Feta Sun-Dried Tomato Quick Bread #BreadBakers

A savory loaf that would be as welcome for breakfast as for lunch or dinner, this feta sun-dried tomato quick bread is delightful on its own, or smeared with butter or cream cheese.

I have to be honest, I’ve never really thought about the color of bread. The desired delicious ingredients go in and it turns out the color it turns out, right? Well, this month for Bread Bakers our host Mireille of The Schizo Chef challenged us to bake colorful breads, using only natural colorants. Of course, breads have to taste good, but suddenly color became important too.

I started my search for ideas by looking up natural ways to dye Easter eggs and homemade Play-Do. Loads of good ideas but none of them sounded particularly tasty. And then it popped into my head: Sun-dried tomatoes! Those are both tasty and colorful, plus I have a bagful of homemade sun-dried tomatoes. And since I wasn’t sure just how colorful those would be, I added some ground annatto as well.

The original recipe for this very adapted version comes from the long, deep rabbit hole that is the interwebs. I found it first on gottagetbaked, but as I read the post, my friend Nancy revealed that she had adapted it from this recipe by Jen at Juanita’s Cocina. Oh, good. A source to quote, I thought.

But that wasn’t the end of the trail. Jen had actually made the bread as part of a Secret Recipe post using instructions from Debra at Eliot’s Eats. Sooooo, I clicked through. Turns out that Deb was inspired to create the recipe after reading the essay Ploughman’s Lunch from Outlaw Cook* by John Thorne and Matt Lewis Thorne.

And there was a whole afternoon happily gone. But never wasted.

Feta Sun-dried Tomato Quick Bread

This recipe is adapted from one called “A Simple Plowman’s Lunch: Beer, Onion and Cheese Bread” from Elliot’s Eats. If you haven’t met Deb yet, go on over and pay her a visit. She’s got some great recipes.

Ingredients (1 standard loaf)
1/2 cup or 45g sun-dried tomatoes
1 tablespoon oil
1 medium onion, peeled and minced
7 oz or 200g feta cheese, crumbled
3 cups or 375g all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons ground annatto
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
12 oz or 355ml beer – use a lager rather than an ale or bitter
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon oregano, optional

N.B. If, like mine, your can of beer is only 11 oz or 330ml, make up the difference in the volume with the water used to rehydrate the sun-dried tomatoes.

Tip: Making your own sun-dried tomatoes is easy! Check out my simple instructions here: Homemade sun-dried tomatoes.

Method
Divide the sun-dried tomatoes into two equal piles. Chop one into small pieces with a sharp knife. In a small bowl, pour boiling water to cover over the other pile. Set aside to rehydrate. Depending on how dried your tomatoes are, they could take up to an hour to plump back up and you might need to top up with more water.

Use a mortar and pestle or electric spice grinder to make a powder out of it the chopped pile.

Meanwhile, heat a small skillet over medium heat with oil. Sauté the onion for 10-12 minutes, or until it is translucent. Set the pan aside and allow the onion to cool.

When the tomatoes are plump and soft, drain and reserve the soaking water, if you need it for extra liquid. (See ingredient list.) Chop the tomatoes roughly.

Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C. Line a standard loaf pan with baking parchment.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, annatto powder and salt. Add the crumbled cheese, cooled onions and chopped sun-dried tomatoes and toss everything together so that the other ingredients are evenly mixed into the flour.

Add the beer and honey to the flour and fold until all ingredients are incorporated and there are no dry bits of flour.

Spoon the thick dough into the prepared bread pan and smooth the top of the dough. Sprinkle on some oregano, if desired.

Bake the loaf for 40-45 minutes, or until the top of the loaf is a golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.

Allow the bread to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before turning the loaf out onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

Slice and serve. It’s great natural or toasted, plain or embuttered or, since I like to gild the lily, spread with softened cream cheese.

Enjoy!

Many thanks to our host, Mireille from The Schizo Chef for this fun challenge! Check out all the naturally colorful breads we have for you this month!

• Cheesy Kale, Tomato and Chile Focaccia from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Coriander Butterflake Bread from Gayathri's Cook Spot
• Coriander Cumin Bread from Sizzling Tastebuds
• Feta Sun-dried Tomato Quick Bread from Food Lust People Love
• Purple Yam Sweet Potato Bread from The Schizo Chef
• Spinach Beetroot Wheat Bread from Anybody Can Bake
• Spinach Sandwich Rolls from Cook's Hideout
• Tangzhong Method Spinach Bread from Sneha's Recipe
• Turmeric & Garlic Pull Apart Bread from Mayuri's Jikoni

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page.

