Soda Bread and Variations

Soda bread is the speedy, no-knead alternative to yeast bread.  Perfect for soup dipping, baked cheese dipping, with smoked salmon, alongside a rich beef stew...I could go on!
This is my recipe for a basic soda bread, it can be made with half wholemeal, half white if you prefer.  I have included some of my favourite variations below, sweet and savoury.
Soda bread is really best eaten on the day it is made, even better when still slightly warm!

It is traditionally made with buttermilk (or very traditionally soured whole milk), I most often use a mixture of natural yogurt and milk, it's just as good and easier to get hold of. 

 

Ingredients

400g Plain Flour

1 level teaspoon Salt

1 level teaspoon Bicarbonate of Soda

325ml Buttermilk or half Natural Yogurt, half Milk

• Preheat the oven to 210C (fan) and oil a baking tray.
• Combine the flour with the salt and the bicarbonate of soda in a large bowl.
• Pour the buttermilk or yoghurt/milk mixture into the flour bowl then mix lightly with a fork until it just comes together into a loose, wet dough.
• Tip it out onto a lightly floured surface and turn it around in the flour, lightly shaping it into a round ball.
• Put the ball of dough onto the oiled baking tray and cut a deep cross into it.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes until risen, craggy and golden brown, you can insert a skewer into the middle to check it comes out clean.

 

Variations

Soda bread lends itself very well to flavourings, savoury or sweet, the following are ones that I know and love.  You will probably find that the loaf will need slightly longer in the oven, about 30-35 minutes should do it.

Caramelised Onion and Feta Cheese

Add about 2 tablespoons of caramelised onions and 100g of crumbled feta cheese to the flour and mix through before adding the liquid.

 

Spiced Apple and Raisin (Sweet)

Mix 50g Caster Sugar, 1 level teaspoon of Ground Cinnamon, half a teaspoon of Ground Allspice, an eating apple peeled, diced and cooked (just until tender in a small pan with a squeeze of lemon juice) and a few handfuls of raisins into the flour bowl before pouring in the liquid.

Cheese and Pickle
Mix 100g Strong Mature Cheddar and around 4 tablespoons of Branston's Pickle (or any chutney you like) into the flour bowl before pouring in the liquid.  Sprinkle the top with more cheese before baking.

Seeds and Fruit (Sweet)
(I usually use jumbo raisins and cranberries with a mixture of pumpkin and sunflower seeds)
Mix 75g of Caster Sugar, around 150g Dried Fruit and 50g of Seeds into the flour bowl before pouring in the liquid.  Before it goes in the oven brush with milk then sprinkle with demerara sugar and more seeds.
 

Spiced Apple and Raisin

   

 

Cheese and Pickle

    

 

 Seeds and Fruit



       

Chocolate Scones

Now...please don't get me wrong, I love a classic scone piled high with jam and clotted cream as much as the next person.  However, I have recently been experimenting with my scone recipe and thought I'd try a chocolate version, I'm happy to report that it was a very successful experiment!

I think these work well as a mini scone, they are a tad rich to have as a standard size, it's really up to you though.  They are fabulous topped with slightly sweetened, thickly whipped double or whipping cream (clotted cream is a bit much!) then sprinkled with chopped chocolate (bashed up Flake is my personal favourite).

Makes about 20 small scones or 8-10 large ones

Ingredients

175g Self-Raising Flour

50g Cocoa

pinch of salt

50g Butter (cold block or spreadable)

