Rosemary Feta Beer Bread recipe
Some people insist on doing things the hard way, the complicated way, and I will gladly admit to being one of them - especially when it comes to bread. Not all the time, mind you, there are days when I need bread today and throw together a quick batch of baguettes, but on the other hand...well, lets just say that when I had to make fresh sourdough starter - after doing unmentionable things to my old one (the pretty pink stuff growing on it was cute but unappetizing) - I insisted on doing it by capturing wild yeast.
Worse, I made three kinds of starter: rye, white whole wheat, and white. This met with varying degrees of success, let's just say that if you plan on doing this at home, you can skip the plain white flour version. After ten days of nurturing three starters along, however, my kitchen is but a Bunsen burner away from qualifying as a mad scientist's lab. And I still haven't made any bread from the wild yeast starter, two jars of which are bubbling along in the refrigerator.
On the opposite side of thecomplicated-simple scale is the world's easiest bread: Beer bread. Specifically, Farmgirl Susan's beer bread, which I understand she usually makes with homemade beer. That must be amazing! My bread was made with a bottle of Henry Weinhard's Private Reserve
that was coated in dust and shoved in a corner of the garage - looked
like it had been there since the day we moved in...which may have been
the last time there was beer around here...hmmm... Taking only an hour to make, the flavor is amazingly complex and, well, bready
without the more involved process of making yeasted bread. Truth be
told, I seldom make beer bread...actually, truth be told, until just a
few days ago I hadn't made beer bread in decades. As you might have
guessed, we don't drink beer here at Casa Kokopelli so there is seldom any lying around to toss into a loaf of bread. Obviously that will have to change. kitchenMage's Rosemary Feta Beer Bread Ingredient Volume Weight US Metric US Metric all-purpose flour 3 cups 750 ml 15 1/8 oz 430 g granulated sugar 1 tbsp 15 ml 5/8 oz 16 g salt 1 tsp 5 ml 1/4 oz 6 g baking powder 1 tbsp 15 ml 5/8 oz 16 g fresh rosemary, chopped 2 tbsp 30 ml ~ feta cheese, crumbled 3/4 cup 180 ml 4 oz 120 g beer 1 1/2 cups 355 ml 12 oz 338 g Heat oven to 375f (190c). Combine
flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and rosemary in a large mixing bowl.
Crumble feta cheese into bowl and toss to coat with flour mixture. Slowly
stir in beer and mix just until combined. (If this is anything like
mine, the beer will foam all over the bowl, the batter will be thick
and you will wonder if this is such a good idea. Hang in there.) Scrape
into a greased 8-inch (20cm) loaf pan, level the top a bit with a
spatula and bake until golden brown, about 45 minutes. A toothpick
stuck in the center will come out clean. Serve
warm or at room temperature. This bread will keep for 1 to 2 days
stored in a plastic bag or airtight container in the refrigerator - the
feta will mold within ~36 hours on the counter. Susan says you can
freeze this, but really, what are the odds of that?
Cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool another 10 minutes or so.
I love Susan's recipes too, and this recipe has a fabulous combination of ingredients.
Posted by: Susan from Food Blogga | December 31, 2007 at 05:11 PM
This looks like a great way to enjoy the smell and flavor of bread without all the work! Great accompaniment for a nice cup of chicken soup!
Posted by: Deborah Dowd | January 06, 2008 at 07:00 AM
Crazy question. Is the beer warm or cold?
Posted by: Donna | December 31, 2008 at 02:14 PM
Donna, not too crazy. I have made it with room temp beer and a bottle fresh out of the refrigerator and they both came out fine.
Posted by: kitchenmage | December 31, 2008 at 02:16 PM