For Shavuot: Goat Cheese Quick Bread with Apricot and Mint

Goat Cheese, Mint and Apricot Quick Bread

Cheesecake and blintzes are probably the two most popular dishes that are served on the Shavuot table, but being me, I like to find at least one new dish to put on my table. One of the first recipes that caught my eye in Joan Nathan‘s new cookbook, Quiches, Kugels, and Couscous: My Search for Jewish Cooking in France, was a quick bread that had goat cheese, dried apricot and mint. The combination of the creamy goat cheese and apricots really appealed to me, and it was a simple recipe that could be made without much effort. I used sour apricots because I think that they give a stronger apricot flavor than the Mediterranean ones. This quick bread is delicious and is perfect for a elegant brunch, afternoon tea, or served as an appetizer, sliced thinly and cut in quarters, for a dairy dinner.

Quick Goat Cheese Bread with Mint and Apricots
Servings: 1 Loaf
Ingredients
  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1/3 cup milk
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
  • 2 oz grated Gruyère aged Cheddar, or Gruyere de Comte cheese
  • 4 oz fresh goat cheese
  • 1 cup chopped dried apricots prefer sour or California apricots
  • 2 tablespoons roughly minced mint leaves or 2 teaspoons of dried mint
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 180C (350F) and grease a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan and line it with baking paper.
  2. Add the eggs to a large bowl, and beat well. Add the milk and oil and whisk until smooth.
  3. Mix the flour, baking powder, salt, and pepper in a separate bowl, and then add to the egg mixture. Stir until it is incorporated and the dough is smooth. Spread the batter into the prepared baking pan and sprinkle the Gruyère, Cheddar, or Comté, crumble the goat cheese on top, and then scatter the apricots and the mint. Pull a knife gently through the batter to blend the ingredients slightly.
  4. Bake for 40 minutes. Cool briefly, and remove the bread from the pan, peeling off the baking paper. Slice and serve warm. You can also make it in advance and freeze it.

Boker Tov – Good Morning

 

 

Rosa at Rosa’s Yummy Yums tagged me for the Sunday Brunch Meme. I will have to call this a Saturday Brunch because our workday begins on Sunday in Israel.

First I want to thank Rosa for tagging me. This photo is for Rosa, it is my favorite coffee mug which my husband bought for me in Zurich:

My husband and I love having a leisurely brunch on Saturday mornings. We always have a herbed omelette, fresh squeezed orange juice from oranges that grow three minutes walk from our home, fresh brewed coffee, various Israeli soft and semi-soft cheeses, jam and homemade bread or scones.

This morning I made whole wheat scones. See Israeli Breakfast – Us Time for the recipe.

I served the leftover fruit salad from last night.

And we had cottage cheese, labane and Bulgarian cheese spread as a choice to put on our scones

Hope all of you enjoy a nice leisurely brunch with your family. It is a great time to talk about life.

Israeli Breakfast – Us Time

Friday is a day off and since the shops close at 3pm here, we try to do all of our Shabbat shopping on Wednesday or Thursday evening. This allows us to have a nice leisurely breakfast on Friday and also gives us time to talk about life and current events.

I think it is so important to find some “us time” to spend with your loved ones. Communication is definitely the key to a successful marriage. This is something I learned from my family. My grandmother also told me to always have dinner on the table and he won’t go looking for food at another restaurant. You can interpret that any way you want. 😉 And, she was married for almost 65 years, so she must have done something right.

My husband is originally from London and sometimes for a change, I make buttermilk scones for breakfast instead of making wholewheat bread or buying bread from our favourite bakery.

This morning was one of those days.

Making scones is not much different from making biscuits and they taste great with butter and honey, labane and jam or just plain. Sometimes I make them with walnuts or raisins.

David likes to spread fresh avocado on his! Yes, I realise that we are being a bit unconventional. We should be having them for afternoon tea with strawberry preserves and clotted cream, but we dare to be different.

Our usual Friday breakfast routine is Ilan’s coffee, fresh squeezed orange juice, fresh herb omelet and a scone or some sliced fresh bread.

Omelet with fresh thyme, chives, marjoram and sage

We always have labane, bulgarian cheese spread, cottage cheese and jams on the table. If I wasn’t allergic to raw tomato we would also have Israeli salad (tomato and cucumbers).

Various Israeli cheeses: Starting at 12:05, Tome, Smoked Emek, Sheep Cheese with Bay Leaves, Camembert, Tzaftit, Farmers Cheese with Nigella Seeds

Occasionally, we will go to a boutique dairy and buy sheep, goat or buffalo cheeses.

The picture above was taken at the Buffalo farm at Moshav Bitzaron. They have amazing buffalo milk cheeses. For example, the cheese on the left is Tzaftit with herbs and sesame seeds. It is a very mild cheese. They also have some of the best buffalo mozzarella and cow milk butter in the country. They let you try before you buy. And ….

The buffalo are adorable! They also have a petting zoo for the kids.

Scones
Servings: 8 to 10 scones
Ingredients
  • 113 g 1/2 stick butter
  • 5 to 7 cups self-raising flour
  • 1 cup buttermilk
Instructions
  1. Preheat an oven to 220C (450F). Lightly grease a baking sheet with butter or use a silpat liner.
  2. In a food processor, pulse the flour and butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Transfer to a bowl.
  3. Alternatively, in a bowl, stir together the dry ingredients. Then, using a pastry blender, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal.
  4. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the buttermilk. Using a fork, mix together until a soft elastic dough forms.
  5. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead 5 or 6 times until the dough is smooth. Roll out about 3/4 inch thick. Using a scallop-edged cookie cutter 3 inches in diameter, cut out rounds. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet.
  6. Bake the scones until they rise and are golden brown on top, about 15 minutes. Serve hot.