FFwD - Savory Cheese and Chive Bread

According to Dorie, this week's FFwD is the French version of a "good old American quick bread".  It's easy to put together.....dry ingredients in one bowl, wet in another, then gently combine.  

That "gently" part may have been my downfall.  I'm more the linebacker type.  I've been told I don't do gentle all that well.  Which may be why my bread was a little tough.  It was great warm right out of the oven, but more like a hockey puck after that.

My version included gruyere and some scallions because that's what I had in the house, but this is really just a canvas for your imagination.  You could use about any kind of cheese you have in the fridge and then just raid your pantry for the add-ins....olives, sun-dried tomatoes, herbs, etc., etc., etc.  Just remember to be gentle!

And, again, if you want the recipe, you'll have to buy Dorie's book.."around my french table".

FFwD - Marie Helene's Apple Cake

All of these apple deserts are going to be the death of me.  I love them.  So I'm hoping this is the last one and we can move on to something that I won't constantly just "cut a litle corner off of".  Because little corners don't contain any calories.......

And this one had three tablespoons of dark rum in it.  And I love me some dark rum.  There's just something so sexy about dark rum.  Or maybe that's just me....

This dessert is one of those times that you should have the exact bakeware required for the job.  This cake called for an 8" springform pan and all I had were 6" and 9" pans.  I used the 9" pan and as you can tell from all of those apple chunks poking through the top, it wasn't exactly a great substitute visually.  It didn't, however, alter the taste what.so.ever!! But I do think the 8" would have made a prettier cake.

This was an incredibly easy and quick recipe to put together and I can see myself making this over and over agin.....with apples or pears or peaches or......  It would be great for breakfast with a cup of coffee, or in the middle of the afternoon, or for dessert with some ice cream or whipped cream on top.  Or all by itself.  Whatever.  Make it.  It's in the book.