Irish Part 1--Soda Bread

To those of you new to Grandma Cooks 365, here's a primer: I was raised by Grandma and Grandpa. They literally sacrificed their retirement to give me a good upbringing. They never said a word about it, which made it that much more amazing and now that I look back as a parent--all the struggles, stress, and hard work (but joy mixed in there too!)--I realize what they had done for me. I won't belabor the point, other than to say I was truly blessed!

With that little preface, let me say that there were days I'd come home from school and the entire house was filled with a fragrance so wonderful, I thought I was in a 5-star restaurant. Now I didn't know what a 5-star restaurant was at that time, but the smell was so heavenly that that's what I imagined a 5-star restaurant would smell like (even to this day, since I don't frequent them! LOL). 

There is a restaurant here in town--an Irish pub (and not a 5-star either!)--that my husband and I love to visit and whenever we go in there the smells are familiar and wonderful. That smell throughout our house back when I was growing up was Irish Stew and Irish Soda Bread! I found Grandma's recipe and I'm happy to share it with you!  We'll start out with the bread today. Tomorrow we'll give you the stew! 

You've got to try both of these (hopefully together) so that you can smell exactly what I'm pontificating about today! The aromatics are unsurpassed, but isn't that what cooking is all about? Start with the smells. Pull it all together (remember--no fear!) and you will be elevated to "awesome cook" status before your dear children venture out to live their lives. Hopefully, somewhere along the line you've made an impact on them. They will remember the smells, the tastes, the joy around the kitchen table.  

So here is: Irish Part 1--Soda Bread. This is so easy and other than getting the sticky dough off your fingers, it's effortless! Now you don't have to make the Irish Stew along with this-- you can try it on its own and you'll be convinced this is a keeper for any hearty meal! Enjoy!

Irish Soda Bread

4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
14 ounces buttermilk

Preheat oven to 425F and grease and flour a cake pan.  

In large bowl combine all dry ingredients and sift through a sieve. Add buttermilk and form a sticky dough. Place on floured surface and lightly knead a couple of turns but not too much or the dough will be tough. Shape into round flat shape, put in greased cake pan, and use a sharp knife to cut a cross on the top of the round of dough.  Cover the pan with another cake pan (like a lid) and bake for 30 minutes.  

Remove the cover and bake for additional 15 minutes. When done, the bottom of the bread will have a hollow sound when tapped. Cover the bread in a damp dish towel to keep the loaf moist. Slice thickly, butter, and serve with Irish Stew.

Old-Fashioned Flaky Biscuits

Long before Krusteaz or Bisquick mixes were on the shelf so you can measure, add water, mix and bake, women made their own biscuits from scratch. We've gotten away from that for the sake of convenience for so long now that we're frightened of making things from scratch! At most, there are a couple steps more than using a mix but the result is far healthier and cheaper. This is a tried and true basic recipe for biscuits found taped to the inside of one of Grandma's cookbooks. The result is delicious whether you make it with butter or shortening.

Also, there isn't any set rule about dinners. Why not give the biscuits center stage? A meal could be as unique as a biscuit with homemade gravy on top and a green salad on the side. Certainly these old-fashioned biscuits could pull off a biscuits and gravy dinner in a heartbeat, probably with requests for seconds. Make a double batch to have on hand for other meals and keep them in the fridge or freezer so they're available in a pinch.

Old-Fashioned Flaky Biscuits

2 cups sifted flour
2 tsp baking powder
4 Tbsp butter or shortening
½ tsp salt
¾ cup milk

Sift flour, measure, then add baking powder and salt and sift again. Cut in shortening or butter with pastry cutter. Stir milk in gradually until soft dough is formed. Turn out on slightly floured board and lightly "knead" for 30 seconds to shape. Roll ½ inch thick and cut with 2 inch floured biscuit cutter. Bake on ungreased sheet in a 400 degree oven for 12-15 minutes. Yields 12 biscuits.

Parmesan Breadsticks

Puff pastry was one of Grandma's favorite things. 

She would use it for hors d'houvres (filling them with delectable goodies), top meat pies with it, and make those flaky, puffy rolls that are so good with soups and salads.

