I’ve been thinking all day about how best to describe this bread, and I’ve been having serious troubles. In it's truest essence it’s just a standard soda bread. To be honest, I’m not sure what the actual texture of a properly baked soda bread is supposed to be, so the crumb in this recipe might be a little off in terms of the classical definition of soda bread, but to me it doesn’t matter - this bread is perfection. The cooked onions lend a wet kind of creaminess to the otherwise delicate crumble. The olives and rosemary make the overall flavor profile super savory, bolstered by just the right amount of salt, but it’s offset by the sweetness of the onions in just the right way.
Wait did I mention that this bread just takes about 8 minutes to prepare, and then 40 minutes to bake? I literally mixed together the ingredients and threw it in the oven, and then before it was baked I had done all the dishes, completely cooked lunch, washed those dishes, and showered. It’s so easy, honestly. The other best thing is that if you get one jar of olives and one standard size carton of butter milk, you can make FIVE of these loaves. One for every work night, for every week, for the rest of my life? I think yes.
As always, I completely covered this shit in butter, and sprinkled a little salt on each slice, and yes I may have done that with three entire loaves this week, so my arteries are feeling a little clogged right now but whatever I don’t care. I have no regrets.
Butter Count: 2 Tbsp + ~36 Tbsp for spreading
INGREDIENTS:
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
9 oz all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk
2 Tbsp butter, melted
2 egg whites
1/4 heaping cup pitted kalamata olives, roughly chopped
1 Tbsp fresh oregano, chopped
1 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped
Cooking spray for the pan
INSTRUCTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 350F, convection. Lightly spray an 8x4-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.
Heat the oil and onions in a large skillet over medium-high heat, stirring often, about 5 minutes until the onions are tender.
Add the flour, baking soda, and salt to a large bowl and lightly whisk it together until well combined. Create a well in the center of the flour mixture.
Pour the buttermilk, melted butter, and egg whites into the dry ingredients and stir the mixture slowly with the whisk, but do not mix more than that. Don’t use a machine for this - just stir by hand with the whisk until the mixture is uniformly wet.
Add the onions, olives, and herbs. Continue stirring slowly until the herbs are evenly dispersed. Use a rubber spatula to scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan.
Bake 40-45 minutes, or until a tester (fork, toothpick, skewer, etc…) can be inserted into the center of the loaf and come out clean.
Remove the loaf from the oven and leave it in the loaf pan for 10 minutes. Turn the loaf out and allow it to cool the rest of the way on a wire rack.
Slice the loaf and cover every slice in butter.