Herbed Cheese and Beer Bread

I have a plethora of cookbooks sitting on a kitchen shelf. A few are covered in splatters and stains from frequent use, others have barely a crack in the binding. I look at the some of the spines and recall flipping through them years ago and how I planned to cook my way through them. Of course, years have passed and I’ve only really tried a handful of the recipes in each. It doesn’t seem right.

Thus, on a whim, I decided to randomly select one of those dusty books and make something from it. The lucky contestant was the Williams-Sonoma The Best of the Kitchen Library Baking cookbook.

I don’t make very many quick breads, other than zucchini bread, so I skipped to that chapter and found one that not only looked good, but was also one where I actually had most of the ingredients. The winning recipe was for a cheesy herbed beer bread.

I was really happy with the way it came out. The beer gave it a subtle yeasty background flavor, which helped the cheese flavor pop. I will definitely make this again.

Ingredients

• Unsalted butter, for greasing the loaf pan
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting the loaf pan
• 2 Tablespoons sugar
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried sage
• 1, 12 oz. bottle of beer (Brooklyn Lager)
• 1 cup grated cheese (aged asiago)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan and dust with flour.
3. In a bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sage.
4. Stir in the beer and cheese until completely combined.
5. Pour and scrape the batter into the prepped loaf pan and spread evenly.
6. Bake for 45-50 minutes, until a thin wooden skewer inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.
7. Let cool for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Have you been inspired to revisit a cookbook that’s been gathering dust on your shelf?