50g Caster Sugar

100g Plain Chocolate (40-50% cocoa solids), chopped finely

1 Large Egg

Milk

• Preheat the oven to 220C and line a baking tray with baking/greaseproof paper.
• Mix the self-raising flour, cocoa and a pinch of salt together in a bowl.
• If you are using block butter, grate it into the bowl of flour.  Cut through it a few times with a table knife to break up the butter and distribute it through the flour mixture.  If using spreadable just tip it into the bowl then cut through it repeatedly with a knife until the butter is in small pieces distributed evenly through the mixture.
• Add the sugar and the chopped chocolate and lightly toss to incorporate into the mixture.
• Break the egg into a measuring jug then add enough milk to make the liquid up to 150ml. Beat together with a fork then pour most of it (leaving a small amount in the jug to brush on top of the scones before baking) into the flour bowl.
• Mix with a fork until it all comes together into a soft dough.  Tip it onto a lightly floured surface and gently roll it out until it's about 2cm thick.  Cut out shapes, rolling out the dough again until you have used it all and put them onto the lined tray.  Brush the tops with the remaining milk and egg then bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes.
• Cool on a rack...though they are delicious served when still a little warm.  The cream I like to serve with them is whipping or double cream whipped with a tablespoon or two of icing sugar and a drop of vanilla extract. 

Choco-Coco-Nibble Cookies

Rich chocolate cookies, slightly chewy in the middle, with white and dark chocolate chunks and a hint of coconut...heaven in cookie form!
This is really a re-working of my double chocolate cookie recipe but they are so delicious I thought I would share.  

Makes about 30 cookies (the mixture can be frozen)

Ingredients

100g Soft Butter, spreadable is fine

150g Caster Sugar

50g Soft Brown Sugar

1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

1 Large Egg

1 tablespoon Chocolate Syrup *

175g Self-Raising Flour

25g Dessicated Coconut

25g Cocoa

150-200g Chopped Chocolate, half white and half dark works a treat
Icing sugar for sprinkling
* I always have some Lyle's Chocolate Syrup in the cupboard for ice cream emergencies, you can use golden syrup instead.

• Preheat the oven to 175C (fan) and line a couple of baking trays.
• Using a wooden spoon, cream the butter, the sugars, vanilla extract and chocolate syrup together in a bowl until smooth. 
• Beat in the egg then stir in the flour, coconut and cocoa until you have a stiff dough.  Stir in the chopped chocolate until thoroughly combined.
• Spoon heaped teaspoons of the mixture onto the baking trays, leaving room for spreading around each one.  Squash each ball of dough just slightly using your fingers or the back of a spoon then sift a couple of teaspoons of icing sugar over the tray (this is not essential but achieves a crackly effect on top of each cookie).
• Bake for approx. 10 minutes until puffed and just starting to firm around the edges.
• Leave to cool for 5-10 minutes then transfer to a rack or plate.

Honey and Mustard Chicken and Bacon Salad

This is such a tasty salad...sweet, sticky chicken, salty bacon, crisp lettuce and spinach in a creamy mustard dressing, mmmmm!

If you share my love for and slight addiction to truffle oil, you may want to try trickling a few drops over the finished salad just before eating, that's all I'm saying...

Serves 2 generously

Ingredients

For the marinade

1 tablespoon Olive Oil

2 tablespoons Runny Honey

1 tablespoon Dijon Mustard

Juice of Half a Lemon

Approx. 500g Skinless Chicken Breasts, cut into thin strips

For the Dressing

1 heaped teaspoon Dijon Mustard

2 tablespoons Double Cream

Salt and Black Pepper

1 clove of Garlic, minced

2 teaspoons White Wine Vinegar

3 tablespoons Olive Oil

Approx. 4 thick rashers of Bacon, smoked or unsmoked as you prefer,cut into strips

a few handfuls of Spinach Leaves

a few handfuls of crunchy lettuce like Romaine, Little Gem or Iceberg

• Mix the ingredients for the marinade in a bowl then add the strips of chicken and turn them over to coat each piece in the marinade.  Cover and refrigerate until needed.
• Make the dressing by whisking all the ingredients except for the oil together in a small bowl. Slowly add the olive oil while whisking until it is all incorporated, check for seasoning then chill until needed.
• To prepare the salad, heat a few drops of oil in a frying pan then fry the bacon pieces until crispy, put them into a bowl to cool slightly.
• Tip the chicken and marinade into the hot frying pan and cook on a high heat for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until the chicken is golden brown and marinade thick and syrupy.  While this is cooking, toss the spinach and lettuce with the dressing in a bowl then divide it between two plates, sprinkle over the crispy bacon.
• Top the salad with the hot chicken and syrupy juices, serve immediately.

