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