Gourmet Monday

If you were to walk into my house on any given day excluding Open House day you would find several cook books. I have a habit of moving them around as I move about the house. Often I will use recipes from Bon appetit because I hate to see the magazine go to waste. I found this recipe in an old Bon appetit after I made the bread I realized that the recipe came from Dorie Greenspan latest book Baking from My Home to Yours. She has a wonderful blog at doriegrenspan.com. You might know her by Tuesdays with Dorie. Now I can say I have made one of her great recipes. I did make one change to the recipe, I choose to use dried apricots in place of the pears. After the bread came out of the oven it looked like the rough roads we have here in Utah. But oh did it taste perfect the bacon and cheddar together. Be sure and have the sink full of hot soapy water before you start or you will be washing dishes all day.Bacon-Cheddar Quick Bread With Dried Apricots

5 bacon slices, chopped
1 cup coarsely grated extra-sharp cheddar cheese plus 1/2 cup 1/4 inch cubes extra- sharp cheddar cheese (about 6 ounces total)
1/2 cup finely chopped moist dried apricots
1/3 cup walnuts toasted, chopped
1 tablespoon minced fresh sage
13/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 large eggs
1/3 cup whole milk
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Position rack in center of oven preheat to 350 F. Generously butter 81/2x 41/2 x 21/2- inch metal loaf pan. Cook bacon in large skillet over medium heat until crisp. Transfer bacon to paper towels to drain.
Combine bacon, all cheese, dried apricots, walnuts, and sage in medium bowl. Whisk flour, baking powder, salt, and black pepper in large bowl to blend. Whisk eggs, milk, and olive oil in another medium bowl to blend. Pour egg mixture over flour mixture and stir just until dry ingredients are moistened. Add bacon- cheese mixture and stir until incorporated ( dough will be very sticky. Transfer dough to prepared loaf pan; spread evenly.
Bake bread until golden on top and slender knife inserted into center of bread comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Cool bread in pan 5 minutes, then turn out onto rack and cool completely.