First French Friday with Cheese and Chive Bread

My first French Fridays with Dorie and my bread is coming out of the oven as we speak.  I am embarking on an adventure with an online cooking group which will consist of selecting and trying recipes from Dorie Greenspan's book, Around My French Table.  Challenging myself to cook through Dorie's book is a fun way for me to embrace my love of  everyday French cooking by using her personal recipe file as my guide.  The actual recipe is not supposed to be posted on the blog, only photos and comments about it.  The only requirement to join this group is to purchase the book and try to participate as much as possible.  I was inspired to join this cooking group by several people I enjoy following, Tasty Trix, scrambled hen fruit and the Cake Duchess. They've already joined the group and have been posting some very appealing dishes on French Fridays.

 Dorie, my new BFF, recommends a Pyrex bread pan for this recipe and I think that was a good call from the looks of the golden brown crusty exterior of my bread.

I'm going to serve this cake salé with crème fraiche, smoked trout and an arugula salad.  If there is a way to make a meal out of a fragrant cheesy herbal bread, I will find it.  I used Comté  cheese and a pinch of crushed aleppo chili in place of cayenne.  I used half a cup of chopped chives as called for in the recipe but next time I will add a full cup as I felt the bread could have used more.  I would also like to try a combination of different herbs, like dill, chervil or marjoram.  I used the full teaspoon of salt with my choice of Comté for the cheese and was satisfied with the amount of salt in the bread. My favorite things about this savory cheese bread were the little bites of toasted walnuts, the flavor or the cheese and how the texture had just the right amount of crumble.

I think it's time to chill the wine as Dorie recommends.

A slice of this cake salé with crème fraiche and smoked trout makes a good tartine or open faced sandwich to serve with a small salad composed of arugula, olive oil, sherry vinegar, salt and pepper.