Bloomin' Cheese Bread
No frills here, this is comfort food at its finest. Add a cup of warm tomato soup and it's enough to forgive Jack Frost for swooping in so soon.
Here's what you'll need:
- loaf of sourdough (go with heavyweight champion bread, welterweights like challah or italian are tasty but too soft for this recipe)
- 1 block (16 oz.) colby jack or other easy melting cheese
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) melted unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped green onions
- 1 tablespoon chopped green onions
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1/4 teaspoon of paprika or chili powder
- 1 teaspoon of poppy seeds (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Slice bread lengthwise in sections about 1 inch apart, careful not to cut through through the bottom of the loaf.
Then turn bread and cut lengthwise again across your previous cuts.
Cut cheese into small slices about an inch long, 1/4 inch thick.
Melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat.
Stir in remaining ingredients.
Lay a sheet of aluminum foil loosely on a cookie sheet and place the loaf on top.
Begin wedging pieces of cheese into cut sections of bread.
Drizzle the butter mixture over bread and loosely wrap in foil around the whole loaf.
Bake 20 minutes.
Remove foil and bake another 10 mintues or until cheese in melted.
*Take make the miniature version (individual servings) featured in my Super Bowl Snack Round Up video, use small ciabatta bread or other hard dinner rolls and prepare as directed, using smaller cuts of cheese, pour butter mixture over rolls, cover with foil and bake as directed for large loaf.
Let me know what you think, enjoy!