Oatmeal Irish Soda Bread

I just finished making Irish Soda Bread for the first time and I am absolutly tickled by the way my golden little loaf turned out. The loaf of bread is just gorgeous to look at, but one bite and you will know that you have just re-created a tiny slice of Irish Heaven. The addition of Steel Cut Oats really makes this recipe a treat for anyone looking for a higher fiber and more complex carbohydrate Irish Soda Bread.

The recipe comes from an internationally known chef by the name of Darina Allen. She runs the Ballymaloe Cooking School at Shanagarry, in County Cork, has published many celebrated cookbooks, recieving a nomination for best international cookbook from the James Beard Foundation in 2003 for her bestselling book called Irish Traditional Cooking published in l995, she was given the Langhe Ceretto prize in l996, and is well known as one of Ireland's most popular celebrity chefs.

OATMEAL SODABREAD

For this early soda bread the oatmeal was steeped in buttermilk overnight. It makes a light, pale bread with quite a different flavor also absolutely delicious. This recipe was given to me by Honor Moore from Dublin.

Yield: 6 Servings

• 2 1/2 cups Fine Stone Ground Oatmeal (or Steel Cut Oats like McCann's)
  
• 2 cups Buttermilk (3 cups if using Steel Cut Oats)
  
• 2 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda

Method:

Combine the Oats and the buttermilk in a medium size bowl and allow to steep in the refrigerator overnight. Next day, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Mix the flour, salt and baking soda together, then stir into the oatmeal. If necessary add a little more milk, but don't make the dough too wet. Put into a large well greased round loaf pan (we use one which is 51/2 x 91/2 x 21/2 inches or on a greased sheet pan and bake in a 350 degree oven for 1 to 1 1/4 hours. The bread should sound and feel somewhat hollow when tapped.

* Please note that Fine stone ground oats or steel cut oats are completely different from regular oats. For my bread I happened to have Steel Cut Oats on hand and found that they were compatible with this recipe when I increased the amount of buttermilk, ultimately using almost 3 cups. You want the bread to be slightly sticky and easy to mold into a round bowl.

The Original recipe can be found here:
http://www.starchefs.com/chefs/DAllen/html/recipe_05.shtml

Still confused about the oats?
http://www.mccanns.ie/pages/products1.html
or
http://typo.coffeehaus.com/archives/OatsSteelCut.jpg