3.14.2008

Irish Potato & Cabbage Soup with Soda Bread

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Irish potato and cabbage soup- rustic comfort in a bowl.

Put on some Irish music and grab your apron. Here's a recipe pairing to celebrate St. Patrick's Day- whether you're a dyed in the wool Celtic lass, Scott-Irish, or only mostly Irish in spirit. Irish Potato and Cabbage Soup and gluten-free Irish Soda Bread.

Slainte!

Rustic Irish Potato and Cabbage Soup

Traditional Irish recipes include smoky bacon (and often, cream) in a soup like this. We decided to slice up some spicy buffalo sausage and toss in a gluten-free lager instead. But if you're a bacon and cream lover, by all means- add some uncured apple-smoked bacon and organic moo-cow cream.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, peeled and cut into chunks
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 1-pound head of green cabbage, cored and sliced thin
4 medium gold or white potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
2 large carrots, peeled and chopped
4 sausages or brats (we used spicy buffalo sausage)
4 cups light gluten-free broth
1 cup of gluten-free lager or ale- optional
1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds- crush them if you like
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 pinch raw sugar

Instructions:

Put on a Van Morrison CD and sing along as you cook.

Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot over medium-high heat and add the onion; stir for five minutes or so. Add the garlic and cabbage and stir together; cook until the cabbage has wilted. Add the potatoes, carrots and sausages. Stir. Season with caraway, parsley, sea salt and fresh ground pepper.

Pour in the broth and gluten-free beer; stir together. Cover and bring to a high simmer; then lower the heat a bit and simmer until the vegetables are fork tender- about 45 minutes.

At this point I like to add a touch of cider vinegar and a pinch of raw sugar to liven things up. As always, taste the soup and season to keep your own palate happy.

Serve piping hot with a warm loaf of Irish Soda Bread (recipe follows).

Serves 4.



Gluten-free Irish soda bread- warm from the oven.

Gluten-Free Irish Soda Bread

This tender loaf is best eaten warm from the oven with a bowl of stick-to-your ribs Irish soup. Leftovers can be grilled in a drizzle of olive oil or your favorite buttery spread. I do the American half-Jewish east European thing and add caraway and currants -or , gasp!- even raisins to my soda bread. But if this offends your Irish soda bread sensibility, Darlin', by all means omit. Recipes aren't written in stone, after all. And bread should make you happy.

Dry ingredients:

1 cup white rice flour
1/2 cup sweet sorghum flour
1/2 cup tapioca or potato starch
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/3 cup organic light brown sugar
2 teaspoons xanthan gum

Wet Ingredients:

3/4 up to 1 cup buttermilk or plain rice, soy or hemp milk with 1 teaspoon lemon juice, or rice vinegar
2 large free-range organic eggs- or Ener-G Egg Replacer mixed for 2 eggs
4 tablespoons light olive oil
1 tablespoon molasses, honey, or raw organic agave

Stir In:

1 to 3 teaspoons caraway seeds, to taste
2/3 cup currants or raisins- if you like

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375ºF. Lightly oil an 8-inch round cake pan and dust it with cornmeal.

Whisk the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.

Whisk the wet ingredients together in a separate bowl- start with 3/4 cup liquid at first.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Start with 3/4 cup rice milk and slowly pour the wet into the dry ingredients, gently mixing as you go [I use a soft silicone or rubber spatula to do this]. If you need a little more rice milk to moisten the dough, add a tablespoon at a time and stir in.


When the dough is evenly moist, add the caraway and raisins. Stir only briefly to mix them in.


Scrape and spoon out the dough into the prepared cake pan; and using moist or rice-floured palms, flatten and shape the dough into a rounded loaf. Sprinkle with a very light dusting of cornmeal or rice flour.

Using a dry sharp knife, slice a criss-cross into the dough (not too deep!) to discourage the mischievous fairies from messing with your humble loaf of bread.

Place the pan into the center of a preheated oven. Bake for about 30 minutes, until the loaf is golden and crusty and sounds hollow when thumped. Insert a wooden toothpick into the center to test for doneness.

Cool on a wire rack for ten minutes; and turn the loaf out of the pan to cool to room temperature - although it's best warm and tender from the oven, I think, even if it tends to crumble a bit. Serves 8.

Yields one loaf of bread.

Karina's Notes:

Soda breads are definitely best eaten the day they are baked.

Slice and freeze leftovers for grilling, or use leftovers to make a breakfast bread pudding.

Try my Gypsy Soda Bread with cornmeal for a change of pace.

Or try my new egg-free dairy-free Irish Soda Bread recipe with millet. I love it.



Karina Irish Potato & Cabbage Soup with Soda Bread

34 comments:

Lynn Barry said...

Have fun with your company and thanks for the great recipes! HUGS

Klay said...

