French Fridays with Dorie, an international cooking group making its way through Dorie Greenspan’s Around My French Table, has been in business since October 2010. While this week’s 4th Year Anniversary is cause for jubilation and a tip of the toque to all my colleagues, I must extend the deepest sympathy to my cookbook.
My well-worn and weary cookbook, Around My French Table.
As you can see by this forlorn picture, it’s been a rough ride. I pre-ordered my book from Amazon in 2010 and it’s been my constant sidekick since first arriving at my doorstep. Sometime between the Duck Breast with Fresh Peaches (August 9, 2013) and Tuna-packed Piquillo Peppers (Sept. 20, 2013), the spine separated from its cover. My Compote de Pommes (Nov. 8, 2013) and Sugar-crusted French Toast ( Nov. 29, 2013) pages are totally ripped out and crammed back in place. And, not to seem ungrateful, but Melissa spilled rice vinegar on several pages while making Crunchy Ginger-pickled Cucumbers ( July 6, 2012) when she stepped in to help after Michael died.
Cake Salé, Savory Cheese and Chive Bread, is my French Fridays recipe choice this week.
My book moved from Nevada to Colorado and has been on all my car trips of the past 4 years. Ironically, my odometer just rolled over the 100,000 mile marker this week. I plead guilty to the occasional chocolate stain, greasy spatter and water mark. And, I keep a treasured Christmas note from Dorie between pages 386-7. Love her chocolate eclairs. What I now understand is every recipe I’ve made has cooked up a memory journal which has turned worn and battered into a treasure.
To celebrate Year Four, this week my FFWD recipe choice is Savory Cheese and Chive Bread which the others already baked in March 2011. I missed making this savory loaf of yum. To the French it’s a Cake Salé (salé means salty or savory). “I know this looks like a good old American quick bread,” Dorie explains, “but it’s got a French soul.”
This loaf baked at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. During the last 15 minutes I sprinkled more grated cheese over the top.
Although I’ve included the recipe below, a successful Cake Salé lends itself to imagination and leftovers. Use whatever combination of hard cheeses you have on hand. Choose fresh herbs over dried. As for add-ins, plug into your creative gene. Mix in diced ham, crispy bacon bits, olives, sun-dried tomatoes, minced shallots, small pieces of cooked vegetables or jalapeño bits, for example.
My favorite way to serve this bread is lightly toasted and buttered.
This bread can be served slightly warm or when cooled completely. The French offer it with aperitifs. Cut your loaf into 8, half-inch thick slices, cutting in half again. For me, a dab of chutney is a delicious touch. It’s also perfect for brunch and really tasty with salads. Since this is not a moist bread, after a day or two it’s best when lightly toasted and buttered. Use your end crusts as croutons. Another idea? Muffins. Bake in individual paper Lotus Cups and serve with winter soups and chili.
Must Bake This. You’ll impress your family and friends. Promise.
Delicious.
Ingredients
- 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2–1 teaspoon salt (depending on what cheese and add-ins you’re using)
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 1/3 cup whole milk, room temperature
- 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 generous cup (about 4 ounces) coarsely grated Gruyère, Comté, Emmenthal, or cheddar
- 2 ounces (1/2–2/ 3 cup) Gruyère, Comté, Emmenthal, or cheddar, cut into very small cubes
- 1/2 cup minced fresh chives or other herbs (or thinly sliced scallions)
- 1/3 cup toasted walnuts, chopped
Instructions
- 1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Generously butter an 8-x-4½-x-2¾-inch loaf pan — a Pyrex pan is perfect here. If your pan is slightly larger, go ahead and use it, but your loaf will be lower and you’ll have to check it for doneness a little earlier.
- 2. Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, white pepper and cayenne together in a large bowl. Put the eggs in a medium bowl and whisk for about 1 minute, until they’re foamy and blended. Whisk in the milk and olive oil. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and, using a sturdy rubber spatula or a wooden spoon, gently mix until the dough comes together. There’s no need to be energetic — in fact, beating the dough toughens it — nor do you need to be very thorough: just stir until all the dry ingredients are moistened.
- 3. Stir in the cheese, grated and cubed, the herbs, and the walnuts. You’ll have a thick dough. Turn the dough into the buttered pan and even the top with the back of the spatula or spoon.
- Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until the bread is golden and a slender knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a cooling rack and wait for about 3 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the pan and turn the loaf over onto the rack; invert and cool right side up.
- 5. Well wrapped, the loaf will keep for about 2 days at room temperature or for up to 2 months in the freezer (thaw in the wrapper).
Mary, what a ride it’s been! 4years!! Though I have not been as dedicated as some, I would have dropped out long ago without the devoted kinship I feel with you and our beloved Doristas.
I need to get back in the swing of things. 4 years! So much has happened, and yet some things remain the same.
