Cheddar Cheese and Chives

My latest effort in the perpetual struggle to find food my boy will eat brought me to Savory Cheese and Chive Bread (pg 34). Charlie likes cheese, and I've had good luck getting him to eat Dorie's other cheesy baked products (especially gougeres, which I haven't reviewed here b/c I haven't made them since starting this blog. They are amazing.) He hasn't been eating much--not even his staples--because his teeth are bugging him, so I figured I'd give this one a shot.

I used cheddar, because it's what I had, but the recipe is pretty flexible. It says to use any cheese, or even a mixture of assorted cheese ends you have in the fridge. The recipe calls for chives, but says you can use any herbs you want. I went with chives, scallions, basil, and parsley. The sidebar suggests that you "have a field day with add-ins," so I diced up some ham that I had in the freezer. I love recipes that give you license to do whatever you want. It relieves the pressure to run out and buy a bunch of ingredients. I had everything I needed in the fridge or growing in my herb garden.

This bread smelled so salty-cheesy-good while it was baking that I needed to snag a slice as soon as it was out of the oven. Who wants cool bread? Give it to me steaming!

My name is Eileen, and I'm a carboholic.

The outside is crustier than any other quick-bread I've baked, and the inside crumb is dry, as promised, but soft. The ham infused the entire bread with a sweet smoky flavor that wouldn't have been there if I followed the recipe precisely as written, so it's hard to tell for sure what it would have tasted like otherwise. I think it would still be wonderful, no matter what you add. If I had to pick one word to sum up the recipes in this book, it would be "cozy," without question. This food makes me feel happy and satisfied.

Sadly, it was not the magic cure to get Charlie to eat. He nibbled his slice, crushed it, and tossed most of it to the dog. Lucky dog.

Conclusion: I had to go back for a second slice to better determine my vote, but I've landed on Liked It. A lot.