Goes with Wine

I'm always looking for the perfect little nibble to have with drinks, mainly with wine. Cheese and crackers? Ho hum. Chips and salsa? Save it for beer. Crudite? Can't take all that gluey dip. A recipe from Gourmet recently caught my eye (Le Cake Aux Olives Et Au Reblochon, July '09) and although dinner invitations to our neighbors fell through last night I decided to try the recipe anyway--just for me and my husband. I had a good feeling about the recipe--it contained a lot of the foods I like and eat so often like olives, cheese, herbs; and, I admit, the picture in the magazine of 3 cute little loaves all lined up got me. This is, in essence, a savory quick bread and if you google "savory quick bread" you'll find many recipes, but mostly biscuit-mix based, or basically corn bread. I didn't want to use biscuit mix and although I love cornbread, I wanted something a little more sophisticated and interesting. You can see a video of Paul Grimes making "Le Cake" or "a cocktail loaf" as he calls it, by watching this video

http://www.gourmet.com/cookbookclub/video/2009/07/grimes_le_cake_aux_olives

I was a little disappointed that the texture was somewhat rubbery rather than bread-y, but the result is so delicious it doesn't matter. It's spicy and herbal and cheesy all at once. And it screams for wine. We had it with a Muller Thurgau and it was wonderful. I think a red wine would be even better. You can cut up the slices of bread into small morsels and pop them in your mouth with your wine--so much more complementary than olives or nuts. Here's my adaptation:



for 1 large loaf or 3 small cute ones
Handful of black olives (or experiment with any kind of olives) pitted, rinsed, patted dry and roughly chopped
3/4 cup coarsely grated Parmesan (the best and the freshest)
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 TBSP + 1 tsp baking powder
1/4 to 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp sea salt and lots of grindings of black pepper
1 cup cubes of semi-soft cheese, cold, Reblochon or other cheese--I used Port Salut
2 TBSP chopped fresh herbs--I used chives and Italian parsley. Next time I'll try sage or oregano or thyme, all growing outside in my garden (unless the slugs have gotten to them, too!)
1 cup milk
3 1/2 TBSP melted unsalted butter
1 large egg
3/4 cup creme fraiche or sour cream

Grease the pans and sprinkle the bottoms with some of the Parmesan.
In large bowl, whisk flour, powder and seasoning. Mix in the cheese, herbs, and olives.
In smaller bowl, whisk milk, butter, egg and creme fraiche.
Fold the wet into the dry. Mixture will be sticky and thick. Mix just enough to combine.
Turn into pans and sprinkle with the rest of the Parmesan.
Bake for 45-50 minutes at 350. I put 2 little loaf pans in the oven together and baked for longer.
Test with a skewer--it should be dry. Cool in pan for 10-15 minutes and then turn out onto a plate. Serve warm.