Alice Waters' Soda Bread

Makes one loaf

• 3 3/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour (or a combination of whole wheat flour and white flour: use at least 3/4 c white flour)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 cups buttermilk
  

1. Preheat oven to 450°F.
2. Measure flour, salt and soda and mix together in a large bowl.
3. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in 1 1/2 cups of buttermilk. Stir, adding more buttermilk if needed; the dough should be soft, but not wet or sticky.
4. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead just enough to bring the dough together. Turn it over and pat it into a round loaf about 1 1/2 inches high.
5. Place on a baking sheet and cut a cross into the top of the loaf with a knife. Cut fairly deeply into the bread, being sure to cut all the way to the edges; this helps the bread to rise properly.
6. Bake for 15 minutes, then lower the temperature to 400°F and bake for another 30 minutes or until done. To test, tap the bread on the bottom. It will sound hollow when done.

RESULTS: First off, I'm trying to use more wheat flour so I used 2 cups whole wheat flour and the rest was white. I also cheated(?) and used my mixer instead of doing this by hand. Why have a nice mixer if you're not going to use it to make bread?

Anyway, this was super easy to pull together, and you don't need to let it rise. I can't tell you if it was good or not, though. My oven ruined it by shooting up 50 degrees and cooking at 500. I'll try again.