We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

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Baked Apricot Pistachio Camembert #BakingBloggers

Super simple to make, especially if you use store-bought puff pastry, this colorful Baked Apricot Pistachio Camembert makes the perfect appetizer for your dinner party, to serve along with cocktails and wine or to present as the cheese course at the end of your meal.

I mean really. Take a look at this guy. Isn’t he gorgeous? I’m here to tell you that he’s as tasty as he is pretty. And so easy! Creamy Camembert cheese is the perfect savory accompaniment to the sweet dried apricots, vibrant pistachios and tart pomegranate arils. And who doesn’t love flakey puff pastry?

This month the theme for my Baking Bloggers group is puff pastry so make sure to scroll down past the recipe to see all of the other links!

I’m not a big dessert lover so anytime a set menu offers me a cheeseboard instead; I’m on it. I love the way the typical accompaniments of dried fruits like figs and apricots complement the salty rich cheeses. And if there are some crunchy pistachios, almonds or walnuts on the board, I like to make sure my every bite has all three: cheese, fruit and nuts.

This Baked Apricot Pistachio Camembert makes that easier than ever, putting the whole combo in a crunchy crust. And when most of the Camembert is gone, you can cut the puff pastry into slices like a pie and sprinkle on a few of the spare apricots and pistachios. Delicious!

Tip: To choose a ripe Camembert, check the sell by date. Buy the one dated closest to the date you plan to make this appetizer. If it’s still in date weeks later, it’s not ripe enough now!

Baked Apricot Pistachio Camembert 

Crispy puff pastry makes the perfect vessel for creamy baked Camembert, sprinkled with dried apricots, slivered pistachios and some pomegranate arils for extra crunch, flavor and color.

Ingredients
1 package ready rolled puff pastry (about 131⁄4 oz or 375g)
1 ripe Camembert cheese (8 3⁄4 oz or 250g) – best quality you can afford – I prefer the ones made with raw milk, when I can find them.
1⁄4 cup or 50g chopped dried apricots
1⁄4 cup or 25g slivered or chopped pistachios
1⁄4 cup or 37g pomegranate arils
To serve: water crackers or toasted slices of baguette

Method
Preheat your oven to 400°F or 200°C and line a baking pan with parchment or a silicone liner.

Remove the Camembert from its wooden box and set it on a large square of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Fold up the sides of the foil, crimping as you go, using the cheese to create a large bowl out of the foil.

Unroll the puff pastry. We are going to make two circles on the pastry in order to begin building our crust. Place your Camembert on the puff pastry sheet and gently score a line around the outside of the foil­ covered cheese with the point of a knife. Mark another spot with your knife, about 1 1⁄2 inches or 4cm farther out. Set the foil­ covered Camembert aside.

Look around your house for something round – a saucer or small lid, perhaps? – the same size as that outer circle. Use your found object as a guide to cut a round circle out of the puff pastry.

Repeat the process a second time, but instead of just scoring the circle around the cheese, cut through the puff pastry. Carefully lift the circle of pastry and place it on top of the first circle.
Use a sharp knife to cut the rest of the puff pastry into wide curved strips and use them to build up the sides of the puff pastry crust.

Dock the middle of the bottom of the crust with the tines of a fork or the tip of your knife.

Transfer the unbaked crust to the baking pan.

Gently remove the Camembert from the foil so it retains its shape. Place the foil “bowl” into the middle of the puff pastry. Fill with pastry beads or dried beans.

Bake in your preheated oven for about 20 minutes or until the pastry is puffed and golden. Take the crust from the oven and remove the foil filled with baking beads.

Unwrap your Camembert and carefully cut off the top rind, trying not to cut away the creamy cheese inside.

Put the cheese, open side up in the puff pastry crust. Make little cuts all around the sides of the Camembert so it can run out and collapse as it melts.

Bake for about 15­-20 minutes or until the cheese is completely melted and bubbling. Remove from the oven and transfer to a serving platter.

Sprinkle on the apricots, pistachios and pomegranate arils.

Serve with crackers or toasted baguette slices. Several small spoons will allow folks to help themselves. Grab a spoon and dig in!