Chocolate Chip Bread and Butter Pudding

Ok, I know it's January, we are supposed to be detoxing and eating only mung beans and salad leaves but I am craving comfort food!  So, I apologise, but here it is... 
Bread and butter pudding, for me, has to be in the top ten list of comfort foods, not least because it is very simple to put together, this one particularly.
If I have any of my honey bread leftover it is perfect in this but I often make it with those bought brioche rolls that can be easily found in the supermarket bread aisle.  As the bread used here is quite rich there is really no need for the bread to be buttered, thus cutting down on calories, ha ha!

Serves 4 to 8 depending on greediness

Ingredients

5-6 Thick Slices of Honey Bread or 5-6 Brioche Rolls

100g Chocolate, Dark or Milk, whichever you prefer, chopped

500ml Whole Milk (or half milk half cream for extra richness)

2 Large Eggs

50g Caster Sugar

1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

• Cut each slice of bread into four or slice each brioche roll horizontally into 3 slices.
• Layer alternate slices of bread and chopped chocolate in an ovenproof dish (mine is round and approx. 18cm in diameter).
• In a separate bowl, beat the eggs with the sugar and vanilla extract then add the milk or milk and cream, mix thoroughly then pour this slowly over the bread and chocolate.
• Gently press the bread down with the back of a spoon and leave it to absorb the custard mixture for about an hour, squashing it down occasionally.  Preheat the oven to 175C.
• Bake in the preheated oven for about 45 minutes until risen, puffy and golden brown on the top.
• Let it cool for 10ish minutes then serve with cold pouring cream.  It's also rather moreish cold!

Honey Bread

This honey bread recipe is one I have been making a lot lately.  Sometimes I add an extra couple of tablespoons of honey and replace the sunflower oil with melted butter to make it richer and sweeter, a lovely weekend treat cut into thick slices and toasted. 

Ingredients

500g Strong White Bread Flour

1 teaspoon Salt

300ml Warm Water (not hot)

2 tablespoons Sunflower Oil or Melted Butter

2 (or 4 if you want it sweeter) generous tablespoons Honey

1 sachet (7g) Fast Action Dried Yeast
1 Egg, beaten

• Mix the salt into the flour in a large mixing bowl.
• Measure the warm (not hot) water into a measuring jug and add the honey, oil or butter and the yeast.  Stir to combine.
• Pour the liquid into the flour whilst stirring with a fork until it comes together into a dough.  Tip this onto a lightly floured work surface and start to knead it.
• The dough will feel sticky so sprinkle with flour to make it easier, try not to keep adding flour though (oiling your hands works quite well).  Knead and stretch the dough for about 10 minutes until it is noticeably less sticky and easier to handle.  Sprinkle the mixing bowl with flour and put the ball of dough into it then set aside to prove for 1-2 hours, covered with cling film or a tea towel.
• When the dough is risen, knock it down with your fingers and remove from the bowl back onto the work surface.  Knead it around for a few minutes to get all the air out then shape it into an oval and put it into an oiled loaf tin (or, if you want the plaited look like above, split the dough into 3 even pieces, form into long sausages then squeeze them together at one end.  Plait the pieces together then squeeze the ends together and fold them underneath for a neat finish.)
• If you want a glossy finish to your loaf give the dough a brush with the beaten egg.  Put it aside again to rise for about an hour.  Preheat the oven to 210C (fan).
• When the dough has risen again give it a second egg wash then bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes or until golden brown and hollow-sounding when tapped underneath.
• Let it cool on a rack before slicing.