IRISH BROWN BREAD

Mytymo is ready for the St Patrick's Day celebration.

Irish Brown Bread is a must to serve with Corned Beef and Cabbage, see recipe under Main Dish. My son-in-law is Irish and misses the real brown bread he grew up with in Ireland. I have tried several recipes and this one seems to be closest. Bernie and my daughter Melissa are leaving for 3 weeks in Ireland this coming Monday, a great way to celebrate St Patrick's Day. I have ask both of them to get Bernie's family to write down their brown bread recipe and bring it back to me. I'm afraid the difference is the grind of their whole wheat flour.

Brown Bread

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3 cups whole wheat

1 cup of all-purpose unbleached flour

14 ounces of buttermilk

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoon of soda

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Preheat oven to 425 degrees (I have not tried this in a convection oven)

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In a large bowl mix dry ingredients. Add the buttermilk to form a sticky dough. I have used a Kitchen Aid free standing mixer with the beater used for cake. If not using mixer, turn onto floured surface and knead lightly. Don't over mix or knead.

Shape into round flat shape and place in a greased round cake pan. Cut an X in top of dough. Cover pan with another cake pan, this simulates the bastible pot. Bake for 30 minutes, remove the top pan and bake for 15 minutes longer.

Remove bread from pan and cover with a tea towel, sprinkle with water to keep the bread moist.

ANGEL BISCUITS

This is a picture of my mother's sister, Mildred. The picture was taken during World War II in Washington D.C. where she worked. She met her husband Harry (the Greek Lemon Chicken Soup is from Harry) there and moved to Kentucky where she lived this rest of her life.

Mildred gave me a Kentucky cookbook in the 1970s and that is where I found the angel biscuits recipe that follows. It has become a tradition in my family, always served at holidays such as Thanksgiving. It makes a great breakfast biscuit and it is great with country ham, butter and marmalade.

This recipe is a good substitute for dinner rolls and easier to make. The dough can be taken out of refrigerator in portions for a particular serving. It doesn't require a rising and seems to rise higher in the oven after a couple days in the refrigerator.
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Angel Biscuits
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1 package yeast
1/2 cup warm water
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
5 cups flour (I prefer unbleached and the best unbleached is King Author)
3/4 cups shortening (I use 1/2 unsalted butter and 1/2 Crisco)
2 cups buttermilk
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Dissolve yeast in water and set aside. Combine sugar, salt, baking powder and soda, sprinkle over flour and mix well with a fork or sift together. Cut in shortening with a pastry blender until shortening is well blended. Add yeast and buttermilk (start with 1 3/4 cups of buttermilk, add more as needed) mix with a wooden spoon until smooth. This will be a wet sticky dough, don't over handle. Place dough in greased bowl and turn to grease all sides, cover and refrigerate. If you plan to make a few days ahead, I suggest you put the dough in a 2 gallon Ziploc bag or divide into two 1 gallon Ziploc bags, this will keep the outside from drying out, you still should first put in a greased bowl to grease sides. (The dough could be baked after first making, but I always make ahead, because it is easier to handle after refrigerated.)
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To make biscuits, take out the amount of dough required. Roll dough about 1/3 inch thick, cut with a biscuit cutter and place on lightly greased pan.* Bake for 12 minutes at 400 degrees. A convection oven will bake the biscuits far more evenly.
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This recipe will make 2 to 3 dozen biscuits depending on size of biscuit cutter.

*There are two ways to bake these, set apart on baking sheet or place in a cake pan, close together. This depends on your preference, the sheet method will give you a crusty side biscuits, ideal for ham biscuit or in a cake pan for a higher, fluffy biscuits with soft sides.

DILLY CASSEROLE BREAD

Martha sent me this 'blast from the past' recipe and I tried it today. It is very easy to make and very good to eat. 'Dilly Casserole Bread' comes from the 1960s, she said she got the recipe while living in Denver right after college.

I have a Kitchen Aid mixer and used it for this recipe. If you don't have this kind of mixer, it shouldn't be much trouble to make it by hand.

Dilly Casserole Bread

1 package dry yeast

1/4 cup warm water

1 cup small curd cottage cheese, heated to lukewarm

2 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon minced dried onion flakes

2 teaspoon dill seed

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon soda

1 unbeaten egg

2 1/4 to 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tablespoon softened butter

Soften yeast in water.

Combine in a mixing bowl:

Cottage cheese, sugar, onion, dill deed, salt, soda, egg and softened yeast.

Add flour to form a stiff dough, beating well after each addition.

Cover and let rise in warm place until doubled in size, 30 to 45 minutes.

Stir down dough, turn into a well-greased 8-inch round (1 1/2 to 2 quart) casserole.

Let rise in warm place until light, about 20 minutes.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 50 minutes or until golden brown.*

Brush top with soft butter and sprinkle with salt.*

*I used a convection oven at 350 degrees, it took a little less time to cook.

*I used Kosher salt, a slightly coarser salt.

Serves 6 to 8

It was good with soup. Martha said it was also good with a salad.

BUTTERMILK ROLLS AND CINNAMON ROLLS

Aunt Iva Cecil is on the right in this picture. My mother Modena is on the left, my great grandmother Amanda, in the middle, my brother Bob and I stand in front. Aunt Iva was like a grandmother to us, our grandmother was ill and died when we were young. I have very few recipes from family members, so many cooked without recipes and rarely wrote things down. I would like to share with family, friends and followers, what recipes I do have.

Buttermilk Rolls

1 cup luke warm buttermilk
1 cake yeast or 1 package dry yeast
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons shortening
1/4 teaspoon soda
2 1/2 to 2 3/4 cups flour

Pour buttermilk over salt, shortening and soda, mix. Crumble yeast with 1/2 cup flour into a bowl. Stir in liquid until yeast dissolves. Add remaining flour. Turn dough onto floured board. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Knead until smooth. Shape into rolls, place on greased pan, cover with damp cloth and let rise 1 to 1 1/4 hour.
Bake 15 to 20 minutes at 425 degrees for 25 minutes.*

*If you have a convection oven, I think 400 degrees for 15 minutes or until done.

Cinnamon Rolls

2 tablespoon butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoon cinnamon

Make dough for buttermilk rolls, roll out dough; spread with butter, sugar and cinnamon. Roll dough like a jelly roll and cut in 1/2" slices. Let rise and bake 25 minutes at 400 degrees.*

Yield 2 dozen

*For convection oven, bake at 375 or 400 degrees for about 20 minutes.
I think that convection ovens are wonderful for breads and rolls. You will get an even browing without over cooking the bottom.