Irish Brown Bread

[warren5421]

I live in Indiana and had several Marsh Super Markets that went belly up. They had the best tasting Irish bread with walnuts (not traditional) and raisons (not traditional). I have been to Ireland. I think they used a molasses base in it.

Any good Irish Brown Bread Recipe's?

[imashooter2]

Momma always made Boston Brown bread, steamed it in #10 juice cans. Is that the same stuff?

Edit: no it isn’t. Sorry for the first response going off topic. :(

[BJK]

I immediately thought of Boston Brown bread too, but imashooters post had me wondering what your bread was. So I went in search. The recipes all look pretty much the same to me, but you look at them for yourself. I thought I'd find at least one that had molasses, but nope. I'll write it right up front, I haven't tried any of these recipes and in fact can't due to the carbs. Good luck.

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/220525/irish-brown-bread/

https://www.irishcentral.com/culture/food-drink/irish-brown-bread-recipe

https://www.tasteofhome.com/article/irish-brown-bread/

https://www.everydayeileen.com/irish-brown-bread/

[jim 44-40]

That bread sounds just like the type in a can that I loved in the Army

[warren5421]

Some people might call it Irish Soda Bread.
recipe:

Irish Soda Bread from The art of Irish Cooking by Monica Sheridan

1 tablespoon butter or margarine
4 cups white flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup fresh buttermilk or 1cup sweet milk or 1cup whole milk

Rub the butter into the flour

Add the salt and soda, mix all well together by running the dry ingredients through your fingers.

Add buttermilk or sweet milk or whole milk and stir into a soft dough with a wooden spoon.

With your floured hands knead lightly into a ball and turn out onto a lightly floured baking sheet.

Flatten the dough into a circle 1 1/2 inches thick with the palm of your hand.

Make a cross in the center with a floured knife.

Bake at 425 for 30-35 minutes.


Brown Bread from The art of Irish Cooking by Monica Sheridan

4 cups stone-ground whole-wheat flour
2 cups white flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 tablespoon butter
2 cups buttermilk, sour milk, or sweet milk

May leave the sugar and butter out of recipe

Mix the whole-wheat flour thoroughly with white flour, salt, soda, and sugar

Rub the butter into the mix

Make a well in the center and gradually mix in the liquid.

Stir with a wooden spoon. You may need less, or more, liquid-a lot depends on the absorbent quality of the flour.

The dough should be soft but manageable.

Knead the dough into a ball in the mixing bowl with your floured hands.

Put it on a lightly floured baking sheet and with the palm of your hand flatten out in a circle that is 1 1/2 inches thick. With a knife dipped in flour make across through the center of the bread so that it will easily break in quarters when it is baked.

Bake at 425 for 25 minutes, reduce the heat to 350, and bake a further 15 minutes.

If the. crust seems too hard, wrap the baked cake cake in a damp tea cloth and leave standing upright until it is cool.

The bread should not be cut until it has set-about 6 hours after it comes out of the oven.

[Outpost75]

B&M still has tinned Boston Brown Bread, which is wonderful sliced, steamed and served with a poached egg on top. Yes, has raisins.

[mcdonmar]

This looks great!

I have to try it on the 17th with cabbage soup!

This is my new favorite no knead dutch oven.

8 cups flour Montana Wheat dash of salt
4 cups warm water dash of sugar
2- tablespoons of yeast

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[mcdonmar]

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220227/a3fbf157e987d354a87ffcbd88f118ca.jpg

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[Wayne Smith]

Mother made "Boston Brown Bread" and I'm sure she used molasses and it was steamed in a tin can. A very soft dough, with raisins.

[BJK]

Yes Wayne, that's how to make Boston Brown Bread. It's really good. We'd have it as a side with Kielbasa. Good thick slices, buttered of course. Delicious.

[Char-Gar]

I have never heard of steaming bread. I guess that is not a Texas thang. How is it done?

[Geezer in NH]

B&M also sells plain Brown Bread with NO raisins.

Every supermarket in NE carries both types.

[Hogtamer]

Soda bread ain’t much to a Southern palate.

[imashooter2]

B&M also sells plain Brown Bread with NO raisins.

Every supermarket in NE carries both types.

Heresy. :cry:

[BJK]

I have never heard of steaming bread. I guess that is not a Texas thang. How is it done?

A youtube video on how to make steamed brown bread in a can. The lady making it does NOT sound like she's from NE, but it looks like the real deal Boston Brown Bread, steamed and all.

https://youtu.be/29nVCHCEtKI

For those who have never had it, Amazon has the B&M version and that's all I ever knew other than homemade. Try it you'll like it, I guarantee! I've had all the versions (plain, with dates and raisins) and they are all good. Just be sure to slice it into rounds and grill the slices slathered with butter and warm or "toast" it in a pan. Typically in NE it's served with hotdogs and beans, Friday night supper. Would it be at home with southern BBQ? Absolutely! I would have it with Kielbasa and sauerkraut. It's just good stuff! Would it be good for breakfast? Absolutely!

