Dorie Greenspan's Savory Quick Bread @LucyBurdette

LUCY BURDETTE: I’ve recently joined a Facebook group organized by Dorie Greenspan called “playing around." Dorie is one of my baking idols because everything she writes is so full of joy. She is not the least bit pretentious and it’s clear in her books, her blogs, and her videos that she loves sharing food and recipes with the world. And she wants us all to bake right along with her! I live nearby her in Connecticut and she graciously agreed to meet me for coffee at our local independent bookstore, RJ Julia, for a chat.

You can see why I couldn’t resist joining her new group whether or not I have time to do all the baking. There are 300 members from all parts of the world with very varied experience with baking. Dorie presents recipes for the group to try, and play around with, hence the name. 

This is my first attempt at a group recipe—actually it was a bonus recipe right before the group kicked off. It caught my eye right away because, cheese! Plus the herbs in the garden are young and green and brilliant right now. Dorie’s recipe is flexible enough to absorb lots of ingredients, but here’s the basic plot… (And here’s the link to Dorie’s original recipe.) 

Ingredients for the bread

1 3/4 cups flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

Three large eggs, room temperature

1/3 cup whole milk, room temperature

1/3 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons honey

1 cup shredded cheese

Half a cup or so melting cheese cut into cubes (I used cheddar and mozzarella)

Half a cup or so chopped herbs, scallions, or a combination (I used chives, Dill, and basil)

Preheat the oven to 350 and butter well an 8 inch loaf pan. Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a second bowl, combine the eggs, milk, olive oil, and honey. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry, avoid overmixing.

Fold in the cheeses and herbs. You could also add ham, bacon, olives, the possibilities are endless!

Scrape the batter into your prepared pan and bake about 35 minutes, until the cake tester comes out clean.

Serve warm or it room temperature.

Meanwhile, if you missed the hardcover edition of UNSAFE HAVEN last winter, it's coming out next Tuesday in the trade paperback edition! 

In a major departure from her lighthearted Key West mysteries, Burdette invites readers into the world of a chilling thriller. (Unsafe Haven is) a page-turner highlighting the problem of exploited runaways.

—Kirkus Reviews

UNSAFE HAVEN

To learn more or buy, 

CLICK HERE

Or, if thrillers aren't your bag, August 9 marks publication day for A DISH TO DIE FOR, the #12 in the Key West Food Critic Mystery series!