Ah- bitten by the bug

Well, to cut to the chase, my beloved beer bread did not make the cut. Sorry- we lost out to bacon.

I'm sure that others that have thoroughly enjoyed it will be more disappointed than me. However, I learned a lot- I am a pretty good cook, and getting to be a better baker. Presentation is what I need to work on- and the little nit-picky things that the judges look at. The competition was stiff- 26 entries, and the beautiful ones I loved- didn't win- including one lovely batch of what looked like cinnamon rolls. Beer for breakfast? Why not!

One thing which was a little ironic for me was the general comment made by one of the judges that they don't like the bottom of the breads to be too greasy- so if your butter on top drips down or the cheese oozes out, that doesn't bode well. Mine does have melted butter on top, to help with the browning so it doesn't look anemic (which I prefer).

And since it is sooooooooooo freakin hot out- after doing my errands today- I don't have the desire to go ahead with the pumpkin bars tomorrow. Which is ok- I need to clean and go to yoga tonight. Cooking is what I do to relax and enjoy- if I'm bitchy about it, I'm not going to do it. But am looking forward to next year's competition...and I'll have all year to tinker.

Anyway, here is the recipe- try it and you'll enjoy. Maybe not a blue ribbon winner but may motivate a loved one to clean out the garage- which isn't that more beneficial??

Bavarian Beer Bread

Ingredients:

1 TB olive oil
1 cup diced onion
3 cups all purpose flour
3 TB sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
4 oz (about 1 cup) cubed beerkase cheese (you can use any semi-firm buttery cheese really- HyVee had this in a 4 ounce package, nice and buttery)
1 12oz bottle of beer
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp caraway
cooking spray
1/4 cup butter, melted and divided

Preheat oven to 375

Heat olive oil in nonstick skillet over medium heat. Saute onion until soft and golden, about 6 minutes.

Combine flour, thyme, caraway, salt, sugar, baking powder in large bowl. Make a well in center; add cheese, onion and beer. Stir until just combined.

Spoon batter into 9x5 loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Drizzle evenly with 2 TB melted butter. Bake for 35 minutes and then brush with remaining butter and bake an additional 23 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes in pan, remove and cool on wire rack.

Tip: since I cubed the cheese, I tossed the cubes with a tiny smidgen of flour so they didn't stick together and would distribute evenly in bread.