Wensleydale & Balsamic Onion Bread

I talk about Joy the Baker a lot, there really is a lot to talk about but up until now I haven’t given the same kind of attention to her partner in crime Shutterbean. This needs to be rectified!

Of course, many of you will already be dedicated followers of the The Queen of Avocados but some might not and there is absolutely no harm in banging on about a good thing! Her blog is bursting with colour, creativity, stunning photography and style. Her weekly ‘I love lists Friday‘ posts, point me in the direction of awesome corners of the internet I might not have discovered and ‘My Everyday Life‘ is a round-up of her weeks photographs, makes me want to move to California and experience it all myself (Like I needed any encouragement) All this is without mentioning her excellent recipes – soups, salads, bakes, cocktails – no foodstone is left unturned. Oh and the lady loves the stripes!

If I’m ever stuck for inspiration when meal planning, I’ll take a gander at her Instagram feed or blog and several healthy recipes will tick all my boxes very quickly. Recently I have been inspired to eat these…

Tuna Salad

Grilled Salmon, Rice, Asparagus, Fine Beans & lots of Lime

Chicken Tostada Salad

One recipe I knew needed to be in my life, was Cheddar Cheese Bread but being the great experimenter that I am I decided to adapt it, move away from Cheddar and move in with Wensleydale and how about adding balsamic onions? And you see what happened was something amazing – I’m sure the original recipe was also pretty awesome but when you hear that your 1-year-old Faux-Nephew scoffed a large portion of it – you know you are onto a flavour winner.

Wensleydale & Balsamic Onion Bread
bread adapted from Shutterbean
&
balsamic onions adapted from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook
makes 2 9×5 loaves

3 large white onions – peeled, halved & thinly sliced
1 tbsp olive oil
14g / 1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tbsp soft brown sugar
big pinch of salt
1½ tbsp balsamic vinegar
seasoning

butter for greasing

385g / 13.3oz plain flour
1¼ tsp salt
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
42g / 3 tbsps unsalted butter – small cubes
150g / 5oz wensleydale cheese – coarsely grated
284 ml buttermilk

Put a large frying pan on a medium-high heat and heat the olive oil & butter.

Add the onion and fry for about 5 minutes, add the sugar and salt and reduce the heat to medium-low and stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes.

Add the vinegar, scraping up any stuck bits from the bottom of the pan.

Simmer until the mixture thickens, about 1-2 minutes. Season and set to one side to cool.

Preheat the oven to 200°c / 400°f  / gas mark 6

Grease your tins (I only have 1 loaf tin – more on that later!)

In a large bowl mix together the flour, salt, bicarbonate of soda.

Add ⅔^rds of the butter – rub into the flour mixture until you have a fine breadcrumb texture.

Add the cheese and onions, toss to coat.

Finally add the buttermilk, mix until fully combined – there is no need to knead, just stir or mix with your hands.

Divide the dough into two pieces – as I only have one loaf tin I put one half in the loaf tin and then covered up the other and popped it into the fridge until I needed it.

Smooth the dough and push it into all the corners, cut a shallow cross in the middle of the dough, slice the remaining butter and push into the cuts.

Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes, until golden. Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack, wipe out the tin (getting rid of any stuck on bits) grease it and do the same with the 2^nd piece of dough.

Let the bread cool before slicing.

Serve on its own, or with butter, or with avocado, or with eggs, or whatever you fancy.

Probably freezes well but why not do what I did, kept one for myself and gave the other to a friend.