Bannock (quick bread)

I found this recipe in an in-flight magazine, and I could tell from the ingredients that it was going to be good. It reminds me of Irish soda bread, but basically, it's a quick bread that you make in a cast-iron skillet. Bannock is in the biscuit/scone family, and it's a bread with Scottish/Irish/Northern England origins. Apparently it's also familiar in Native American cuisine, though sources say it was imported to the Americas. This recipe, which I've adapted and changed slightly (the original calls for light cream, butter, all flour, and rosemary), comes from a restaurant in Minneapolis called The Bachelor Farmer. In my version, 1% milk replaced the cream (and I used less than in the original), I used earth balance instead of butter, and I mixed in some whole wheat pastry flour with the regular white flour. This makes a great weekend breakfast - a slight hint of sweetness, soft crumbs, and very flavorful slathered with butter and honey. I made it with blueberries, but I'd bet cranberries would be good, too.

Bannock

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 Tblsp. + 1 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. salt
4 Tblsp. sugar
1 1/8 cup earth balance or butter, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 cups milk (lowfat, 1%, any kind)
1 egg
1 cup blueberries

Preheat oven to 400. In a food processor, pulse together flours, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Add butter and pulse until pieces have mostly disappeared and been incorporated with the flour mixture. Remove to mixing bowl.

In a separate bowl, whisk together milk and egg. Stir into flour mixture, mixing until just combined. Fold in the blueberries. Pour into a greased 8" cast iron skillet, and bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. (Mine was done at 15). Cool slightly and serve.