Friday, June 14, 2013

Back-of-the-Card Cheese & Olive Bread


Per Nana~
The hardest thing about this recipe was grating the cheese. The ingredients were so delicious together, I used Gruyere cheese, pitted oil cured olives and tapenade. Next time I would like to add some sun-dried tomato, as I think it will add a nice flavor.


I thought the bread baked perfectly and we enjoyed it both warm and at room temperature. I had a bit of creamy goat cheese left from last week's recipe and decided to top a slice of the bread with it.

It was good, but I am sure cream cheese would be even better.


This recipe reminds me of some of the "Impossible Pies" listed a Bisquick box, except this one makes a loaf. My favorite is the Impossible Zucchini Pie, which I made in the summer when zucchini is plentiful.
Per Tricia~
I concur with Nana about the cheese grating, so indeed this was a simple recipe. I used the same cheese and olives (guess who picked them up for me when she found exactly what we needed :). I did add the lemon zest and wavered about trying cob-smoked bacon in lieu of the tapenade but decided to go the "original" way the first time.
Before baking, it matched my granite......

Mine also baked beautifully but while I love the ingredients separately, and savory breads in general, the aroma of this baking did not do it for me. My guys all willingly taste tested but my husband was the only one who had more than one bite. The boys said it was "ok" and my husband said it was good....until I told him how much the ingredients cost and asked he thought it was "good enough to make again". Nope. Not bad but not a winner this week.  We are all too spoiled, having had additional plates of last week's strawberry balsamic tartine :)

Happy French Friday !

14 comments:

  1. Nana - I think you should name it the "possible" cheese and olive loaf :-)
    Tricia - sorry this didn't quite work for you.

    have a nice weekend, ladies. Hopefully, the sun will stay out for us!

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  2. Who likes grating cheese? Both loaves are gorgeous, so well risen! I thought it was good, but not as great as the cheese chive bread. Though toasted with cream cheese is the best option!

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  3. Mixed reviews in my house too. I liked it, my husband had half a slice and was done.

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  4. Your loaves look fantastic!
    I enjoyed making it, not so much eating it! I agree, I think over time I've become spoilt with such great dishes! Maybe my expectations were unrealistic :)

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  5. See, Nana, you proved my point (in my Blog this week). Baking the (Zucchini) "Impossible Pies" written on the back of the Bisquick box is a winner for you. I haven't replenished my Bisquick supply since moving to Colorado so I was curious. I just looked in Ceil Dyer's "Best Recipes from the backs of boxes, bottles, cans and jars" cookbook and found the Bisquick "Impossible Pies" recipes for Coconut, Chocolate, Fruit, Lemon and Macaroon Pies. Will try one just for fun. I think I will try sun-dried tomatoes next time also - for a little more flavor. Also a good idea, adding goat cheese, cream cheese, or even YC's strawberry jam as a topping. All sound good. Tricia, do you know how fortunate you are to have someone to often grab your recipe ingredients for you? Remember "in the olden times" when families lived nearer each other, sometimes three generations in a house, and help was always nearby? It's almost as if in this busy, busy world, with both parents working outside the home, that relatives next door or nearby is almost a "must" but most often, anymore, not possible.

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  6. Nana: your quick bread loooks wonderful, I love the nic ecolor that it has and that creamy goat cheese must have been delicious with a slice of this - olives and goat cheese, a wonderful combination!
    Tricia: I think this recipe is nice to have on hand when in need of a quick bread and there is no time to make a nice yeast based bread and it certainly was an easy recipe that leaves a lot of room foor some fun interpretations. Your version looks just wonderful with all those bits of lovely black olives but now that you mentioned it, if think I will go and make some strawberry/raspberry tartines today!
    Have a wonderful week!

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  7. I am not a baker so making this quick bread felt like a real accomplishment for me.. I see now the popularity of bisquick recipes. My husband really got into the bread too, it was really good for sopping up a strawberry balsamic sauce we had for dinner. Both made beautiful loaves.

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  8. Love the idea of a goat cheese tartine on this bread! That would be Dorie squared. I'm jealous of the browned look of these loaves.

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  9. Mixed results are OK some weeks. Nana, I can attest that sun-dried tomatoes are a tasty addition. I used half and half (olives). I liked the taste of this but not so much the texture. I continue to enjoy that the two of you can share in person the ingredients and experience, and sometimes the taste, of our weekly adventures.

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  10. Tricia, I am sorry your load was not a hit chez toi :( Both of the breads look lovely though - nice one :) LIke Betsy, I love reading your dual experiences every week!

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  11. LOL mine was just ok too Tricia! It's not a make-again-soon recipe for me but it might make a come back eventually but with different add-ins :)

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  12. Tricia, I'm with you this week. The bread wasn't bad at all, but I found myself wishing I liked it more. Oh well, you can't win every week. Nana, thank you for the congratulations. We're tired, but over-joyed.

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  13. I used sundried tomato tapenade and think it really added some flavor to the bread.

    In any case, both loaves look just perfect!

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