D.

Fri, 16 Mar 2007 20:22:42 -0800

Okay, here it is. 3 1/4 cups flour 1 teaspoon sugar 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 1/2 - 2 cups buttermilk Sift flour, salt and baking soda. Add buttermilk. You want it to be wet but kneadable. I use a wooden spoon then turn it out on a floured surface. I then shape it into 2 rounds, roll out and flatten to three-quarter inch. Then I cut it into 4 cross-wise (hence farls). I pick those up with a cleaver or dough scraper so as to protect shape and I put it on a floured baking pan and bake at 450 degrees for 5 - 10 minutes. When you tap it, it make a hollow sound it's done. It should be white like an English muffin. You can either slice in half and toast like an English muffin, or deep fry. I cut in half and then put it inside down into a half inch of hot oil. Fry for a couple minutes then turn over and do the same. Good luck!

Daranee

Fri, 16 Mar 2007 14:41:29 -0800

Never been to the Republic of Ireland, so I can't really say if it's the same. But in Belfast, a fry-up must include fried "soda bread." This is what my friend Kelly called it, but it really leads to confusion as a lot of people think of soda bread as a brown bread made with baking soda. So while Kelly calls it "soda bread", in Britain you can find it in the stores as "soda farls." Which are something akin to scones. Needless to say, you can't get soda farls here let alone deep fry them for your fry-up. A few years back, I was wandering around Leavenworth and I found a soda bread recipe in one of their so-called international papers. I modified it to make soda farls and it works a treat. Sorry to leave a cliff-hanger, but I'll post the recipe tonight when I get home.

Seattlest: An Alternative to Corned Beef

D.

Daranee