Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day With A Traditional Irish ‘Fry’

I love it when St. Patrick’s Day falls on a weekend so I can guiltlessly indulge in the consummate Irish meal breakfast and savor its sweetest part, homemade breads.

Anyone who has traveled to Ireland will no doubt admit that one of the best reasons for getting out of bed in the morning is knowing that an Irish breakfast is waiting. And even if there’s enough willpower to pass up a daily dose of eggs, bacon, sausages, puddings and grilled tomatoes, it’s the breads that are always irresistible.

I decided this March 17 to recapture some of the flavor of an Irish morning and celebrate with a traditional breakfast - or “fry,” as it was originally called - complete with homemade Irish breads. Call it Sunday “brunch,” and you can serve the requisite pint of ale.

Of all the types of Irish bread, soda bread is probably the best known, although Irish cooks even use potatoes and Guinness in their breads. Soda bread is made with buttermilk, the acid reacting with baking soda to make the bread rise. Originally this bread was baked in a pot, which gave it a firm, moist texture.

Duplicating a brown soda bread recipe in the United States has often been difficult because of the texture of our flour. A suitable remedy is adding wheat bran to roughen the consistency of American whole-wheat flour, which is more finely milled than Irish.

If you add sultanas and a little sugar to white soda bread, it’s a loaf called spotted Dick. And with caraway seeds added, American cooks simply call it Irish bread or old country cake.

Potato breads - particularly boxty, which combines both shredded raw and boiled mashed potatoes - are popular throughout Ireland and can either be baked on a hot griddle or as a potato pancake when the dough is thinned.

In the northern counties, especially Ulster, potato bread is known as fadge, and when cut into wedges (farls) and fried in bacon fat or butter, it’s an essential ingredient in an Ulster fry.

If you, too, like the idea of wishing friends and family a “top o’ the morning” with a traditional Irish breakfast, you’ll need bacon (rashers), sausage (bangers), and black and white puddings in addition to eggs and tomatoes (which can either be broiled or fried).

Serve with one of these Irish breads, and you’ll be well-fortified to enjoy the balance of the day.

Brown Soda Bread

This bread is best if made on the day you serve it. The others can be made ahead and wrapped in foil until ready to eat.

1-1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1-1/2 cups wheat bran

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups buttermilk

Mix whole wheat flour, wheat bran, all-purpose flour, salt and baking soda. Make well in center. Add buttermilk and mix to make soft dough. Add more milk if mixture seems too thick.

Turn dough out onto floured board and knead lightly. Flatten dough and shape into circle. With sharp knife, slash cross on top. Place on baking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees about 40 minutes or until bread sounds hollow when tapped.

Yield: 8 servings.

Raisin Soda Bread

5-1/2 cups flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

2-1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 cup golden raisins

1/4 cup caraway seeds

1 egg

2-2/3 cups buttermilk

Sift flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Make well in center. Add raisins and caraway seeds and toss. Add egg and buttermilk and knead lightly. Turn dough out onto floured board and knead again until it can be shaped into neat circle.

Place dough on well-greased 9-1/2-inch round pan or cast-iron skillet. Bake at 350 degrees about 40 minutes.

Yield: 8 to 10 servings.

Guinness and Malt Wheaten Bread

3 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup wheat bran plus extra for pans and sprinkling

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter (or Butter Flavor Crisco)

1 teaspoon malt extract (see note)

1-1/4 cups buttermilk

1-1/4 cups Guinness stout ale

Place flour, wheat bran, sugar, baking soda and salt in large mixing bowl. Blend in butter, lifting well to give air. Stir in malt extract, buttermilk and Guinness and mix until of porridge consistency. Do not overbeat.

Grease 1 large (9-1/4- by 5-1/4- by 2-3/4-inch) loaf pan or 2 small (8- by 3-3/4- by 2-1/2-inch) pans. Sprinkle bottom(s) with wheat bran. Pour in batter. Sprinkle additional wheat bran on top.

Bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes. Reduce temperature to 375 degrees and bake 30 minutes more. (Decrease baking time by 10 minutes when using 2 pans.) Bread is done when it springs back after gently pressing top.

Turn off oven and allow to cool with door open 30 minutes. Finish cooling on wire rack.

Yield: 10 servings.

Note: Malt extract is available in some supermarkets; check the syrup section. If you can’t find it, the recipe can be made without it, although the flavor will be slightly different.

Boxty

1 cup shredded raw peeled potatoes

1 cup mashed potatoes

1 cup white flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon butter, melted

1/2 cup milk

Black pepper

Oil for frying

Place shredded potatoes on piece of cheesecloth or linen towel and squeeze out liquid. Scrape off potato starch and place it and grated potatoes in large mixing bowl. Add mashed potatoes.

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt and add to potatoes. Add melted butter and milk. Season to taste with pepper. Mix well.

Turn dough out onto floured surface and knead lightly. Either pat or roll out to circle about 1/2-inch thick. Using biscuit cutter, cut out 8 cakes. Heat oil in large skillet until medium-hot. Add cakes in batches and fry about 5 minutes or until golden on both sides.

Yield: 8 servings.