With corned beef and cabbage being this star of this Sunday's St paddy's day, it hard to forget another Gaelic staple - good fresh from the oven bread. Try baking a loaf to go with the corned beef or even just to have with butter and jam latter on.
New contributor and famed Hudson Valley chef Clare de Boer wrote about the famed brown bread fromBallymaloe Cookery School in Cork in Wednesday';s New York Times Food section. This is the perfect bread that should accompany corned beef(and also be part of Monday's corned beef sandwiches). It is a simple bread that Chef de Boer first had when she visited the school, enjoying it thickly slathered with butter and covered with tiny prawms from nearby Ballycotton Bay,Darina Allen the school's co-founder says its an easy mix, perfect for novice bread makers.It's also a good recipe for those who fear yeast. It's just micing it with water and treacle syrup, letting ti foam and then rise. Whole wheat brown flour is added.There's a quick rise and ten baking. It's origins are not Irish but English having been created during the Second world War by nutritionist Doris Grant to make easy use of rations.it was less fluffy than sandwich bread but less cakey than Irish soda bread.it resembles Danish rugbroad but without its;s ourness and denseness.
Students who have attended the school now bake it for their shops and eateries that are located all over the world.Lily Starbuck a former student ,sells it at her cafe at the west end on Fisher's Island where the Long island Sounds meets the Atlantic Ocean.She pairs hers with butter and Camambaert and plans on having classes on it. Again it's a simple bake.The one thing to keep in mind is that make sure the yeasts foam when the molasses and water are added to it.If it doesn't;t then you have dead yeast and have to start over with a fresh packet. If you like a crunchy crust then sprinkle anything from poppy to sesame seeds on top. The flour is whole wheat, preferably stone ground.Use Bob's Red Mill or King Arthur for this. There;s also a teaspoon of kosher salt (Chef de Boer recommends Diamond Crystal) and a tablespoon of molasses or if you can get it treacle.It;'s a very small amount of yeast, really - only two and a half tablespoons.It;s just mixing the yeast with the molasses and warm water for five minutes until the liquid develops a creamy froth.Add the flour,Pour it into a greased pan lined with parcnhemt and then bake twenty minutes at 400 degrees Farenehit,.after twenty minutes carefully take the loaf outr of the pan and bake for another ten minutes..It should be done when you tap the bottom and it sounds hollow.
This ballymaloe brown bread is the perfect accompaniment to Sunday's corned beef and cabbage. It's also a great bread to make for a weekend .Try it and enjoy it's home baked sweetness and goodness.
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