cream and process until incorporated. Pour the filling into the crust and bake for 50 minutes, or until set; cover the crust edges with foil if they darken. Let the pie cool completely.

In a small saucepan, bring maple syrup to a boil. Cook over high heat until a candy thermometer inserted in the syrup registers 240°F, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the whisk, beat the egg whites with the salt until soft peaks form. With the machine running, carefully and slowly drizzle in the hot syrup and beat at high speed until the whites are stiff, glossy, and warm to the touch, about 3 minutes.

Preheat the broiler. Mound the meringue over the sweet potato filling, swirling it decoratively. Broil the pie 4-6 inches from the heat for 30 seconds, or until lightly browned- do NOT look away(!), it can burn very quickly.

Cut into wedges and enjoy!

*Pie can be made a day ahead and refrigerated overnight.