Soda Bread Not Irish‽ What‽

A cabin with plenty of food is better than a hungry castle.
~Irish Saying

Soda bread was not invented by the Irish. The first reference to soda bread is credited to American Indians. The Irish have, however, made soda bread an Irish tradition. Not so much by choice as out of necessity.

During times of poverty and famine in Ireland hard flour - the type that is needed to use with yeast to make it rise, was largely unaffordable. The wheat that grows in the Irish climate is soft wheat which is low in gluten. The acidic properties of bicarbonite soda and sour milk (buttermilk) work to create a reaction that leavens bread made with soft flour. 

Here is the soda bread recipe I made today:

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1/4 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 375°
Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and 1/2 cup butter. Stir in buttermilk and egg. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and slightly knead. Form dough and place on a lightly greased baking sheet.

Combine melted butter with 1/4 cup buttermilk and brush loaf with this mixture. Use a sharp knife to cut an 'X' into the top of the loaf.

Bake in preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes. It turned out okay. It looked terrible, but tasted fine!

Note: That is an interrobang in the title - a combined question mark and exclamation mark for when on or the other will not do.

Not All Shiitake is the Same

Not presume to dictate, but broiled fowl and mushrooms - capital thing!
~Charles Dickens

Shiitakes mushrooms are grown 2 ways, on hardwood logs or on sawdust blocks.

Highest quality shiitakes are grown on oak logs. It takes 6-18 months to colonize the whole log which is then soaked to produce mushrooms. Moisture in combination with cold triggers the reproductive cycle of the mushrooms. A log can produce for four years yielding larger crops as the log matures.

Sawdust blocks are made of sawdust (surprise!). The blocks are inoculated then incubated for 1-4 months. They are then soaked in water to produce mushrooms. Some nutritional content may be added during this process, because the sawdust grown shiitakes are not as full of protein and vitamins as the log grown mushrooms.

Note: There are a plethora of recipes available for shiitake mushrooms. My favorite thing to do with any mushrooms is just to throw a few in to whatever I am cooking.

Something else I learned: If you are buying shiitake mushrooms at the grocery store, you are most likely getting the type grown on sawdust blocks (no matter how expensive they are).