Cheddar Kale and Bacon Quick Bread

As seems to be happening more these days, I was in the mood for baking something savoury. And I was wandering about the aisles of the supermarket looking for some inspiration.
I spotted kale in the veg section, a vegetable I love, especially kale chips. They are a healthier snack and I can devour them to the point they are probably no longer healthier.

Anyhow, I decided to combine the veg with cheese, bacon and onion in a quick bread.  Quick bread is a bread which isn’t made with yeast, but other leavening agents such as baking powder or bicarbonate of soda (apparently). I think of it like a savoury cake really.
You blend together your dry and wet ingredients like you would a cake. And you can make your quick bread sweet or savoury.
I began making mine by frying off a pack of bacon lardons, then slowly frying an onion until it was browned and sweetened. I then fried some kale until it was wilted and soft.

I whisked together my wet ingredients of oil, sour cream and eggs. I then incorporated the dry ingredients of plain flour, baking powder, soda, oregano and salt.
To this mix I folded through grated sharp cheddar cheese, the fried onions and bacon making sure they were well distributed through the batter. (At this stage I added some sriracha sauce, mostly because my husband likes things to have a bit of a kick. Any hot sauce would do, but you can forgo this entirely if you prefer). Lastly I incorporated the kale and transferred the mix to a greased and lined loaf tin.

I popped it into the oven and after an hour I had a piping hot loaf of savoury goodness. I let it cool completely before slicing it. It was a great combination of all the flavours incorporated and would be ideal for a picnic. You can enjoy this on its own, but some houmous spread on top is also delicious.

Without further ado, here’s the recipe…
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Cheddar Kale and Bacon Quick Breadby S Vettese February-13-2017Savoury quick bread with cheese, onions, bacon and kaleIngredients

• 1 large onion chopped
• 1-2 teaspoons olive oil
• 150 grams smoked bacon lardons
• 120 grams chopped kale
• 2 medium eggs 
• 180 ml soured cream
• 125 ml vegetable oil
• 175 grams plain flour
• 125 grams grated cheddar cheese
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 2 teaspoons sriracha sauce (optional)

InstructionsPreheat the oven to 180C (160C fan) and grease and line a loaf tin.In a large frying pan, fry the bacon lardons until browned. Remove and add the olive oil to the pan.Fry the onion slowly over medium heat, until soft and browned.Remove the onions, and in the remaining oil, slowly fry the kale until soft and lightly brown on the edges.In a bowl whisk together the soured cream, vegetable oil and eggs until smooth and blended.In a separate bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, pepper and bicarb. Add the oregano and then add this to the wet mix, stirring well with a spatula.Add the grated cheese and stir this through then add the onion and bacon, stirring this through.Add the sriracha at this point if adding.Lastly add the kale and mix this through until well combined.Transfer the batter to the prepared loaf tin and bake in the oven for 50 minutes to an hour or until a skewer comes out clean from the center of the loaf.Allow to cool fully before slicing up and enjoying. DetailsPrep time: 30 mins Cook time: 1 hour Total time: 1 hour 30 mins Yield: 1 loaf