Soup & short bread (ohh I giggle!)

So, I tried two new recipes Monday. One for a soup, out of my Four Ingredient cookbook, & another for Irish Soda Bread (recipe from one of the blogs I visit, click here for the recipe & pictures of the bread he made). I love trying new recipes; I even love it more than redoing recipes that I know are good. So trying TWO new recipes at once?! I was having a blast in the kitchen.

However.

To me, in the world of cooking, there is nothing more disappointing than trying a new recipe that you think will turn out great, & it doesn't.

So, two disappointments in one day stinks!

Let me start with the soup.

Essentially, the recipe in the book called for vegetable broth, roasted garlic, boiled potatoes, & parsley. I threw in some carrots & leeks. I let it simmer a good while, because I like all the flavors to mingle, & used lots of salt, pepper, & even eventually hot sauce to give it a kick. It was okay. It was bland; none of the flavors really... expressed themselves. I'm going to add ground beef to the leftovers to get some meat in there (the lack of was Josh's #1 complaint). I won't remake it.

Now for the bread. Here's the recipe for Irish Soda Bread (again, from a blog):

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup whole-wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup oatmeal

1 cup buttermilk

Directions:

1. Mix the flour, baking soda, salt and oats in a bowl.

2. Mix in the buttermilk and form a dough.

3. Shape the dough and place it on a baking sheet or in a loaf pan.

4. Bake in a preheated 375F oven for 40 minutes (the top should be golden brown).

I don't have a bread maker yet, so this recipe appealed to me (plus it did not involve kneading, PLUS plus the picture looked really yummy). So I made it. It smelled really good baking that is for sure! I pulled it out aaannnddd.....

It had risen a full 1 1/2 inches!!!!!

Um... alright!

It tasted good, but I had a bit of a problem with the size. After asking the good cook man owner of the blog, he suggested my baking soda may have been expired - indeed, it was to expire soon (altho it hadn't expired YET, but whatever).

I will for sure make it again, probably soon, new baking soda box in tow.