We recently spent a lovely weekend with our friends, Lisa and Lou R, at their mountain house in north-central Pennsylvania. It’s the perfect place for a relaxing getaway as there’s not much to do except soak in the beautiful surroundings. Given the combination of there not being many stores nearby and access to their property is via a steep dirt road, we plan ahead to ensure that we eat and drink well.
For weekends like this, I like to bring a homemade treat for breakfast. I was looking for something a bit different and ideally on the savory side. I found a few recipes that referenced the French serving savory loaf cakes with drinks prior to dinner. I figured that without cocktails, this also worked fine for breakfast. Plus, I knew that this crowd doesn’t gravitate to things that are too sweet.
This quick bread is a lovely combination flavors – tangy (goat cheese), sweet (figs, orange zest and just a tablespoon of honey) and savory (basil, rosemary and thyme). I knew it was a good sign when Lisa shared a wonderful fig jam from Beach Plum Farm in Cape May, New Jersey. While this quick bread is delicious on its own, with a bit of fig jam spread on top it makes it even better.
What makes this quick bread even better is that it freezes well. I made it advance as I knew that I had a busy week leading up to our trip. I defrosted it the morning we left.
I used gluten-free flour for this quick bread (my go-to is Cup4Cup Multipurpose Flour). With so many interesting ingredients you don’t know that it’s gluten-free. You can also use the same amount of all-purpose flour.
This recipe is a great base for creativity. How about feta in place of goat cheese, olives or sun dried tomatoes in place of figs, lemon in place of orange, and/or an assortment of other herbs? What summer garden goodies could you use to make this bread and freeze to enjoy into the fall?
| Goat Cheese, Fig and Herb Quick Bread | Print |
- 4 ounces goat cheese crumbles, cold
- 3 ounces (~ 10) dried figs (such as Black Mission), stems removed and cut into ¼-inch pieces
- ⅓ cup finely chopped fresh basil
- 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh rosemary
- ½ teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme
- 1-3/4 cups regular or gluten-free all-purpose flour (see Notes)
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- ⅓ cup buttermilk (see Notes)
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- 1 tablespoon honey
- Zest from half a large orange
- Center rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray an 8- to 9-inch loaf pan (see Notes) with oil spray (olive oil if you have it).
- In a small bowl, toss the figs, basil, rosemary and thyme. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and pepper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs until blended. Then whisk in the buttermilk, oil and honey.
- Pour the wet ingredients over the flour mixture. Using a rubber spatula, stir until the dough is almost blended. You’ll still see streaks of flour, and that’s fine.
- Scatter the fig mixture over the dough. Then scatter the goat cheese crumbles. Grate the zest of the orange directly over the cheese. Using as few strokes as possible, stir everything together.
- Scrape the dough into the pan, and use the spatula to move the dough into the corners and smooth out the top. It’s okay if it looks a bit lumpy.
- Place the loaf pan in the oven. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until the top is golden. The quick bread is done when it has started to pull away from the sides of the pan and a tester inserted into the center of the quick bread comes out clean.
- Unmold the quick bread onto a cooling rack, turn it right side up and let it cool.
- You can serve the quick bread when it’s slightly warm (it may not be as easy to cut) or at room temperature. Cut into thick slices to serve.
- Wrap the quick bread in an airtight container or ziplock bag. It will keep for 2 days at room temperature, 5 days in the refrigerator or 3 months in the freezer.
* I recommend using SACO Cultured Buttermilk Blend in place of fresh buttermilk. You’ll find it in the baking section of your grocery store. Follow directions on the container for use. It keeps for a few years refrigerated so you always have buttermilk on hand.
* If you don’t have buttermilk, you can substitute the same amount of whole milk.
* I used a 1 pound loaf pan (8-1/2" x 4-1/2") and it came out perfectly.
Source: Variation on recipe from New York Times Cooking
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