When it’s a million degrees in the shade, cold weather is both longed-for and seemingly out of reach. In spite of what the thermometer has been saying, fall weather isn’t too far off; it’s almost time to break out recipes that don’t include shaved ice as a main ingredient.

Soups and stews gain in popularity as the temps drop off, and there’s nothing like fresh bread to go with a liquid dinner. If you’d rather not tie up time and counter space with a yeast-risen bread, soda breads are the perfect answer.

Quick, simple, and unfailingly yummy, soda breads can go with anything from minestrone to marmalade. The loaf we’ll make today includes buckwheat and rye flours, which produce a thin but crunchy crust and a mildly sweet grain taste. If you’re allergic to one, you can substitute an equal amount of the other.

Buckwheat-Rye Soda Bread

Ingredients

3 ounces rye flour

3 ounces buckwheat flour

4 ounces bread flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 scant cups milk

1 tablespoon vinegar

Directions

Crank up your oven to 425 F. Find two 8-inch round cake pans; grease one of them and set them both aside.

Stir the vinegar into the milk and set it aside to get funky. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the three kinds of flour, the salt and the baking soda. Pour the vinegar milk into the flour mixture all at once, and stir quickly until you have a dough-esque bowl of goo.

It looks nothing like conventional bread dough at this point, but bear with me.

Scrape the aforementioned goo into the greased cake pan, and invert the other pan on top to make a lid. This turns your basic setup into a sort of mini steam oven, catching the moisture from the dough before it escapes, and allowing your crust to expand.

Bake for 20 minutes, and then remove the top pan and bake for 20 more. When it’s done, the bottom of the loaf should make a nice, hollow knocking sound when you rap on it with a knuckle.

Although just about everybody loves hot bread fresh from the oven, try to contain yourself. That loaf is actually still baking, in a way. As it sets, the crumb releases moisture and achieves its final consistency. Cutting up a loaf before it has a chance to cool can damage the crumb structure and leave you with gooey, matted slices. Waiting for an hour before cutting into your bread will help avoid this.

I honestly have no idea how long this bread will keep. My kiddo was so enthusiastic about snitching bites from the first piece that I tried, I just about had to count my fingers to make sure they were all there. We ended up oinking out on the rest of the loaf. You’re likely safe enough storing it for up to three days in an airtight container.

Enjoy!

— Have a question or suggestion for Bite Sighs? Email Audrey Lintner at bitesighs@hotmail.com.