Peppery Cheese Bread

Yesterday morning we went downtown to the Lincoln Park Zoo. The weather was overcast so we were not baking in the sun, and since it was early the zoo was not crowded. It is a small zoo compared to Brookfield Zoo in the suburbs, but it is clean, close, and free. We had a wonderful time. Near the entrance to the zoo is the Lincoln Park Conservatory which was built in 1895 and designed both to showcase exotic plants and to grow the thousands of flowers needed for use in the area parks. It is a quiet, relaxing place and it is also free. I would have loved to stroll through a bit more slowly, but my 6 year old is much less interested in orchids than me. Then we walked up the street to a big playground complete with swings, 2 different climbing structures, and sandbox where our daughter got to run around for about a half hour before it started to rain and we headed home.

Once home, I did some much needed vacuuming and then I made Peppery Cheese Bread. The recipe is from Taste Of Home Feb/March 2009 issue.

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PEPPERY CHEESE BREAD

2 1/2 cups flour
1 tbsp. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. coarsely ground black pepper
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 cup (8oz.) plain yogurt
1/2 cup canola oil
1/4 cup milk
1 tbsp. spicy brown mustard
1 cup (4oz.) shredded cheddar cheese
2 green onions, thinly sliced

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x5 loaf pan. In a large bowl, combine the first six ingredients. In another bowl, whisk the eggs, yogurt, oil, milk, and mustard. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in cheese and onions. Transfer to loaf pan. Bake for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to wire rack.
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This savory bread was good warm out of the oven yesterday, and is good today at room temp too. I think it would be excellent with a bowl of soup for lunch or with a bowl of chili for dinner. I also liked this recipe because I had most of the ingredients in my kitchen; I just needed to buy the green onion and plain yogurt.

Happy eating!