Sun – Dried Tomato and Cheddar Tea Bread and serving up Italian

I have been so excited to tell you this story.

A year ago, Liz Rowe, owner of Urban Deli invited me to have a chat with her, over a glass of wine, about Italian food . She dropped by the house for, what was intended to be, an hour. Five hours later…

Liz has the energy of a lightening bolt! She is sheer will power. Our first conversation ended with me agreeing to spend the next three months cooking with her, in my kitchen. She has an insatiable appetite for everything Italian. I have a limitless desire to cook Italian food. We are a match made in Italian heaven!

We cooked together, two to three days a week, for four months . One thing led to another and boom – we were discussing the possibility of me pulling my kitchen ‘whites’ out of mothballs and having some fun serving up Italian.

At this point in my life, it’s all about the fun! I thrive on hard work. I love a challenge and Italian food is my passion. Best of all, Liz is good with me blogging about it – warts and all…

Now that I am a workin’ girl again, I have to think ahead. I baked this savoury tea bread for friends who will be visiting on Sunday. The aroma while it baked would have knocked you over!

Sun – Dried Tomato and Cheddar Tea Bread

preheat oven 350*F

2 1/2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

4 ounces old cheddar, shredded

3 tablespoons fresh oregano, coarsely chopped

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained and chopped [reserve 2 tablespoons of the oil]

2 tablespoons butter, softened

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 eggs

1 1/4 cup buttermilk

finishing salt or Maldon sea salt flakes

Sift dry ingredients together

In a large bowl mix together dry ingredients with shredded cheese, fresh oregano, sun-dried tomatoes and pepper.

In a separate bowl, beat together the butter, reserved oil, eggs and buttermilk.

Stir in garlic and dry ingredient mixture until just mixed.

Place mixture in a long loaf pan. Sprinkle top with salt flakes.

Place in oven and bake 50 minutes.

Allow to cool on wire rack for 10 minutes then remove from pan.

Serve warm or cool completely before wrapping and freezing.

Freezes well up to 3 months.