Just the Recipe, Please

I feel like I have been very wordy lately. I guess it's a cyclical thing with blogging. Sometimes you have a lot to say and sometimes not much. Sometimes a story goes naturally with a recipe, sometimes not.

I don't have much to say about this bread except that it is one of those exceptional recipes that requires little of your time and delivers a lot. It is moist, incredibly flavorful, and totally addictive. From now on, I am going to call those "bang for your buck" recipes. I don't mean "buck" as in money but as in time or effort. To me, these kinds of recipes are priceless. Some examples from this blog would be this cake, this tart, and these tomatoes.

I made this bread yesterday to serve with the 5 Lentil Soup and a Chopped Salad with Apple Vinaigrette. Because it doesn't take any extra effort, I doubled the recipe and put one in the freezer for a dinner party this coming Saturday. I would recommend always doing this with any type of quick bread - they freeze beautifully for a month or more. Just be sure to double wrap them in foil and put them in a plastic bag (the ones from the produce department of your grocery store are great for this.) The bread is also great served cut into small slices and served as an appetizer.

Quick Olive and Cheese Bread
Adapted from Mediterranean Harvest
Makes 1 9x5 inch loaf

I used oil-cured black olives this time, but I have made it with Kalamata olives in the past and it was equally delicious.

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper
4 large eggs
1/3 cup white wine
1/3 cup olive oil
1 cup imported black olives, pitted and sliced
1 1/4 cups tightly packed grated Gruyere cheese

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees with the rack in the the center. Butter or oil a 9 x 5 loaf pan.

2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir in the pepper.

3. In a large bowl, beat the eggs and whisk in the white wine and olive oil. Quickly stir in the dry ingredients, then the olives and cheese. Scrape in to the loaf pan.

4. Bake for about 40 minutes, until the bread is nicely browned and a tester comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then reverse onto a rack to cool completely.