A Taste of Ireland

Happy St. Patrick's Day!! We love Ireland. Love it. And, now we could technically fly there at a moments notice with the kids (only took 11 days for them to be official). Crazy thought, right? Is it crazy? Can we take the kids in the pub there? Oh, no. I have the travel bug again. I suppose it has been almost five years...

Anyway, instead of making green stuff today, I whipped up a real taste of Ireland — brown bread. We ate this everywhere there... in seaside pottery cafes near Dingle, in all the B&B's we enjoyed "full Irish Breakfast" at, at the Guinness Brewery... you get the picture. Make this (you get four wee loaves), drink some Guinness (it makes you strong and smart), and enjoy your bread with your stout and some corned beef and cabbage (roasted in more stout) today. Mmm... Happy Day O'Green!!!

Irish Brown Bread

4 c whole wheat flour
1 c bread flour
1/3 c rolled oats
2 heaping tsp wheat germ (this makes it taste like the real stuff!)
1 heaping tsp baking soda
1 tsp sea salt
2 1/2 c buttermilk

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment. In a large bowl, stir together flours, wheat germ, oats, baking soda and salt. Gently stir in the buttermilk until a soft dough forms. Knead lightly. Divide dough into four and form into round, flat loaves. Cut an 'X' in the top of each loaf and bake in preheated oven until golden brown, about 25-30 minutes.