Irish Soda Bread

This is a quick and easy Irish soda bread that is wonderful when served with a hearty winter beef stew or with a vegetarian chili or curry.  This recipe is a great introduction for those of you who might want to get into baking bread.  Soda bread is a type of quick bread in which sodium bicarbonate is used as a leavening agent instead of the traditional yeast.  This bread has a long history and became popular for it's very basic ingredients during Irelands less wealthy years.  Now it's just practical and delicious! 

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Chorizo, Kale, Sweet Potato Soup

Our personal spin on Portuguese Kale Soup. We decided to update it a bit and make it even healthier than the original recipe by swapping the white potato for sweet potato, adding some carrots and celery and using chorizo instead of kielbasa. This makes it slightly sweeter, less fatty and more vitamin rich.  This is a hearty main course meal when served with grilled baguette or as we do in Nantucket, Portuguese bread, – which is similar to San Francisco sour dough.  This time we had it with our jalapeno corn bread (recipe coming soon!).  Best enjoyed with plenty of beer or red wine, lots of parmesan cheese and a roaring fire. 

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