I know…it’s Saturday. Not a day I normally post a recipe but somehow this week got away from me and I found myself a day off. Those holiday weekends do that to me and all week and I found myself a bit discombobulated. I was working on this post this past Wednesday when sometime midday I realized it was actually Thursday and my plans to share this ah-may-ZING Smoked Gouda Pull Apart Bread were pushed aside because well, Fridays are all about the cocktail!
Not that I haven’t run out of time before and it’s no big deal; I just wait until the next week but the truth is I made this bread with one thing in mind. Football. Or in this household, more specifically, Broncos Football. The Broncos are in the playoffs so if I waited, well, I don’t even want to think about them not advancing but still thought it best to get this out there now. It’s such perfect game day food.
Now, I’ve had stuffed cheese breads before and they’ve been good. As a matter of fact, I had made one a day prior to this one. It wasn’t. All that good. I admit I’m not one of those food bloggers who test and retest her recipes before blogging about them but occasionally that turns out to be the case. For the most part if I make it and we love it then it’s blogworthy in my book; decades of cooking experience make up for multiple tests if you ask me. Sometimes though I will try something that sounds fantastic but the results are less than I expected and I might give it another shot and that’s exactly what happened with this bread. While I most often create something from scratch, when I do use a recipe my DNA seldom allows me to follow recipes to the letter. Funny, this was one of the few times I did exactly as the author proscribed and wish I hadn’t.
First, I used a round loaf because that is what I had in my pantry. Not my favorite I found; the bread to cheese ratio on those inner slices was a bit skewed. But even more than that, it would not hold it’s shape, it wanted to blossom like one of those fried onion things. It ended up in a square baking dish and I was still OK with that, but the truth is I thought the flavor did not quite cut it; I wanted more. It was very Italian and the seasonings shone way more than the cheese; which by the way just would not melt satisfactorily. All in all it was just OK, but not great.
So, seeing that potential but not loving the results I gave it another chance but this time taking a lot of poetic license. And this one was a WOW! Blame it on the Smoked Gouda. My new favorite cheese. I made this Smoked Gouda Macaroni and Cheese with Bacon not long ago (note to self; add some crisp bacon bits to this bread next time) and have been completely hooked on this wonderful cheese. I love Gouda but that touch of smoke takes it over the top to a goodness I am addicted to. Grilled cheese sandwiches, macaroni and cheese, salads – you name it and I’ve done it. So while it might seem an obsession it’s a good one and I was powerless..off to the store for both an Italian loaf and some smoked Gouda to try, try again.
Winner. WINNER. One of those times when I was glad I had help eating the results of my labors or I literally think I could have sat in front of a movie and devoured the entire thing. I think we all shed a tear when it was gone. And not just gone either. Devoured. It is a bit decadent but I’ll assume you’ll be sharing like I did so it’s not totally bad for you. Enjoy it with other finger foods during the game and see it disappear (and see if you don’t want to sob a bit too). No game in your life? Eat it next to a huge salad and you’ve got dinner. Eat nothing else and just finish off this bread? I know…I get it and I promise, I won’t tell!
By the way…want the perfect cocktail to accompany this rich bread? Try this Winter Citrus Mojito; it would be perfect. And if your another Bronco fan? It does have orange in it!
- 1 Italian loaf, 12-14 inches long
- 1 stick butter, melted
- ⅛ cup olive oil
- 3 tsp finely minced onion
- 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 Tbsp whole grain mustard
- 1 Tbsp poppy seeds
- 3 tsp chopped parsley
- ¼ tsp salt
- 12 oz grated cheese (I used half smokey Gouda and half Mozzarella)
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- Combine the melted butter, olive oil, onion, garlic, mustard, poppy seeds, parsley and salt in a bowl.
- Slice the bread on the diagonal in two directions, creating cubes of bread but DO NOT cut all they way to the crust.
- Create a foil collar for the bread to help keep the side pieces in place.
- Using your fingers, carefully spread open spaces along cuts and pour the butter mixture down into the cracks and spread some over the top of the bread.
- Repeating that same technique, open the cracks and fill them with the grated cheese; stuffing it down inside. Seems like a lot of cheese. Hell yes!
- Wrap the entire loaf with foil allowing room at the top to keep from having the cheese melt to the foil. Seal well around the outside.
- Bake for 20 minutes then remove from the oven and unwrap.
- Bake for another 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and gooey.
- Eat with fingers or fork; garnish with lots of napkins. :)