This is exactly what I want right now. Thank you!

Kevin said...

That looks like a nice and comforting meal.

Ellen said...

Karina, The soup looks perfect, the bread as well. A great way to celebrate with the wee folk. Can't wait to try both recipes!

Kalyn said...

This current header and design of your blog is my favorite of all!

Klay said...

I made this - it was so good!
only one substitution, I used Venison sausage, probably elk or deer.

damona said...

i have been trying to figure out what to do for my family on st. patrick's day, and now i know what i will do. you, lady, are amazing!

Kelleen said...

I made the bread yesterday, it was divine! Thank you so much. Here's hoping my corned beef turns out okay. Slainte to you.

The Good Eatah said...

You've done it -- my mouth is now watering! The soup and soda bread look amazing, Karina. Have a wonderful time with your son and his girlfriend. I'm sure they're happy to have a break from the New England weather, much like I am!

Kiara said...

Do you think I could just use Pamela's flour and pancake mix in place of the other flours? Thanks for the yummy recipes, Karina!

~K

LisaL said...

I'm Irish. I dream about potatoes, and love this recipe.

Granola Girl said...

Made this tonight....so yummy!! I'm a veggie, so didn't add meat, just another potato. SO glad I found your site.

elsepeth27 said...

This bread looks wonderful! I think that I'll make it tonight for my boyfriend and myself....

Also, I was looking at your flour-less chocolate cake recipe, and I was wondering how you thought that it would turn out using egg replacer? Do you think that it would end up starchy? Should I maybe do half replacer, half flax seed meal?

Karina said...

Hey Lynn! Hugs back atcha!

Thanks, Klay, Ellen and Kevin!

Kalyn- I'm glad- thanks- me too. Though it's fun to tweak, I hope to keep this design for awhile.

Klay- Hey again! Venison sounds like a tasty addition. I'm happy it was good. ;)

Slainte, Damona! And Kelleen!

Good Eatah- Thanks- they're out walking and taking photographs in the arroyos this afternoon- it's cool but sunny. Sending some warm weather wishes back to Massachusetts... ;)

Hi Kiara! Yes, I don't see why not. I used to Pamela's as my main GF flour mix before I had to go dairy free almond-free. I'd cut the baking powder and salt in half, though.

Lisal- Nothing like a good potato dream. :)

Heya Granola Girl! I'm glad! Most of my recipes are easily vegetarian or vegan- and have you checked out my Vegetarian Index?

Hello Elespeth27- Thanks- and as for the flourless chocolate cake- no I don't think an egg replacer would work in that particular recipe- it relies heavily on eggs for it's structure.

The best conversions are with recipes that call for one egg; then next best recipes are those with two eggs. In my experience, anyway.

I am working on a chocolate cake without eggs- it's coming... Promise!

xoxo

Karina

elsepeth27 said...

I figured that the egg replacer wouldn't work too well. Awesome that your trying for an eggless recipe though! :) I'll be sure to keep an eye out for it. (As well as experimenting with my own recipes.)

I did make the soda bread though, and it was indeed amazing. I will be posting about it soon, complete with a picture of the small scrap that remains (most of it was devoured before I got a picture). :) Thanks for another great recipe!

<3 Beth

funwithyourfood said...

I'm totally down to listen to some Van Morrison :)

Teddy

Anonymous said...

Great gf bread recipe, thank you for sharing!

NualaD said...

Irish Soda Bread

Can I substitute another flour for the sweet sorghum as I cannot find it around Toronto

Karina Allrich said...

nualad- Yes, certainly. I like the sorghum for it's tenderness, but you could try a mix of rice and millet. Or sub with brown rice flour.

If you use only white rice flour as your main flour I fear it will lack in taste and texture- so I'd definitely try to get either brown rice or millet to add in and give it a boost.

Karina

hoopyscoopsmom said...

Hey Karina! Your ryeless, rye bread brought me to try to make a bread (can't have yeast so I can't have the rye) So I attempted this Irish Soda bread. I made the recipe as is, except for the xantham gum, used honey, and did not add raisins (mold allergy, can't have them) or caraway. A teaspoon of lemon juice for the vinegar. I used only a half a cup of rice milk. What I had was batter not dough, simliar to cornbread. Nothing I could flatten, shape or slice a criss cross in to keep the fairies away! I decided to bake it anyway to find what I had. The fairies were nice to me, thankfully! What I have is a sweet bread/cake of sorts, definitely the texture of cornbread, and wonderfully moist. I have never had soda bread, but I don't think this is what it is supposed to be like, but it does make a wonderful light dessert, or snack with tea. And, I had to try it with Sunbutter and was great.

Karina Allrich said...