Here's a treat she used to make for pasta dishes (instead of the ubiquitous garlic bread). Once you try these, you might not go back to bread! A word of warning though. Don't put them on the table until you're seated at the table. They will be gone in less than a minute!

Parmesan Breadsticks

1 puff pastry sheet, thawed in refrigerator

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

¼ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp Italian Seasoning

Preheat oven to 375F.

Sprinkle half of the cheese over your work surface. Roll out the puff pastry square on the cheese. Then combine remaining cheese with garlic and seasoning and sprinkle on the pastry. Keep rolling the cheese mixture into the dough, turning a few times, until the dough is about 1/8 inch thick. Cut into ½ inch strips, then cut these in half so they are about 5 to 6 inches long. Carefully place the strips on parchment paper lined cookie sheets. Bake at 375F for 13-16 minutes until crisp and golden brown. Cool and carefully remove from baking sheets to cool completely on wire racks.

Anna Olson's Dough & Cinnamon Rolls

Anna Olson was one of Grandma's dearest friends and I first met her when I was about five years old. She was absolutely precious and I remember she had the skin of an angel--or at least what I imagined an angel to have--no wrinkles, no blemishes, just smooth as silk--even well into her 60s and beyond (and this was long before skin clinics were on our speed dial). She also had only one arm, but I guess I never really paid attention. She was such a beautiful soul.

Much later, I discovered that Anna had been injured on the job working at a local pickle factory. Not sure of the details, but she suffered that devastating injury and was given a prosthetic that looked like a mannequin arm. In spite of this, she was an amazing cook and in a church cookbook from 1973, Grandma kept her recipe for cinnamon rolls. You could probably add a glaze on top, but maybe not having it was the secret to her perfect skin. I can hear Grandma say, "Just be satisfied with the rolls. They're delicious without all that extra sugar on top!"

ANNA OLSON'S ROLLS

1 cup milk
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp salt
2/3 cup shortening

Put in a pan and heat. Stir until all is dis-
solved. Dissolve 1 pkg. yeast in 1/2 cup warm
water. Pour all in a mixing bowl and add 1 1/2 cup
more of water. Add flour gradually until a soft
sponge. Be sure your water is quite warm and beat
well. Add flour until a soft dough and knead well.
Knead dough well on floured board (kneading makes

a finer grained bread). Grease bowl and return
dough to bowl. Put in a warm place to rise and
cover with a warm towel. Dough should be kept

in a 105⁰ to 110⁰ temperature. This recipe makes
2 dozen rolls and 20 cinnamon rolls.

CINNAMON ROLLS

Melt 1 cube margarine or butter and pour into pan
13" X 9" X 2". Keep warm.

Rollout 20 pieces of dough to about size of bread
sticks. Put them in pan with the shortening and
douse them around until covered with the shortening.
Have ready 2 heaping tsp. cinnamon and 1 cup brown
sugar to 2 cups of white sugar. Mix well. Take 5
or 6 of the pieces of dough and roll them in the
cinnamon and sugar and tie them in a knot oblong
and place them 5 in each row in a pan at the end.
Take out 5 more, etc. until all is finished. If
there is cinnamon and sugar left put in a jar and
keep until next time.

Mrs. Arthur (Anna) Olson

I love the last line: "If there is cinnamon and sugar left, put in a jar and keep until next time." That was the attitude of this generation--good stewardship even with a little cinnamon and sugar.

Gingerbread

Grandma & Grandpa on their honeymoon in 1931

I don't why I chose this picture except for the fact that Grandma and Grandpa were married in the fall and I'm pretty sure that right after their honeymoon Grandma began her cooking journey.

Providing meals for the family was expected and women then didn't have the Internet to help with menu planning. They remembered what their mothers had taught them and ran with it. The rest came from their own ingenuity. Because they were smart enough to write everything down, we can thank them for the collections of recipes we have today.

I never saw Grandma sit down and write out a monthly menu plan. She had been scheduling meals for so many years she could do it in her sleep. Fall and winter were different though. In addition to the regular meals there was always a little something extra to take the edge off and one of those little somethings was gingerbread.