Many thanks to Sue from Palatable Pastime for organizing this month's Baking Bloggers event. Check out all the great puff pasty recipes we have for you today!

• Apple Butter Tart by Palatable Pastime
• Baked Apricot Pistachip Camembert by Food Lust People Love
• Cherry Turnovers by The Redhead Baker
• Cinnamon Roll Twists by Sneha's Recipe
• Homemade Taco Hot Pockets by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Matcha Puff Pastry Twists by Tara's Multicultural Table
• Puff Pastry Chicken Packets by Hardly a Goddess
• Spinach Ham and Cheese Bites by Karen's Kitchen Stories

Baking Bloggers is a friendly group of food bloggers who vote on a shared theme and then post recipes to fit that theme one the second Monday of each month. If you are a food blogger interesting in joining in, inquire at our Baking Bloggers Facebook group. We'd be honored if you would join us in our baking adventures.

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Spring Minestrone #FoodieExtravaganza

Spring Minestrone is the perfect light meal, with tender young vegetables in a clear broth, topped with crème fraîche. You can, of course, substitute whatever fresh from the garden veggies you have available.

I called this recipe Spring Minestrone because I used those itty bitty baby vegetables that often appear in shops in late spring. Many are harvested early while still young and some are actually varieties that will never get much bigger. I went poking about the internet and found a couple of different articles that were very enlightening. This one in particular from Business Insider will give you the low down on some of our favorite tiny vegetables.

And this article on Slate goes into the culinary history of what they call micro-vegetables.

What I know for sure is that most "baby" carrots aren't really, but the rest of the little guys are adorable and, most importantly, make a beautiful tasty soup.

Spring Minestrone

This ingredient list is not set in stone! You can use vegetables in amounts and combinations that please you, so don’t get too hung up on the weights or measures. The amounts below are what I used. The whole recipe is also easily doubled or trebled to feed a crowd.

Ingredients to serve 4-5 as a first course, 2-3 as a main course
1/2 cup or 80g dried tiny pasta, like ditalini rigate
Big handful fine green beans
2 spring carrots
2 small zucchini
1 small bulb fennel (Choose one with fronds for garnish)
1/2 cup or 75g fresh-hulled peas (sub frozen petit pois if fresh aren't available)
2 baby corn on cobs
2 baby leeks
2/3 cup or 117g canned borlotti beans, rinsed and drained
4 1/4 cups or 1L good quality chicken stock

To serve:
Crème fraîche or lightly soured cream
Fennel fronds or chopped spring onions

Tip: Make this vegetarian by substituting a good quality vegetable stock instead.

Method
Scrub your carrots and zucchini and cut them into small pieces. These tender vegetables don’t need to be peeled, just cleaned.

Cut the stalks off the fennel and keep any fronds for garnish. Thinly slice the bulb. Top and tail the green beans and cut them into thirds.

Trim the ends of the corn and the dark green off of the baby leeks and then cut them both into short pieces.

Boil your pasta according to package instructions. Drain, rinse and set aside.

Place the vegetables in a soup pot then pour in the chicken stock.

Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until the vegetables are cooked through, but still firm, about 5-7 minutes tops.

Add in the cooked pasta and beans. Warm through, then ladle into bowls and top each with a dollop of crème fraîche and a sprinkle of chopped fennel fronds and/or spring onions.

Enjoy!

June is National Fruit andVegetable Month! Many thanks to Ellen of Family Around the Table for this month's Foodie Extravaganza theme and for her behind the scenes work. Check out all of the other fabulous recipes we are sharing today.

• Farmers' Market Walk + Chilled Cantaloupe Soup with Preserved Lemon-Herb Salsa by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Fresh Fruit Tart with Orange Curd by My Pinterventures
• Fresh Strawberry Salsa by Jolene's Recipe Journal
• Fried Onion Strings by Family Around the Table
• Fruity Rice Paper Rolls by Sneha's Recipe
• Green Papaya Salad (Som Tum) by Palatable Pastime
• Grilled Ratatouille by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Shaved Asparagus Pizza with Brie by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Spring Minestrone by Food Lust People Love
• Strawberry Avocado Salad by Cookaholic Wife
• Watermelon Lemonade by Caroline's Cooking

Foodie Extravaganza celebrates obscure food holidays, and we all post recipes using the same ingredient. Posting day is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook page Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you!

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