Jerry Lacy's Irish Brown Bread

from the Dark Shadows Celebrity Cookbook

Can you picture Reverend Trask in the kitchen?  Jerry Lacy's traditional Irish Brown Bread recipe from the Dark Shadows Celebrity Cookbook may provide the answer to this tantalizing question.   All of the ingredients are extremely healthy and the procedure is quite simple without involving yeast or a long kneading process.  Also, this really interesting loaf is virtually fat and sugar free.  After it is simply mixed in a large bowl, it bakes in a freeform shape for about an hour.  Mr. Lacy recommends one hour and fifteen minutes, but like cakes, you'll want to be careful not to cook it too long.  Check for that hollow thump after an hour and judge your time from there.  The finished product is a very delicious, nutty, hearty, tasty bread with a crisp crust and a slightly dense but moist interior.  I enjoyed it warm from the oven by itself, but then spread a little butter on a second piece and found it to be superb either way.  Your favorite marmalade and some tea would not be amiss here either.  As for the Reverend Trask, no doubt this was standard fare at Worthington Hall in 1897 as a healthy offering, probably prepared by Minerva or Charity, but the children may not have liked it.  And butter or jam?  Out of the question at the school refectory.  But the Reverend Trask himself, who was known to indulge in a few earthly pleasures on the sly, I'm certain had his own private stash of butter and marmalade hidden away.