Plate du Jour

When I was working on this post I checked other blogs, the ones I follow and not only, just to see if there is anything similar to this recipe. And yes, there are so many out there using always the same ingredients- water, milk, flour, salt and eggs on occasions. Bread is a kind of food that has been always with us- mankind – since we started using fire. At the beginning I thought that maybe it was not worth publishing another bread recipe, but with time I understood, that the beauty of all these recipes is the fact that no matter where we come from, be it America, Europe or Asia, this is what really connects us all. These simple ingredients- water, milk, flour, salt… and no matter where you go, and how many different ways of using them you will find,we all look for the same kind of food- bread. It doesn’t matter if it’s flat, roundy, sweet or salty, we all like it and in many cultures bread has a special attention and respect. This recipe is very old. If you remember the brioche, it comes from the same source. That family has been making this soda bread for generations now. I’m very happy to share it with you. I make it in two different ways- the one with herbs it’s my modification. I just wanted to experiment with it a little bit and it went great. We love the flavor of this bread, and you can easily make it at home. Since the recipe is very simple and quick, it’s very useful when you run out of bread and all shops are closed! I hope you will like it like we do 🙂

Ingredients

Makes about 8-9 servings, depends on how big the breads you make, preparation time- 25 min, cooking time- 5-6 min each

1. 500 g of flour- I use whole grain, which I buy on the food market, the original recipe calls for 750-800 g
2. fermented milk- or kefir/liquid yogurt- plain, for 400-500 g you will need around 0.5 liter or a little bit more, the original recipe says- as much as it’s needed for the dough- you have to use the whole flour, until the dough is not sticky any longer
3. 1 teaspoon of baking soda
4. 1 teaspoon of salt- half a spoon if you would like to have this bread with jam, for the herbs version add a little bit more
5. basil leaves, rosemary, thyme- for the herbs version prepare some of these, chop finely

Method

In a big glass bowl whisk together flour, salt and soda, start adding fermented milk. Look at the pictures below, how I make the dough- by the way, it was my boyfriend taking these pictures, so I’m very proud to present his contribution to this post 🙂 Once you start adding the milk, combine all ingredients with energy, until the dough gets smooth consistency.

If you see that the dough has the same consistency like on the picture above, add more flour and knead as long as it’s not sticky anymore.

On a floured working surface place the dough and knead it for another 2-3 minutes, I leave it for a moment so the soda could work through it. Divide the dough into smaller pieces- it should be a shape of a ball, and spread each using your hand first. Then use a rolling pin and spread it a little bit more. Each little bread should be about 1-1.5 cm thick.

Now it’s the herbs version, below. Chop finely all the herbs you wish to add to the dough and mix them together with the rest of ingredients. Once done, proceed as the recipe says. No other changes to it.

Heat up some vegetable or olive oil in a big iron or cast iron skillet. Place each little bread on the oil and fry it for 5-6 minutes, flipping them regularly, to avoid burning the bread. It’s easy to notice how the bread gets nicely puffy 🙂

When I made the herbs version I figured that if you make a sort of cross, like on the pictures below, it will be easier to divide it when it’s  ready. And I was right. Try it, it’s fun!

Fry the bread until it gets this nice golden color. It’s very good when it’s freshly made, but also the next day it was still great- you can re-heat it in the oven. I love it with fermented milk I have to admit, and it was delicious with jam too 🙂