Irish Rule-Breaking Bread

So, I intended to keep everything very simple with my recipes. Simple ingredients. Minimal steps. Basic tools. Now this bread may seem to defy that pledge, but it really doesn't. First: no yeast and rising and all that. Second: only 7 ingredients - all of which you should have around, with the exception of one (whole wheat flour), but it isn't outrageously expensive and keeps very well in the freezer. Third, and last, this bread is so good. Eat it plain just when it comes out of the oven or slathered in butter and jam. Devour the next day toasted. The loaf is very big, but you can cut good-sized individual slices (or just cut in half) and freeze. When hunger strikes, pop in microwave or toaster oven. This delicious bread may get a bit stale after two days on the counter - if it lasts that long - so freezing is a great way to keep a very good thing going.

Set oven to 400

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 baking soda

6 tablespoons cut up butter

1/4 cup sugar

2 cups soured milk (direction below)

Ok, soured milk. Not as bad as you think. Just add 2 tablespoons vinegar to your measuring cup, then fill with milk until you hit the 2 cup mark. Place the measuring cup on the oven while the oven heats makes the the reaction between milk and vinegar happen faster. This is important to make the bread to rise, so don't omit. You can use buttermilk of course, but that you definitely won't have in your fridge!

Add flours, salt, and baking soda to your mixing bowl and toss about with a fork to combine. Before you add your butter, you can either cut it up into very small cubes (about the size of a pea) or add the butter to the flours and use a pastry blender to cut into the butter until it reaches this size. Yes, a pastry blender is one of those tools you won't use much, but you can get one easily and inexpensively. I put mine in the photo so you can see what it looks like.

Once butter is added to the flour mixture, add the sugar and combine with your fork by gently tossing.

By now, soured milk should be looking thicker and kind of yogurt-y. Pour it into the mixing bowl and using a sturdy wooden spoon or spatula, easily work the milk into the flour mix until you have a big ball of dough. You may have to get your hands in there at the end, but just be gentle. If dough stick to your hands, pull off the dough and dust your hands with flour to prevent further stickiness.

Once you've got the ball of dough, place it on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Press it down into a circle shape that is about 2 inches high. Use a sharp knife to make a cross cut on the top and off it goes into the oven. Bake for 45 minutes.