This was the go-to gingerbread recipe that Grandma always pulled out during the fall--one of her four favorite seasons for cooking!

There's something about ginger. The smell is unmistakable when it's in the oven.  It's also supposed to be very good for you, which might provide some consolation considering this contains more than 100% of the recommended daily levels of saturated fat. But we won't talk about that. Remember, this is comfort food!

Gingerbread

½ cup butter or shortening
½ cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
2 ½ cup flour, sifted
1 ½ tsp soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
½ tsp cloves
½ tsp salt
1 cup molasses
1 cup hot water

Cream butter and sugar; add egg. Sift dry ingredients together.  Combine molasses and hot water. Add dry ingredients alternately with molasses mixture to creamed mixture, beating after each addition until smooth. Turn into paper-lined 9x9x2 inch pan. Bake at 350F for 45 minutes.

Pumpkin Mini Loaves

Fall always ushered in the familiar smells of pumpkin, gingerbread, and--need I say more--comfort in Grandma's house. Her breads were sinfully good and probably contributed to those few extra pounds I established as my metabolic baseline and have never been able to lose.Yes, the sins of my youth have followed me all my days. Can't blame Grandma for that though...she never force fed me. Didn't have to.

This week will be officially dubbed "Fall Baking Week" and we'll feature one of Grandma's recipes for something comforting, sweet, and calorie laden every day. Oh, and in case "sniffernet" isn't working, these also smell amazing!  This is very fortuitous because hereafter you can prepare these (some in advance) and be able to amaze your Thanksgiving guests with your baking prowess.

This particular recipe was one Grandma made using four little pans in one rack like this:

If you prefer to make one large loaf, this recipe will accommodate that as well and be just as delicious. Only remember to adjust the cooking time and test "doneness" with your wooden stick (Grandma used either her knife or a wooden skewer stick).

Pumpkin Mini-Loaves

2 cups sugar

1 (16 oz) can pumpkin

2 eggs

½ cup oil

2 ½ cups flour

1 ½ tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

¾ tsp allspice

½ tsp salt

1 cup chopped dates (optional)

1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Combine sugar, pumpkin and eggs in bowl. Beat until well blended. Add oil and beat. Blend in flour, soda, cinnamon, allspice and salt. Stir in dates and nuts. Divide batter into greased mini-loaf rack. Bake in preheated 350F oven for about 50 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

Roman Meal Bread

And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live. ~ Deuteronomy 8: 2-3 (KJV)

I know the verse says, "...man doth not live by bread only," but this bread is so wholesome and good that you almost could live on it--in carb heaven. Roman Meal cereals and breads used to be produced in Washington State, but has limited distribution now. If you want the bread to turn out perfect, then by all means order the cereal from the website; otherwise, you can substitute Zoom or some other whole grain cereal in its place. I would love to hear from those of you who cook gluten free and if it would be possible to convert this recipe to accommodate that.

This recipe was given to Grandma by two gentlemen who ran one of the most popular hair salons in our town many years ago. All the older ladies got their hair done there, including Grandma. She loved Dale and Tom and always remembered them on their birthdays and during the holidays.

I was intrigued by Dale's beautiful handwriting. It was like art on notebook paper! This is his original recipe and--if you would like to try the recipe out--the cut and paste version follows. What a great comfort food to accompany your meal on a cold fall day!

 

Roman Meal Bread

4 ½ cups flour
1 ½ cups Roman Meal cereal
½ cup sugar
2 packages active dry yeast
4 tsp salt
2 ½ cups warm water
3 Tbsp oil

In large mixing bowl stir together flour, cereal, sugar, yeast and salt. Add water and oil, stirring until thoroughly mixed. The dough will be stiff and elastic. Cover dough and let rise at room temperature for one-half hour. Beat dough about 25 strokes. Divide dough in half and spread evenly in two well-greased (8½ x 4½) loaf pans. Cover and let rise another ½ to 1 hour until nearly double in size. Bake at 400F for 45 minutes or until loaf is well browned. Remove from pans and cool on rack.