St. Patrick’s Day is coming, and I was reminded by a friend to refresh my old soda bread recipe. Instead of just refreshing it, I decided to throw in a couple more soda bread recipes and a nice beef stew to serve them with!
Four recipes in one video that must be a record for me. Saying that, soda bread is a very basic bake and takes no time at all. The customization options are endless. You can add roasted veggies, cheese, nuts, seeds, herbs, and anything else you fancy.
As long as you stick to the basic principles it will work. If half or more of the total flour is whole wheat, then keep the hydration at 100%. If most of the flour is white, then go for around 80% – 90%. Mix the dry ingredients before adding the wet ingredients.
The quicker you work and the sooner you get the loaf in the oven after mixing the dough the softer and lighter it will turn out.
When it comes to the stew use any vegetables you like or swap the beef for lamb. Use fattier and tougher cuts for maximum flavour and cook the stew low and slow to makes sure that the meat turns out nice and soft. Cut the veggies chunky, so that they don’t disintegrate while cooking for so long.
The stew and any of the breads would feed 3 – 4 people.
Watch the video down below for detailed instructions.
Ingredients
For the soda bread muffins –
100g (3.5oz) white bread flour
100g (3.5oz) whole wheat flour
3g (0.1oz) salt
5g (0.17oz) soda
50g (1.75oz) feta cheese
50g (1.75oz) sunflower seeds
200g (7oz) buttermilk or yogurt
For the enriched loaf –
200g (7oz) white bread flour
3g (0.1oz) salt
5g (0.17oz) soda
50g (1.75oz) butter
50g (1.75oz) raisins
20g (0.7oz) linseeds
180g (6.35oz) buttermilk or yogurt
For the classic shaped loaf –
125g (4.4oz) white bread flour
125g (4.4oz) whole wheat flour
4g (0.14oz) salt
7g (0.25oz) soda
250g (8.8oz) buttermilk or yogurt
For the stew –
4 carrots
4 celery sticks
4 garlic cloves
1 large onion
1 large potato
500g (1.1lb) beef or lamb
200g (7oz) dark stout
100g (3.5oz) red wine
4g (0.14oz) salt
2g (0.07oz) black pepper
10g (0.35oz) Worchester sauce
3 thyme sprigs
3 bay leaves
20g (0.7oz) vegetable oil or any oil with a high smoke point
Water or beef stock to top up the stew
Method
- All breads are made the same way. First, mix the dry ingredients. Then add the liquid and mix until there is no dry flour left. Try to be quick and don’t work the dough too much.
- Shape the bread and either place in muffin tins, loaf tin, or on a tray/piece of paper.
- Bake all of them at 170C (340F) fan on or 190C (375F) fan off.
The muffins will take 25 minutes. The enriched loaf will take 45 minutes. The classic loaf will take 35 minutes. You can probe the breads to check for doneness. 94C (200F) is the target.
- Make the stew. Sear the meat in a smoking hot pan with half of the oil for 4 – 5 minutes. Mix and cook for another 4 – 5 minutes until it’s nice and brown. Deglaze the pan with the wine or with water. Remove the beef from the pan.
- Heat up the other half of the oil and cook the vegetables for around 5 minutes until they start getting soft and browned.
- Combine all the ingredients, top up with water or stock. Bring the stew up to a simmer and cover it with a lid. Cook on low heat for around 2 hours until the meat is nice and soft.
- Thicken the stew if you want to. Make a thin slurry with 10g (0.35oz) cornstarch and mix it into the stew. Simmer for 5 minutes to cook the starch.
Enjoy your hearty super delicious meal!
