Gruyere and Caramelized Onion Pull-Apart Bread

Gruyere, caramelized onions, and thyme -- this could be my favorite out of all the breads I've ever made.  I love a simple country loaf with just butter or olive oil, or naked if the bread is that good, but this pull-apart bread has so much going for it.  There are lots of cheesy pull-apart bread recipes out there, including convenient ones that call for layering storebought bread with cheese and then baking it.  But a yeasted bread you baked from scratch is special.  There's something about the beer-like smell of the yeast, watching the dough rise, and the intoxicating aroma of the gruyere, onions, and butter filling the house.  Have I got you hooked yet?

This bread sure put a smile on my face.  I've been sick for four weeks.  The doctor said it was the flu or a virus like it, and that it came and went in waves because I had gotten the flu shot and saved myself from the full-force flu.  That sounds like a good thing, but week after week of sore throats, sniffles, chills, nausea, and headaches tapped me out.  Never mind the nonstop snowstorms we've had.  But now that I'm almost 100 percent, I wanted to bake.  The hands-on process of bread-making is methodical and soothing, and the result was pure comfort food.  I also finally got around to working on my next dining review for the paper, so I feel like I'm getting back into the swing of things again.  At least on all the food front.

This recipe is from Williams-Sonoma's blog, and I didn't change it much.  One problem was that it called for a particular type of flour that is no longer available, so I used a blend of all-purpose and bread flours.  It also called for mustard seeds and I didn't have any, so I subbed in whole-grain Dijon mustard.  I also reduced the butter a tiny bit, but worry not, there's still plenty in there.  The bread will have crusty, cheesy edges, and soft centers sweet with caramelized onions and butter.  The next time a blizzard comes your way, make sure you've got gruyere and onions, then settle in for pure winter comfort.

Rosemary Cheese Crackers

I've often wondered why anyone would bother making crackers at home. I figured the homemade taste must be superior, but it didn't seem worth the fuss. I have happily discovered there is no fuss, and the crackers truly are superior. If you can make chocolate chip cookies, you can make these crackers. You don't even need a rolling pin!

These don't have the snap of Cheez-Its or Ritz -- rather, think savory shortbread. Softened butter and shredded cheese are beaten together with flour and a few other ingredients. You roughly roll the dough into a log and chill it until firm, then slice and bake. That's it! The crackers are flavored with rosemary, cheddar, cayenne, and red pepper flakes. They're not too hot, but I reduced the pepper and pepper flakes on my second try because I didn't want that much heat and mouth-tingle.

The chilled log of dough is sliced into crackers; for a fancier touch, use a fluted cutter;

use a fork to poke holes in the crackers before baking.

The crackers also remind me of some blue cheese crackers I had during afternoon tea at Upstairs on the Square.  And that makes me think of ways to play around with this recipe, including substituting blue cheese for the cheddar.  Swap in a different herb, or sesame or poppy seeds.  How will you play with it?

Chicken Chile Relleno Pies

You want these.  They're among the best things I've made all year.  These Chicken Chile Relleno Pies are made of a cornmeal dough that's wonderfully sandy and a bit crumbly, and filled with roasted poblanos, chicken, cheese, and corn.  The ingredients, rather than standing out individually, all melt together into delicious, savory mouthfuls.  The poblanos and ancho chile powder heat it up with Southwest flavor.

The pies are admittedly labor-intensive and time-consuming, but you won't regret it.  Double the cornmeal dough recipe, which yielded only enough dough for me to use half of the filling.  Set aside time to make them all, then freeze and reheat to snack on whenever.  They would make a good potluck contribution, but if you're like me you'll hoard just about all of them.  This is the kind of comfort food you'll want to warm yourself up with all winter.

Boston Globe review: The Bloomy Rind

Shirley Goh/Globe Staff

Check out my review of The Bloomy Rind in Hingham, Massachusetts.  It's a cheese and gourmet foods shop with a chef who used to cook for Todd English.  This is a cheese slate at the shop with manchego cheese (on the left), camembert (on the right), spicy plum chutney, Picholine olives, dried apricots, Medjool dates, and fresh figs.

Even if you're nowhere near the south of Boston, you might be interested in all the cheeses and gourmet items I tasted.  There were so many, I couldn't fit them all in the review.

Read the review here.  If you run into the subscriber pay wall, the review is also available here (but with only one photo).  Again, I'm open to suggestions of South Shore restaurants and food places to cover!

Brisket Melt

I had this sandwich with my sister at a restaurant last month.  It was a bitterly cold day, and we were starving.  I couldn't decide what to order, and asked Sis what she was getting.  "The brisket melt," she said, and I decided I had to have it too.  The brisket was juicy and fall-apart tender, and served on challah with melted cheese, onions, and peppers.  And I've been thinking of it ever since.

This version proved to be real easy.  Instead of placing the brisket and vegetables in a roasting pan covered with foil like the recipe said, I used my cast iron braiser and its lid.  Stick it all in the braiser, then in the oven, and come back in a few hours.  Toast a roll, melt some cheese on it, top it with some sliced brisket and onions, and you're done.  And really full.

I used Ina Garten's Brisket recipe, but downsized it for a 2½-pound brisket instead of the 6 or 7 pounds the recipe calls for.  If you can't find brisket at your supermarket, ask the butcher.  My only other deviation from the recipe was to use a can of tomato puree with some water instead of the tomato juice the recipe calls for, since I thought that was a weird choice of braising liquid and I didn't have any.

Pane Bianco

I couldn't help but be impressed with the shape and layers on this bread the first time I saw it on King Arthur Flour's blog, Baking Banter.  The one on the bottom is mine, filled with sundried tomatoes, basil, and cheese.  The one on the top is better -- I'm annoyed to admit -- and made by Joe.  It's got the same ingredients in different proportions, plus ham and pepperoni.  They're like our pizzas -- I'll scoff when he goes for the meat lover's variety, and I'll choose tomato and basil or eggplant and caramelized onion.  I do love meat, just not a whole barnyard of it.  But this time it just made the bread so moist and flavorful.  Although this bread may look complicated, it's actually a cinch to pull off.  Honest!

Bottom row: The risen dough; after spreading the filling, the dough is rolled up and then snipped to reveal the layers; my loaf is shaped into a figure-8.  Top row: The dough was rolled out and spread with cheeses, sundried tomatoes, and basil; the baked loaf had layers of the filling, pepperoni and ham, and bread.   

I'm not a fan of garlic powder, so we spread half a head of mashed roasted garlic on each bread.  And in addition to the cheese blend, we added chunks of fresh mozzarella.