Today’s sandwich is simplicity itself.
Warm Soda Bread buttered and filled with fresh sliced tomato.
The bread is almost as easy to make as the sandwich.
This recipe is based on The River Cottage Family Cookbook.
Ingredients:
- 125g of plain flour
- 125g of wholemeal flour
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
- 2 teaspoons of soft brown sugar
- 225ml of buttermilk
Sift the flour, salt and bicarbonate of soda into a bowl along with the sugar.
Use a wooden spoon and stir in the buttermilk until it all comes together in a ball. Finish off into a smooth ball with your hands.
Place on a greased baking tray or even better on a sheet of magic non-stick liner on a baking tray.
Put in 210C fan oven for 12 minutes.
Then turn the oven down to 190C and cook for a further 20 minutes.
When it’s done the base of the bread will sound hollow when you tap it.
Put the bread on a wire cooling tray for 15 minutes.
It’s ready for your sandwich.
I had planned to do a 2nd recipe to use up the other half of the buttermilk. But today turned into a bit of a Blood, Sweat and Tears saga. The sweat and tears belonged to Andy Roddick but the blood was all mine and only shock prevented me from my own tears bit.
When cutting the soda bread I was trying to keep an eye on what was happening on Centre Court and what with all the tension and talk of slicing the ball I ended up slicing my finger.
Still if there’s a day to hold your arm above your head to stem bleeding you might as well make it one when it’s already up there, punching the air.
My lesson from today: Sometimes it very much pays to take your eye off the ball .
