Dia dhuit. That means ‘hello’ in Irish Gaelic. How exactly do you pronounce it? Jee-ah-witch.
It is the time of year where everyone turns Irish. People deck themselves out in green, put green food colouring in their beer and cook and bake green food. Simply doing and making everything green for a weekend of fun celebrations.
“There are only two kinds of people in the world, the Irish and those who wish they were.” - Unknown
For my St. Paddy’s Day column last year, I made poppin’ paddy’s popcorn. Want to revisit? Check out this link, https://www.thetelegram.com/lifestyles/erin-sulley-poppin-paddys-corn-292432/ It’s a fun Paddy’s Day themed recipe that you can make for a party. It’s also a super fun idea to make with the kiddies.
This year, I decided to tackle a recipe I haven’t made before – Irish soda bread. It is one that I’ll certainly be keeping throughout the year as its super tasty. I mean, how can you ever go wrong with homemade bread slathered in butter or jam? It also makes for a great companion with a hearty Irish Guinness stew. Delish! Ok, now I’m drooling. Do you know how hard it is to restrain myself from eating this entire loaf right now? It’s the biggest test of foodie strength I have to endure every week. The struggle is real.
How can you tell if an Irish person is having a good time? They’re Dublin over with laughter. - Unknown
Before I made it, I decided to Google and verify this recipe. Erin, before you put this recipe in a Paddy’s Day-themed column, you should check to see if it’s genuinely Irish. Thankfully, it is. I read that people in Ireland eat it for breakfast with tea or at lunch with cheese.
Irish soda bread is easy to make as it doesn’t require yeast.
It’s much quicker to make than other bread recipes. The recipe I used is called, “Authentic Irish Soda Bread” from savingdollarsandsense.com. It calls for four cups of flour, four tbsp of sugar, one tsp of baking soda, one tbsp of baking powder, half tsp of salt, half cup of soft butter, quarter cup of melted butter, one and a quarter cup of buttermilk and one egg.
Mix the melted butter and a quarter cup of buttermilk in a small bowl and put it to the side. In a bigger bowl, mix your dry ingredients together and start adding in your wet ingredients until combined. Take the dough out and knead it a little until you can form it into a round shape.
Place it on a baking sheet, brush on the mixture you have in the side bowl, cut an X on the top and place it in the oven on 375 for 45 minutes. There is a small task while it bakes.
Every 15 minutes, take it out of the oven and brush on another layer of the buttery buttermilk mixture. I suppose you can add green food colouring to this recipe if you want to kick up your Paddy’s Day game.
As I was planning this column, I saw that a friend of mine posted a picture her Irish soda bread on Instagram. Hers was different though – it was sweet. She added cranberries to the recipe.
I know now that wouldn’t be deadly when toasted and slathered in butter.
I also read that some people add currants or raisins in their recipes. Another interesting, yet not surprising ingredient to add — a half bottle of Guinness beer. I use Guinness with beef stew, and if that flavour is any indication — yes please!
Now I have a toss-up for my next loaf. Will I make a sweet Irish soda bread or a Guinness soda bread? What the heck — I’ll make both.
“Bless us with good food, the gift of gab and hearty laughter. May the love and joy we share be with us ever after. Amen.” — Irish kitchen prayer.
Phew, column is written and photos are taken. You know what that means, right? I can finally dig in and eat this entire loaf! My Paddy’s Day weekend will entail dealing with a carb-filled hangover. I’m OK with that.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day weekend, foodie friends. Slainte!
Erin Sulley is a self-confessed foodie who lives in Mount Pearl. Email [email protected]: @ErinSulley Instagram: @erinsulley
