You know how you read a recipe and you just KNOW it’s going to be good?  This was one of those recipes—a Sourdough bread round, cheese, butter, green onions and a sprinkling of poppy seeds, baked.  What’s not to like? I found this recipe on The Girl Who Ate Everything. The picture is from her website, too. Being English, I changed the name a bit to be more descriptive—in England this type of dish is called a “Tear and Share”, and I love that!

The Bloomin’ Onion Tear and Share Loaf was a showstopper; I was thrilled with it, and my guests couldn’t wait to tear into it. Everyone thought it was delicious!  I served it with Bourbon-Brown Sugar Flank Steak (which was horrible), broccoli, a lovely salad, and fresh watermelon.  Quite an easy Summer BBQ—pity about the flank steak, though.  That was another recipe that I thought would be great: marinate a flank steak in dark brown sugar and bourbon and then grill it.  What’s not to like? 

Well, brown sugar on steak, for starters.  The steak ended up being sweeter than the cake I served for dessert! 

Anyway, here’s a recipe for a side dish that does work, and it’s delicious, and looks lovely on the table.  Enjoy!

Bloomin’ Onion Tear and Share loaf

INGREDIENTS

• 1 unsliced  sourdough round—I bought mine at Le Boulanger
• 12 16 oz. Monterey Jack cheese, thinly sliced (12 oz. is plenty, 16 oz. would be a bit over-the-top, I think))
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1/2 cup finely diced green onion
• 2 teaspoons poppy seeds

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Using a sharp serrated knife, cut the bread lengthwise and widthwise without cutting through the bottom crust. The top of the bread  should look like a checkerboard. Cutting the second way can be a bit tricky, but the bread is very forgiving, and if you have a nice sharp knife it’s not so bad.
3. Place the cut bread onto a piece of  foil on a baking sheet.
4. Insert cheese slices between cuts, both lengthwise and widthwise—a good job for a young family member or a guest that arrives early.
5. Combine melted butter, chopped green onion, and poppy seeds in a small bowl or pitcher. Drizzle evenly over stuffed bread.
6. Wrap the bread in the foil.  You will probably need a second piece of foil to cover the of the top.
7. Place the wrapped bread on the baking sheet into a preheated 350° oven and bake for 15 minutes.
8. Unwrap the bread (I just took the foil off the top) and bake for an additional 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted.
9. Serve immediately.  Place a serrated knife on the serving plate,  which would be helpful for cutting hunks of bread off of the loaf to place on individual plates. I didn’t do this,  the cretins at my table didn’t seem to mind, but you might have civilized folk at your table 🙂

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen today—stop by again soon!