Soda bread breakfast scones

We had planned to have some homemade sourdough bread for breakfast on Sunday morning, but when Melissa went to begin the recipe, she discovered that our homemade starter had died from neglect.  After a period of mourning we decided to learn the lesson that it definitely needs feeding every day, and said goodbye as Sarah the starter was resigned to the bin. 

Still we picked ourselves up and decided to start(er) again, and this time we have a bright pink postit reminder on the starter bowl:

We've decided that before we can get a pet (Melissa has been trying to persuade me to get a cat) we have to prove that we can look after the new starter and remember to feed it.  Updates to follow.

As the sourdough starter takes 7-10 days before we can use it to bake bread I needed a new plan. I decided I would get up before the others and bake a batch of soda bread, but instead of a large loaf I thought it would be cute to make individual scones and our guests could wake up to the aroma of freshly baked bread in the morning.

Adapted from a River Cottage soda bread recipe, here's how I made them:

Emily's soda bread breakfast scones recipe

250g plain wholemeal flour
250g plain white flour
2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon fine salt
400ml natural yoghurt
A little milk, if necessary

Preheat the oven to 200C.
Mix the flours, bicarbonate of soda and salt together in a big bowl. 
Make a well in the centre and stir in the yoghurt until combined.  If the mixture needs it, add a tablespoon or two of milk to bring it together to a soft dough that's not too sticky.  You'll need to get your hands in at this point and bring the dough together into a loose ball.
Turn out onto a floured surface and divide into 8 even pieces. 
Roll gently into balls and place on a floured baking tray, leaving room around each one for them to rise.
Then with a sharp serrated knife cute a deep cross in each scone to let the fairies out (so the Irish legend goes).
Bake for about 22 minutes or until golden brown and when the biggest scone sounds hollow when tapped underneath.

Perfect with proper butter and homemade jam or marmalade and a strong cup of tea to cure a hangover.

A little more Irish inspiration

While I was at work on Tuesday, little did I know that there was a wee leprechaun beavering away in the kitchen cooking up a home-baked batch of Irish Soda Bread to go with some freshly made carrot and coriander soup for dinner.   Such a treat to be greeted with after a hard day's work I'll forgive Melissa for trying to steal my thunder!

A belated happy St Paddy's!

My lovely wife Melissa is from the Emerald Isle (and I can never forget it!) so I had to bake her an Irish inspired treat to celebrate Saint Patrick's Day.  I really wanted to use my favourite shamrock cookie cutter but was struggling to come up an Irish recipe to use it with.  Colcannan cookies?  Bailey's biscuits?  Irish stew scones?  Mmmm I'm not so sure...  So I opt to make a savoury Irish oat biscuit that will work a treat with a wedge of Cashel Blue cheese, from Melissa's own home county of Tipperary.  I found an old Delia recipe and worked my lucky charms to give it an Irish twist:

Emily's Irish oat biscuits recipe (makes about 25)

175g wholemeal plain flour
50g Irish porridge oats
4 teaspoons soft brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon maldon salt
1/4 teaspoon paprika
a few good grinds of black pepper
110g Irish butter, chopped into small cubes
1-2 tablespoons milk

Preheat the oven to 180C / 350F and lightly grease a baking tray

Mix together all the dry ingredients in a large bowl, then using your fingers and thumbs rub the butter in evenly (as if you're making a crumble).  Add just enough milk to bring it together into a dough that's slightly wetter than you would normally use for pastry (this helps to hold it together because it's quite crumbly).
Roll the dough out onto a floured worktop until it's about 3mm thick, then use your shamrock cookie cutter to cut out your biscuits.  I guess you could use a regular round cutter, but it might not taste so good... Any leftover dough can be re-rolled adding a little extra milk if it's a bit dry.
Pop the biscuits on your baking tray and bake for 15-18 minutes until firm and slightly browned on top.  Carefully lift using a palette knife onto a wire rack to cool.

Keep in an airtight tin and enjoy with a generous hunk of Cashel Blue, Stilton or some Mature Cheddar and a spoon of homemade chutney.  Delish!

Well they would be if we actually had any cheese in our fridge.  Darn it!  Although I was waiting for an excuse to go down to Brampton's Cheese Shop in Kemp Town :o)