BTW, the B&M factory is in Portland ME and driving by it on I95 (you could almost throw a stone and hit it) the scent in the air is absolutely wonderful. No doubt about what you're smelling. Maybe they're most known for their molasses baked beans? IDK, but long before I ever tasted their beans I was enjoying their brown bread down in NJ as a child. Mom always made her own baked beans and so did I. In Maine baked beans are made with molasses and not much else and they're good. But a few times I would make mine and take them into work for the crew and they loved them. They never had baked beans my way.

Molasses... there's a true story about a molasses flood in Bean town aka as Boston.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Molasses_Flood

[imashooter2]

Daddy was a Boston boy. Momma made him genuine baked beans with salt pork and brown bread once a month. Even had a real bean crock. Daddy always buttered his brown bread with the salt pork fat.

I make the beans but use bacon instead of the salt pork and corn muffins because brown bread is a pain.

But then I don’t have a husband from Boston. :grin:

[Char-Gar]

A youtube video on how to make steamed brown bread in a can. The lady making it does NOT sound like she's from NE, but it looks like the real deal Boston Brown Bread, steamed and all.

https://youtu.be/29nVCHCEtKI

For those who have never had it, Amazon has the B&M version and that's all I ever knew other than homemade. Try it you'll like it, I guarantee! I've had all the versions (plain, with dates and raisins) and they are all good. Just be sure to slice it into rounds and grill the slices slathered with butter and warm or "toast" it in a pan. Typically in NE it's served with hotdogs and beans, Friday night supper. Would it be at home with southern BBQ? Absolutely! I would have it with Kielbasa and sauerkraut. It's just good stuff! Would it be good for breakfast? Absolutely!

BTW, the B&M factory is in Portland ME and driving by it on I95 (you could almost throw a stone and hit it) the scent in the air is absolutely wonderful. No doubt about what you're smelling. Maybe they're most known for their molasses baked beans? IDK, but long before I ever tasted their beans I was enjoying their brown bread down in NJ as a child. Mom always made her own baked beans and so did I. In Maine baked beans are made with molasses and not much else and they're good. But a few times I would make mine and take them into work for the crew and they loved them. They never had baked beans my way.

Molasses... there's a true story about a molasses flood in Bean town aka as Boston.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Molasses_Flood

Thanks for the info. I ordered a couple of cans of B&M and will give it a try, sound good to me. The official bread of Texas is Pan de Camp...a Mexican simple bread cooked in a Dutch oven or cast iron in a stove. Ifd uses self rising flour, water and baking powder and that is all.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

I have two recipes for Irish Soda Bread, and have made both of them a couple of times. The results look very much like mcdonmar's photo in post #8. One has candied fruit in it somewhat like fruit cake, but a much different taste and texture, and the other version has raisins. I've read that the one with the candied fruit is properly called Station House Bread, and the other with the raisins is Railroad Bread. Since the leavening agent is baking soda rather than yeast the bread had a biscuit like flavor. Good, but I only make is a couple of times a year. I also read where soda bread was unknown in Ireland until it was introduced to them by a couple of American tourists named Arm and Hammer. It would seem that the bread-in-a-can mentioned in this thread is something much different. That would have been a great item for WW II C Rations!

[farmbif]

I saw that once with baked beans and eggs for breakfast.

[farmbif]

its a regional thing, kind of like the opposite of breakfast in hidalgo tx, eggs with stuff on the plate like chopped tomatoes, lettuce, tortillas and side of salsa

[BJK]

Thanks for the info. I ordered a couple of cans of B&M and will give it a try, sound good to me. The official bread of Texas is Pan de Camp...a Mexican simple bread cooked in a Dutch oven or cast iron in a stove. Ifd uses self rising flour, water and baking powder and that is all.

I used to make that frequently. I think I did anyway.

1 cup of flour, 1tsp baking powder and 1/4 tsp salt, liquid enough to make a dough not quite as stiff as a bread dough, but not as loose as for pancakes. When poured it needs to be 1" thick, that stiff. Bannock is what I heard it called. But no matter the name, it's delicious. It takes on the flavor of the fat it's fried in. The liquid? It could be water, but I think beer gives it a better flavor. I can't do the carbs today.

Char-Gar, only open the top of the can. That way you can save the can and make your own. But like it or hate it let us know. I'd put $ on liking it. Of course it's easier to push out with both ends removed. But slam it on a cutting board and it should come out.