Thursday, March 3, 2011

French Fridays with Dorie - Bacon, Cheese and Dried Pear Bread

All the yummy add-ins
This week, our Dorie recipe was Savory Cheese and Chive Bread.  A nice, relatively simple quick bread.  Looking at the photo in around my french table, I was very excited to try this recipe.  The bread looked savory and warm and comforting.  And, since we've had abnormally low temperatures here in Southern California, with even a dusting of snow in some areas, a warm and comforting quick bread seemed just the thing the Dr. ordered.

After reading through the recipe and all the Bonne Idees, I decided to make the bacon, cheese and dried pear variety.  After all, those 14 pounds of home made bacon are not going to eat themselves!  I also am realizing that unless I want my butt to be as big as my house, I need to add small amounts of my bacon to dishes...not eat large slabs of it just for the pure joy. (You, dear reader, are spared the inspired paragraph I wrote and then deleted on the trials and tribulations of living with a JLo inspired behind!)

The quick bread comes together very quickly with a few base ingredients (like flour and milk and eggs and oil).  I then added my diced up bacon, shredded and cubed medium sharp cheddar cheese, diced up dried (but moist) pears and sage...picked from my garden.  I was so happy that our nasty frost did not kill my herbs!

Sage, enjoying a bit of sunlight.


Here's the bread ready for the oven.  Don't you just love all the wonderful bits of things peaking through the batter?



Here's the bread right out of the oven, just begging to be sliced, buttered and eaten.  Dorie says the bread can be served when it is slightly warm, but she thinks it's best when it's completely cooled.  Well, I absolutely had to try a small slice right out of the oven and then saved the rest for our Oscar watching dinner (with my home cured corned beef...which will be a subject for a post on the 15th!).




The bread did not disappoint.  Definitely a nice comfort food...but almost a meal in itself!  A small slice is really all you need.  Which is good, because in this house, that's about all you're going to get!!  It was crumbly and soft, and a little crusty where the cheese had cooked on the outside of the loaf.  The sage was the strongest flavor, giving it that earthiness that is so sage.  Then the bacon, with it's salty bite and the pear with it's light, sweetness were wonderful complements to the sage.  The walnuts added the right amount of texture, with their crunchiness.  While I thought the cheese would be overwhelming, it wasn't and mixed nicely with all the other flavors.


Cat 2...perturbed that her nap was interrupted
Finally, every one's been sharing cute pics of their furry friends...so here's a pic of Cat 2.  We have two cats and two dogs.  The dogs are labs (Sierra and Sophie) and the cats are sisters named Padme & Leia (calling all Star Wars fans...yes, I know they were mother/daughter...but that didn't deter Ethan from naming them).  The cats look a lot alike...so much so in the beginning, that we just called them Cat 1 and Cat 2.  The names have stuck...I have no idea which cat is Padme or Leia...but I know which is Cat 1 and Cat 2.  So, for your viewing pleasure, may I present Cat 2...wondering why I just moved a chair near her with an unbaked loaf of bread on it (for the light, baby)!

You can see what amazing variations my fellow Doristas came up this week right here.

27 comments:

SoupAddict Karen said...

I've been really curious about the pear/sage combination - I will have to try it! (My sage survived the harsh winter, too - amazing, as I barely did, and I had blankets and soup!)

Susan said...

Looks great, Steph! Where did you find dried pears? I kept mine simple with just herbs & cheese. I love your kitty!

Anne-Marie said...

Steph, I should have tried bacon! Your bread looks and sounds beautiful. And your cat has attitude, as cats should.

Kris' Kitchen said...

You made the version I want to make next...sounds delicious! And the bacon just looks fabulous.

Christina said...

Your bread looks great. I am jealous of your amazing light!

Unknown said...

Dorista's! I love it! I'm so stealing that from you!

Personally I think a paragraph on the trials and tribulations of a JLo inspired butt would be hilarious.

Great post!

Anonymous said...

Your bonne idee version looks so good right now! Especially with the bacon and pear!

Anonymous said...

First of all, still laughing about the JLo inspired butt!
You made the version that I thought sounded great, glad to hear it tasted good. And happy to hear we are not the only Star Wars affected home!

Elaine said...

So funny about the JLo butt! Adding the bacon is a great idea and I am sure gave it even more flavor. Your photos are great and I love the one of Cat 2.

Cher Rockwell said...

Oh, Steph. That looks wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. Hey - we all have those butt days inspired by too much bacon, cheese, cream, butter, cake... :-)

Adriana said...

Cat 2's distant Puerto Rican cousin Gatamiaux was particularly interested in the oven while my loaf baked. Your bacon looks fantastic!

Kathy said...

Steph, Looks great…I love the idea of the pear and bacon! I will have to try it! Nice post!

Ms. Hobby said...

I'm glad you tried the bacon version, I was wondering what this would look like. Looks great!

Unknown said...

I envy you all your home made bacon. I haven't mentioned to my husband about a group of people doing the charcuterie.....we call him the Bacon Man...he'd have me making bacon too! Can't wait to try the pear and bacon version. Yours looks so good!

Candy said...

Great combination of flavors! Looks delicous!

Candy (Dulce) said...

Your bread sounds (and looks!) so yummy! Now I want to try that variation too!!!

Betsy said...

I love your combination! And I'm so jealous about your healthy sage plant. Mine is napping under the snow. Can't wait to hear about the corned beef. I talked my husband into doing charcutepalooza as a joint effort, so the brisket is corning as we speak for.

tricia s. said...

You had me at "pear". I am focused on it now and am absolutely doing this version next time. Genius ! Was also chuckling along to the JLo comments. I am not sure whether I am happy or sad that we didn't do this recipe in October because I know I would have made this in a million versions over this never ending winter :)Kudos again for the bacon palooza thing...I am very tempted with that whole concept. And GORGEOUS photos- good thing you moved the kitty. May post a pug/westie shot next week to keep up with the Doristas. They love their dogsitter Nana best - she virtually walks in handing out "treats" :)

Mardi Michels said...

Looks wonderful. Am going to see if I am well enough to make this tomorrow - with bacon too!

Lana said...

A little piece indeed! We loved the bread and I am so happy that the girls ate it for snack and took it to school for lunch - otherwise I'd keep on eating it! I love savory snacks, but I don't need a huge butt!
Your loaf looks amazing and I do want some of your bacon:)

KarenP said...

I'm glad to hear of someone who made one of the variations - I can imagine how good it was with your home made bacon!

chefpandita said...

I used bacon too :)

Bonnie said...

Steph, I loved your post! I made the version with the dried pear and am really enjoying it as a breakfast bread on the way to work each morning. Yum!
Bonnie

Anonymous said...

homemade bacon? Share please! Would love to see a post on that . Your bread sounds delicious. Has me craving dried pears.

Terra said...

Love the dried pear idea of course, I may have to try that next time! Your bread turned out soooo beautiful! And since I am a animal lover, I just adore your pic of your cute kitty:)
Take care,
Terra

Bonnie said...

Steph,
I have awarded you the Stylish BLogger award! I enjoy your inspiring posts about your living in France.
Should you choose to accept this award, you are linked on this page:
http://partychef.typepad.com/blog/2011/03/stylish-blogger-awards-.html

Thank you for your inspiration!

Regards,
Bonnie

Anne Marie said...

Steph, where are you?? I'm missing your FFwD post this week!