Loved your post! I should make this again.
(BTW, made the pasta risotto again for dinner this evening, still go back to Dorie meals
Happy 4th! Doristas! Its my first anniversary at FFwD. My copy of AMFT is also in a bad state due to its bulk. I mended the book jacket with sticky tape in many places while I was waiting for my car to be serviced at the centre – yes – it goes places with me too! Will try and get around to baking this bread soon!
Lastly, I just want to say – I am enjoying my FFwD venture with all my international friends!
I was so happy we got an easy recipe this week. I was itching to get back to cooking with the group. It’s nice to stay up to date with everyone in FB but it is not the same as actually being here. I baked the cake sale in one of my first weeks… your post brings backs good memories!
My book has a lot of battle wounds as well, but I wouldn’t trade any of them for anything.
What a wonderful journey! I have always thought that a pristine cookbook is one that is not well loved. Thanks for sharing the recipe, I am making chili this weekend and am sure this will be perfect with it!
It has been a ride (and a great one, at that). My book has clear packing tape holding it in at the seams and we won’t talk about the number of stuck together pages (or pages with foreign matter splattered on them). I certainly never thought that when I started doing this in October of 2010 that I’d still be here today and have made so many lovely friends in the process. XOXO
I’m not sure why my binding is still intact, but there are many, many splatters on nearly every page. I’m having a trip down memory lane with all the Doristas posting make up recipes. I loved this bread, too…but another one that Bill snubbed. I did witness him eating cole slaw tonight…without any prodding! Small victories.
Mary, that bread does look yummy and to be able to add “whatever” makes it more interesting. As for your cookbook, that’s another story. It’s fun to go over some of the old recipes that we made, some I had forgotten about. (A few that I never even
made, but I’m still hopeful.) Have a great weekend.
What a ride it’s been! Like Cher, I’m surprised I’ve stuck with it for 4 years. I never expected to make so many friends, which is why I’m still in. I’m glad you’re a fan of this lovely savory cake. I like recipes like this that vary based on what’s hiding out in the cheese drawer! Have a great weekend, my dear friend Mary.
Did my last comment go through?
I never made this bread, before my time. My cheesy daughter would love it. Maybe I can get her to make it. I love how worn your cookbook is… so much love.
I loved this one, conventional and gluten-free. I don’t know why I don’t make it more often. My book looks much like yours. I know there’s one big stain on the duck and peaches page and I keep shaking sugar and flour out of the pages, too. I think it’s a badge of honour. None of my other cookbooks are this battered.
My cookbook still looks pristine but I just joined in January. I also tend to keep my cookbooks like new. You have inspired me to make this bread and the eclairs. So many recipes so little time.
My binding is in tact, but my book looks quite battered! And it has post-it notes sticking out of many pages, along with splatters and spills. Four years of French Fridays has been such fun! And l so enjoy all my Dorista friends…they make this endeavor so special!
Your bread looks wonderfully delicious, Mary!! Love the way the melted cheese shows in your photo. This is one of my favorite recipes! Everyone in my house loved it! Nice post!
Your book has certainly been well loved!! Your quick bread looks delish. You know, I can’t even remember making it – perhaps I should revisit it.
I love this post and am enchanted by how you have the DNA morsels of most of your recipes in your cookbook. Your book is now worth a lot more than you paid for it.
I also want to make this bread….salt is my favorite food these days especially when it adorns any carbohydrate.
My book looks near perfect compared to yours! Just kidding, I’m about to get another one as I think my pages are near falling out and even though I have the e-book version also, this one is my favorite and I need a good hard copy.
Hope all is well, can’t believe how time flies!
My book looks very much like yours Mary! I need to get some tape and glue out before there is nothing holding it together at all! This has been a great experience and I for one am NOT voting in favor of merging with the Tuesday with Dorie group. They are a great bunch and I wish them well, I was even one of them for a while, but we have our own identity and I don’t want to merge that into their identity. There. Got that off my chest:) Anyhow, your bread looks wonderful and I think I will make it again soon. Happy Anniversary!
I will never get rid of it in favor of a new one. Ever. The binding is barely holding on and I would rather figure out how to have it rebound than get a new one. Can you even do that? Anyway, l loved this bread and don’t know why I never made it again. Its the perfect appetizer for arriving company. Now I’m hungry for it. Thanks for the reminder.
My book has held up surprisingly well all things considered. The pages are stained and battered, but the binding is holding strong and looks in good shape to get me through to the end of this adventure. I don’t mind though, the stains remind me of the good times I’ve had with this book. That cheese bread was a favorite and I have pulled it out a few times since for company.
my book needs re-binding and while I was looking into doing that a couple years ago, I love that it is falling apart and all my notes and splashes of food in it that I just can’t part with it and just hope for more natural wear … it’s certainly a book I love and use beyond often!