Irish Soda Bread

950 gr - 3 3/4 cups whole-wheat flour
1 ts salt
2 tb real butter
2 eggs at room temperature
2 ts baking soda
1 ts baking powder
2 tb sugar
420 ml - 1 2/3 cup buttermilk
1 tb melted real butter
250 gr - 1 cup raisins
1 1/2 tb caraway seeds

Mix the flour, baking powdered, salt and sugar together in a bowl. Cut the butter into small pieces and add it to the dry ingredients. Beat the eggs in another bowl and stir in the buttermilk and baking soda and continue to beat everything until it has evenly combined. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and drop the egg/buttermilk mixture into it all at once and then add the raisins and caraway seeds. Mix the ingredients together with a fork until everything has evenly incorporated. Turn the dough out onto a dry, floured surface and knead it gently for 20 seconds. Shape the dough into a ball and place it on a buttered baking tray and flatten it, with the palm of your hand, into a 20 cm - 8 inch round loaf. Dip a knife in the melted butter and slash cuts across the bread to form a cross (creating quarters), approximately 1/2 cm - 1/4 inch deep.

Brush the bread with the remaining melted butter and bake it in a moderately well preheated oven at 190C-375F for approximately 45 minutes or until the bread is a golden brown in colour. Remove the loaf from the oven and tap in on the bottom. If the bread is ready, it should emit a hollow sound. Allow it to cool on a wire rack, wrapped in a kitchen towel. This prevents the bread from hardening from the sudden temperature change. This particular bread can be equally enjoyed when even lukewarm when cooled. Posted by Maria
www.authentic-greek-recipes.com in the same newsletter as above.
Chris in NM

http://www.nancyskitchen.com