By Week 315. Spring in Baton Rouge. The azaleas blooming, the crawfish running, the pit smoking. Rémy's cooking club at school expanding to 10 students, pan-fried fish. The ordinary week that is not ordinary because no week is ordinary when you\'re paying attention. Every Tuesday has a flavor. Every Wednesday has a color. Every Thursday has a roux that turns a shade darker than the Thursday before, and the darkening is the living, and the living is the cooking, and the cooking is everything.
Made a dish that the family loved and that I\'ll add to the rotation: the kind of food that doesn\'t need a story because the food IS the story, told in butter and cayenne and the particular love that goes into a meal made by a man who has been making meals for seven years and who still, STILL, finds something new in the old techniques. The new is in the old. The old is in the new. The roux turns. The week ends. The food remains.
The dish I made this week was that rare kind — the one that lands on the table and quiets everything down in the best possible way. It reminded me that the simplest techniques, done with care, are still the ones that stop people mid-bite. This Moist Irish Soda Bread was exactly that: no yeast, no fuss, just butter and a good hot oven and the kind of patience that seven years in the kitchen teaches you. It belonged to this week the same way the azaleas belonged to the yard.
Moist Irish Soda Bread
Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 45 minutes | Total Time: 55 minutes | Servings: 8
Ingredients
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
- 1 3/4 cups buttermilk
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup raisins (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat. Heat your oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a cast iron skillet or round baking pan and set aside.
- Mix dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and sugar until evenly combined.
- Cut in butter. Add the cold butter pieces to the flour mixture and work them in with your fingertips or a pastry cutter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. This is what keeps the bread tender and moist.
- Add wet ingredients. In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and egg. Pour into the flour mixture and stir just until a shaggy dough comes together. Fold in raisins if using. Do not overmix.
- Shape the loaf. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and gently shape it into a round about 1 1/2 inches thick. Place in the prepared skillet or pan. Use a sharp knife to score a deep X across the top — this allows the center to bake through evenly.
- Bake. Bake for 40–45 minutes, until the crust is deep golden brown and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. The scored X should have opened up and the bottom should sound hollow when tapped.
- Rest and serve. Let the bread cool on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes before slicing. Serve warm with salted butter.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 310 | Protein: 8g | Fat: 8g | Carbs: 51g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 420mg