Savory Cheese and Chive Bread

Makes 1 Loaf or about 8 servings

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

• 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.
• Whisk the flour, baking powder, slat , and white pepper together in a large owl.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

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.

From Around my French Table by Dorie Greenspan