Soda bread is a chemically-leavened quick bread* made with baking soda instead of yeast, which produces a lighter, airy crumb. Irish soda bread dates back to approximately 1840, when bicarbonate of soda was introduced to Ireland. It reacted better with the soft wheat grown in Ireland’s climate, and replaced yeast as the leavening agent.

When should you serve Irish soda bread? Anytime! As a slightly sweet bread, it’s a breakfast and tea time favorite; but it also disappears quickly in the bread basket at lunch and dinner.

This easy-to-make Irish Soda Bread recipe is slightly sweetened with honey and dotted with plump, juicy raisins.

For St. Patrick’s Day, you can also serve Irish soda bread with a selection of Irish cheeses.

Irish Soda Bread. This recipe, from the National Honey Board, replaces the sugar with honey.

• Traditional Irish Soda Bread Recipe With Raisins & Caraway Seeds
• Irish Soda Bread Muffins With A Touch Of Beer

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*The term “quick bread” means fast rising. Read more about the different types of bread in our Bread Glossary.

Flat-leaf parsley available from
WhiteflowerFarm.com.

If not, a windowsill or garden pot of parsley will add beauty and convenience to your home.

Flat-leaf Italian parsley is more flavorful than the curly variety, so choose it to flavor your dishes. It also has a more modern sensibility as a garnish (or at least isn’t reminiscent of every curly parsley sprig you had in childhood).

Use it daily to add flavor:

• Snip parsley into scrambled eggs and omelets, into green salads and sandwich fillings, soups, pastas, potato salad, vegetables…and if “parsley potatoes” isn’t in your repertoire, boil new potatoes, toss lightly with butter and lots of fresh-snipped parsley. If you like, add chives or scallions and minced garlic, with salt and pepper to taste. Add it to mashed potatoes and french fries, too.

• The fresh flavor of parsley is a natural with with rice pilaf, risotto and rice salad. It accents just about any protein—beef, fish, lamb, pork or poultry. It accents soups and stews, and is the easiest garnish for just about any food.

If you do buy a bunch of parsley from the supermarket, it will keep for a week or more in the refrigerator if you stand it upright in a glass or plastic container with its roots in water. (This trick works with most herbs.)

Things you may not know about parsley:

• It is part of bouquet garni, a bundle of fresh herbs used to flavor stocks, soups, and sauces.
• It is a principal ingredient in tabbouleh.
• It is part of a persillade is mixture of chopped garlic and chopped parsley (often used in French cuisine).
• It is a component of gremolata, a mixture of parsley, garlic and lemon zest that is a traditional accompaniment to the Italian dishes.

And, as with all herbs, it’s an almost no-calorie way to season your food!

• Irish Coffee Cheesecake
• Green-Chip Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Your favorite rolled cookie recipe with a shamrock cookie cutter and green-and-white icing
• S’mores with green marshmallows
• Silver Moon’s Praline Irish Cream ice cream
• Irish Cream Icing for your favorite brownies or loaf cake: Take 1/3 cup Irish cream liqueur (such as Bailey’s) and 8 ounces of top-quality white chocolate. In a small pan, bring the liqueur to a slow boil; then remove from the heat and whisk in the chopped white chocolate until it’s completely melted and the icing is smooth. Refrigerate until it becomes thick enough to spread, stirring occasionally. Spread the icing over the brownies or cake. Keep refrigerated until 30 minutes before serving.

Find more of our favorite desserts in our Cookies, Cakes & Pastry Section.

Celebrate St. Pat’s with Irish Coffee
cheesecake. Photo courtesy National Honey Board.