Hoopyscoopsmom- Interesting. I'm glad it worked out for you, albeit, differently. Gluten-free doughs are definitely more like thick cake batter than a wheat-based bread dough. I use wet hands to shape, and press the knife in and drag it a bit.

Thanks for stopping back to share.

Karina

Rylee said...

The soda bread looks fabulous?

Do you think I could substitute Xylitol (granular, like sugar, but lower glycemic) for the brown sugar 1:1 or should I do something else to make it balance.

Oh, and that site header looks awesome!

Thanks!

Zuzu Petals said...

I made both of these recipes over the weekend - absolutely delicious. The soup I did in the crock pot on low for about 6 hours. The bread was fabulous, although I think next time I will do the brown sugar in with the wet ingredients.

I'm a newbie to Celiac and have been reading for a couple of weeks now. Thank you so much for sharing so much of yourself and your GF cooking with us. And a double thanks for including so many southwestern recipes that remind me of home!

I realize desert living is not for everyone, and the terracotta floors on many of the beautiful stucco homes can be a bit hard. My mom (not formally diagnosed as Celiac, but a posterchild if ever there was one) broke her hip and busted her ankle in much the same way. I read somewhere that Georgia O'Keeffe used to walk around barefoot because she felt like the ground spoke to her through her feet. While it may feel like the desert has spit you out and I know it's hard not to take a serious injury like that personally, I think the ground may just be saying, "The bones of a Celiac are very frail, lady. But you, you are strong."

Thanks again.

Karina Allrich said...

Rylee- Thank you on the new header design. I've never worked with xylitol but I don't see why it wouldn't work as a sugar sub here. Is it usually a one-to-one sub in baking? Or less?

Zuzu Petals- Great story about Georgia. Thanks for your thoughtful words; and I'm sorry to hear about your Mom's hip.

I appreciate the frailty of celiac bones, I do. But I still feel spit out- not just because I broke my hip here; there are layers of reasons making this the hardest 18 months of my life. I cannot wait to leave.

I don't belong here.

Karina

Lisa said...

thank you! thank you! i'm newly gluten free and made this soda bread last night. delish! i did it without the sugar and it was still really tasty.

melinda said...

KArina,

I made these both for a St. Pats party, and found that people kept coming back for more and more, many times over. I even caught a few folks whom had no know gluten intolerences loving the soda bread, inlcuding my 4 year-old for whom I truly made it for. I also used a Chicken-Apple sausage and omitted the lager, still scrumptious and I am making it again today. Thanks for your lovely and deliciously gourmet recipes. Keep'em coming, I hooked!

Anonymous said...

Hi Karine,
Thank you for the bread recipe. It was wonderful! My little man will be 6 next week; we found out he had CD at 16 months. (The peanut & tree-nut allergies came a year ago.)

And thank you for your easy approach to cooking. Whenever I hear of someone being diagnosed with CD or food allergies, I send them to you.

I hope your house sells soon & you can move. As much as I hate the winters here in the NorthEast (& this was an especially hard one), I don't think I could live anywhere else.
~Susan

<b>zoë isis</b> said...

I have only been gluten-free for a little over a month, and just came across your blog. I tried this recipe today, the soup and the bread, but without the meat. They were delicious!!

I also left out the beer, as I could not find GF beer at the one store I went to, but the flavor was so good, I had 2 huge bowls. The bread was delicious too, and I can't decide if I should have some for breakfast or try and save it for bread pudding tomorrow night.

This was my first time baking something GF from scratch, and not a mix, and it came out perfectly. I baked like crazy in my pre-Celiac life, and was so nervous about using all these new flours, but it was actually pretty easy.

Thank you!!!

LizKnits said...

Thanks so much for sharing your recipes. My husband and I made the soda bread recipe today and it was fantastic! I can't believe you've created such a great gluten-free, yeast free recipe... except I can because I just tasted it! I look forward to trying more in the future.

Katie said...

I LOVE this soup. It's a great example of how a combination of simple flavors can blend together to make something amazing. I'm thinking of making it again this week, in fact. Thanks for a great recipe!

Karina Allrich said...

Thanks Katie- I love what you wrote about; just shared your link on Twitter. xox

Anonymous said...

My first gluten-free bread recipe and it was delicious! Loved the soup and bread together - an easy, hearty and healthy recipe. Thank you.

Anonymous said...

This bread totally rocks! After a year of GFCF this is the first bread that got a true thumbs up by my hubby (noted by second helpings!). Thank you.

Laurie said...

Living behind the dark side of the moon in southeast Alabama, yesterday we had a freak 'snow day' and of course, the city shuts down after the grocery store shelves are barren from needless panic. I made this wonderful soup for just the two of us since I had everything in the pantry & fridge. Dear Heavens! You are indeed a Goddess! The soup is definitely a keeper in my new GF recipe binder. Thank you for such rustic deliciousness!

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