In celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, Artistic Director Kitty Swink shares her recipe for Irish Brown Bread. A fairly simple recipe, it’s the added stout that creates the rich color and taste (of course)!
Ingredients
2 1/4 C Bread Flour
3/4 C whole wheat flour
1 Tbsp oat bran
1 rounded tsp table salt
1/4 tsp dry yeast
3/4 C stout beer
3/4 C well-shaken buttermilk
Directions
Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl
Add in stout, buttermilk. Mix well.
Cover bowl with a tea towel and let sit 12 to 18 hours in a non drafty place.
Flour a work surface and turn out dough. No need to knead, turn it once or twice. Dust the tea towel with flour and wrap it loosely around the dough. Let rise 1 to 2 hours.
Half hour before the end of the second rise, preheat oven to 475° with a rack in the bottom 1/3 of oven. Place a 4 – 5 quart heavy lidded pot in oven while preheating.
After 30 minutes, flip the dough into the heated pot, put the lid on and bake for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, remove the lid and allow the bread to bake uncovered an additional 10 – 15 minutes to form a browned crust.
Turn bread out into a rack to cool before serving. If you don’t plan to eat it right away, leave the loaf whole (no cuts or rips) to leave it moist.
Enjoy with butter, Irish cheddar, or any other topping!