Friday, March 4, 2011

Savory Cheese & Chive Bread

Nana and I looked forward to this week's recipe -
it sounded like a winner just from it's name.
  Reading through the recipe,
 it seemed surprisingly straight forward.
 The "bonne idees" that Dorie shared got
 our imaginations plotting
for how we would change it up next time.....





Nana's Try:


Just what was needed for this week, a simple  recipe. 

 Since I had a sharp cheddar cheese in the refrigerator
I decided to use it for the cheese and chive bread recipe.
The preparation  is very easy and the flavors blended
 nicely together.  I used only 1/2 tsp. of salt,
but I do think it needed more.  
 The cheese was not as salty as expected.
We did enjoy the fresh bread  just in time
for lunch with a hearty bowl of soup. 
 To quote The Barefoot Contessa,
"How easy is that".


Tricia's Try:

Thank goodness Nana got hers done days before me (as usual :)
and was able to convince me that it was a "snap". 
I was down to the wire after a busy week - hubby is still
in Brazil and my older son left for two weeks in
France on his high school's Spring Break. 
 Although I would have preferred sitting in a Parisian bistro
myself this Friday, I at least got to show my love
of France by celebrating another "French Friday".  


       The recipe was truly easy and the house smelled wonderful. 
 I liked the beautiful orange color that the
cheddar provides but I went with white cheeses. 
I had shredded gruyere on hand and then cut
 up some Volendam, which is a lovely cheese from Holland. 

Since so many folks were curious- I tried to figure
the best description and did some research.  It is
supposedly most like a Gouda in taste.  Volendam is a town
located near Edam, so I am not sure if it is
 more similar in flavor to that mild cheese
 (my guess) but I am no cheese expert....



I forgot to get fresh herbs so I substituted some
 Penzey's " Parisien Bonne Herbes"
 (we had a Paris theme this week, so I went with it :)
  Great coloring and tasted wonderful- not overpowering. 
 This recipe is so easy I will be making many times over.



My younger son and I enjoyed it warm
 from the oven and it was a lovely ending to a busy week.

26 comments:

  1. Lovely--both versions! Now I'm wondering what Volendam tastes like!

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  2. Very lovely. And that cheese does have me intrigued! And I was SO HAPPY that this week's was blessedly simple.

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  3. Both of your loaves turned out so delicious looking! I'm also glad that this recipe could be thrown together. I barely had time to bake it off before heading out the door. Great post!

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  4. I LOVE Penzeys! I also had my bread with soup! Great minds think alike! Enjoy your weekend!

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  5. Both of your loaves look wonderful! I have not seen the Parisien Bonne Herbs here - sounds so good.

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  6. You can't go wrong with Penzeys! A Paris Bistro sounds devine!

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  7. Here's another curiousity vote for the Voledam. Bonne Herbs c'est et Bon Idee! It was definitely a great week for FFwD.

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  8. Both loaves look fantastic...and how wonderful that we can make this with dried herbs and what ever cheese is left in the fridge :)

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  9. Looks lovely, well done you and Nana!

    I agree with you, mine was less salty than I expected too.

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  10. You and Nana are on a roll! I'm with you: I would love to sitting in a Paris bistro! How wonderful for your son. I hope he enjoys France!

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  11. Since so many folks asked about the mysterious "Volendam", I updated the post. I had wanted to describe the flavor initially but was not sure I could do it justice. I will say it is a lovely mild cheese. Research showed that it is compared to a Gouda. The name comes from the name of it's town - Volendam, which is next to Edam. My guess is that it more like Edam which is a milder cheese...but hopefully this sheds some light :)

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  12. Love both your loaves - this is a great recipe and such a snap to put together.

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  13. I'm glad you both liked it. I love how versatile this recipe is - you can use whatever you have on hand! It's been fun to see what everyone has come up with.

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  14. I have loved getting to know a few new cheeses over the past few months...my family actually asks for a couple of the new ones regularly...I want to try more versions of this savory bread. Thanks for the tips.

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  15. You both did a fantastic job! The colours in both look great!

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  16. Glad you liked it! As usual, I love seeing both your efforts in the same post :)

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  17. I agree - I loved how easy this bread was and I also think it needed more salt. Maybe a smear of salted butter could help? I'll have to try Volendam cheese; thanks for introducing me to it!

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  18. Congratulations to you and nana on some loaves well done! I loved seeing all the wonderful photos and reading about your busy life. I even learned a little bit about cheese. Thanks :) I'm jealous of your older son (getting to be in France) but your younger son is lucky too because he got to eat your bread warm out of the oven with his mom! Priceless.

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  19. Wow - a 2 week spring break in France, I'm jealous of Tricia's son right now. Both loaves look great, I love how adaptable this bread can be!

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  20. Both loaves look great! I love the cheese choices.

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  21. Tricia - my carb-loving doctor was beside himself with his first slice, so I'm confident that your returning husband will be even happier to see you if he finds this bread, in addition to you, awaiting his arrival!

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  22. Both loaves look wonderful! I had never heard of Volendam cheese before, thanks for the info :)

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  23. I think you both made beautiful loaves! Great photos! I will have to look for Volendam cheese…we love Dutch cheese!

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  24. I used the gruyere cheese in my bread but I am definitely using cheddar the next time. Both loaves look delicious.

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  25. Both of your loaves sound like winners. Every week I think how mice it is that you do this together and compare notes.

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  26. Tricia and Nana,
    I have awarded your blog with the Stylish Blogger award!
    Should you choose to accept this award, the link resides at my site:

    http://partychef.typepad.com/blog/2011/03/stylish-blogger-awards-.html

    Thank you for your warmth and fun blog posts.
    Regards,
    Bonnie

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