Soda bread

One of the things I love about having a flexible working day is that, on those occasions when I work from home, I can slot in little jobs around my work. Today, for example, rather than spending 15 minutes chatting to colleagues while making a cup of tea, I made a loaf of sundried tomato and chili soda bread.

A moody close-up.

I've made soda bread once or twice before, but this is the first time I've played with the recipe at all. The basic recipe is 250g plain wholemeal flour, 250g plain white flour, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda and 420ml buttermilk. I've never really found a good source of buttermilk, so I just mix the juice of half a lemon into the milk to sour it, which seems to work well. Soda is probably the simplest bread to make because there's no kneeding or prooving or knocking back or faffing of any kind involved; essentially you just mix the wet ingredient into the dry, cut a cross in the top and throw it in the oven for half an hour.

I varied the recipe by adding about a quarter teaspoon of chili powder, half a teaspoon of smoked paprika and about a teaspoon of oregano to the dry ingredients before I sieved them and then finely chopping five sundried tomatoes and one red chili to add at the same time as the faux buttermilk. Once I'd mixed the dough, turned it onto a floured board, shaped it briefly and transferred it to an oven tray, I cut a deep cross in the top of the loaf (this is the traditional look, but it also helps what is really quite a soggy dough to cook all the way through). I finished the loaf by sprinkling some grated cheddar on top (because, let's face it, most things taste better with cheese on top!) and into the oven it went. Within fifteen minutes of getting the flour out of the cupboard, I was back at my desk with my cuppa and the loaf was baking.

Half an hour later, when the oven timer sounded, all I needed to do was pull the loaf out of the oven and slide the hot loaf onto a cooling rack.

Gratuitous ingredienting.

The loaf will keep for up to three days in an airtight container (always assuming we don't finish it before then!), should still feel fresh tomorrow and will toast nicely at any time.

Chunks of sundried tomato and chili are nicely spread through the loaf.

For those who prefer their recipes in the standard format, here you go:

Ingredients:

• 250g plain white flour
• 250g plain wholemeal flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• ¼ chili powder (more or less, to taste)
• ½ smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 420ml buttermilk (or milk soured with the juice of half a lemon)
• 5 sundried tomatoes, drained and finely chopped
• 1 red chilli, seeded and finely chopped
• grated cheddar for the topping

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C
2. Sieve the flours, salt, bicarbonate, chili powder and paprika together then mix in the oregano.
3. Add the chopped tomatoes and chili at the same time as the buttermilk and bring together to form a very sticky dough.
4. Turn the dough onto a floured board, bring in the sides of the dough, folding and turning it to shape it, but do not kneed it.
5. Move the shaped loaf to a baking tray lined with baking paper.
6. Cut a deep cross into the top of the loaf.
7. Sprinkle some finely grated cheddar.
8. Bake at 200°C for 30 minutes.