Erin go bragh

Happy St. Patrick's Day to you all! I have one, and only one, recipe from my grandmother who emigrated from County Sligo, Irish Soda Bread, and I've made 13 loaves of it in the last 6 days, for clients, and family, and friends, and — if truth be told — I made a mini-loaf, and ate it all by myself!

Grandma's Irish soda bread

1/2 c raisins*
2 c flour
1 1/2 t baking powder
1/4 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
1/4 t caraway seeds, optional
1 c buttermilk**
grated rind of 1/2 orange***

Preheat oven to 375°. Soak raisins in very hot water for 10 minutes to soften them.

Sift together dry ingredients, orange rind, and caraway, if using. Drain and towel dry raisins, add to dry ingredients.

Moisten with enough buttermilk to form a slightly sticky dough. Form dough into a round loaf on an ungreased baking pan. Slice a cross into the top of the loaf.

Bake at 375° for 10 minutes. Reduce oven to 300°, bake for 40 minutes longer. Cool 10 minutes before slicing. Best served warm with butter.

*My friend, Karen, said her mother used a combination of raisins and currants. I'll try this next time.

**If you do not have buttermilk available, you can combine 1 c milk and 1 T white vinegar and let stand for 10 minutes.

***My husband doesn't like the grated orange rind, so this year I substituted ¼ t orange extract and it worked perfectly.