Jon's Garlic, Parmesan and Herb Beer Bread

- Merrill

This week, I’m really being lazy. The recipe I’m going to tell you about is not my own -- nor is a recipe of someone else’s I’ve adapted. I hold no claim whatsoever over this recipe. But it is a recipe that deserves to be featured.

Jon is one of our talented engineers, and he is also a great cook. (Not to mention a former CSA site administrator who grows many of his own vegetables and spent 5 months in New Zealand working on organic farms.) A couple of weeks ago, he brought a loaf of his famous beer bread to the office; we’d been hearing about it for a while. Modestly, he insisted that the recipe wasn’t his own, but was barely adapted from a recipe he found on food.com. It turns out he’d made quite a few adaptations -- all of us agreed that this recipe really is his own. After much cajoling, we convinced Jon to add the recipe to the site, and last week we photographed it for your viewing pleasure!

This chewy, dense quick bread has a malty sweetness from the beer (rule of thumb: the more flavorful the beer, the more flavorful the bread) and a rich honey color from the beer and the whole wheat flour, which I highly recommend you use. The sweetness is offset by the addition of nutty Parmesan, garlic and heady rosemary, making it suitable for almost any time of day (okay, maybe not an early morning breakfast). It is heavenly spread with a thick cloak of salted butter, or just as is.

• 3 cups sifted white flour (optional: replace 1 cup with whole wheat flour)
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup sugar (optional)
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1 head garlic, peeled and chopped
• 1 handful grated Parmesan
• 1 handful rosemary leaves, chopped
• One 12-ounce can of beer (the more carbonated the better)
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See the full recipe (and save and print it) here.