Baking Inspiration from a Wine Pairing Guide

I stumbled upon this article on Pear and Cheese and Wine Pairings recently. I found it really interesting that the type of pear would actually make a difference since they all taste pretty much the same to me. (Guess I'm not a fruit Aficionado!) Anyway, I bought Bosc Pears the other day so I thought I'd make some Pear and Cheddar Bread to find out if they really do go well together. You know what? They totally do! I'm not sure if using a different type of pear would actually NOT taste good here but these are definitely worth trying and VERY good with a nice glass of Cab!

Ingredients: (1 regular loaf or 8 mini loaves)


1-3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp dried sage
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
3 eggs
1/3 c whole milk
1/3 c olive oil
1-1/2 c shredded cheddar cheese
1 pear, diced


Prep:


1. Preheat to 350°F. Spray regular or mini loaf pan with cooking spray.


2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, sage, salt and black pepper. In a large measuring cup, whisk together the eggs, milk and olive oil. Pour egg mixture into flour mixture and stir just until dry ingredients are moistened. Stir in cheese and pear.


3. Transfer dough to prepared pan and smooth the top.


4. Bake until golden on top and a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 55 minutes for a regular loaf and 25 minutes for mini loaves. Cool bread in pan 5 minutes, then turn out onto rack and cool completely.