Savory Cheese and Chive Bread

Serves
1 Loaf

The bread can be served when it is still slightly warm, but may be better when it has cooled completely. Store well wrapped, will keep for about 2 days at room temperature or for up to 2 months in the freezer.

Ingredients

• 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• ½-1 teaspoon salt (depending on what cheese and add-ins you're using)
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground white pepper (or more to taste; you could even add a pinch of cayenne)
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• ⅓ cup whole milk, at room temperature
• ⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 generous cup coarsely grated Gruyère, Comté, Emmenthal, or cheddar ((about 4 ounces)
• 2 ounces Gruyère, Comté, Emmenthal, or cheddar, cur into very small cubes (½-⅔ cub)
• ½ cup minced fresh chives or other herbs (or thinly sliced scallions)
• ⅓ cup toasted walnuts, chopped (optional)

Directions

1. Center a rack in the over and preheat the oven to 350° F. Generously butter an 8-x-4½-x-2¼-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, slat , and white pepper together in a large owl.
3. Put the eggs in a medium bowl and whisk for about 1 minutes, until they're foamy and blended. Whisk in the milk and olive oil.
4. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and, using a sturdy rubber spatula or 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. Sir in the cheese, grated and cubed, the herbs, and the walnuts, if you're using them. 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.
5. 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 he pan and turn the loaf over onto the rack; inert and cool right side up.

Notes

Suggestion: Bacon, Cheese, and Dried Pear Bread.
For this bread, you'll need 5 strips of bacon, cooked until crisp, patted dry, and chopped into thick bits, 1 cup finely chopped moist dried pears (about 3½ ounces), and 1 tablespoon minced fresh sage instead of the chives stirred in just before the dough goes into the pan.

Original Recipe From Around my French Table by Dorie Greenspan