Onion Sodabread

By: Pete on 13:29:00

Now that racing has started again, I sort of lose Saturdays, and on Sundays I'm feeling pretty battered right now, or I will until I get my race legs back. As such, it's nice to have fast fall-backs for some comfort food. I didn't have the time to do a proper yeasted bread, so went for a soda-bread instead (or quick-bread as they are sometimes known). These often call for buttermilk, however you can get the same results using a blend of yoghurt and milk...for this I actually used zero-fat Greek yoghurt and skimmed milk (with a dash of lemon juice to give it some acidity to react better with the bicarbonate). While that would have meant that the fat content was a little down, the onions were fried off in butter and oil, and the addition of that meant you ended up with a nice, soft loaf.

The main thing to remember (and the same thing applies to scones) is to work quickly, as the bicarbonate will begin to react as soon as the wet mixture hits it, and that is your main raising agent.

I "served" this with baked beans, and it was a delicious, and only slightly decadent lunch!

Onion Soda-Bread - Recipe

• Pre-heat oven to 200'C
• Line a baking tray with baking parchment

Ingredients

• 1½ onions
• 20g butter
• 20g sunflower oil
• 1tbsp soft brown sugar
• 3tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 170g self-raising wholemeal flour
• 170g plain flour
• ½tsp salt
• 1tsp dried thyme
• ½tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 215g fat-free Greek yoghurt
• 75g skimmed milk
• 1tbsp lemon juice

1) Put the butter and oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat

2) Peel and chop the onions into large chunks

3)  Put the onions in the frying pan, and toss to coat in the oil and butter

4) Add the brown sugar to the frying pan, and stir in

5) Cook the onions over a medium heat for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are starting to golden.

6) Remove from the heat, and stir in the balsamic vinegar

7) Leave to one side to cool

8) In a large mixing bowl, add the flours, salt, dried thyme and bicarbonate of soda. Stir with a whisk to mix

9) In a large jug, mix the milk, yoghurt and lemon juice together with a whisk

10) Add the cooled onions to the flour mixture, and stir in

Note - you need to do the next steps quickly, as once the wet mixture and dry mixture are combined, the bicarbonate of soda  will react

11) Pour the yoghurt mixture into the mixing bowl, and fold into the dry mixture. I used a spatula to quickly get rid of all the dry pockets, and form a thick, chunky dough

12) Using your hands, roughly shape a ball, and place on the prepared baking tray

13) Using a sharp knife, cut a deep cross on top of the dough, cutting about three-quarters of the way down

14) Place in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, until golden brown

15) Remove to a wire rack to cool