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New month, new flavour!

This month the Cream Puffs in Venice Flavour of the Month is Trish Magwood’s Dish Entertains: Everyday Simple to Special Occasions.

I’ve owned this book for quite awhile now and as is the case with most of the cookbooks I own, I’ve never tried a recipe. It’s a good thing there’s no such thing as the cookbook police checking to see if I’ve tried any recipes or not. Whew!

Anyway, if I had to describe Trish Magwood I guess I’d describe as a food businesswoman. She’s the owner of a very popular cooking school in Toronto called dish cooking studio. She also starred in a very likeable program on Food Network Canada called Dish (at least I loved it) where she’d cater parties ranging from intimate gatherings at home to picnics at the cottage. My favourite episode was an engagement party where all the food that was served was some form of dessert.

(Why don’t I ever get invited to those types of parties?)

Her cookbook features the recipes that were prominent in her television show and I couldn’t be happier as there are some really good recipes in here. And I’m hoping to finally get down to trying some of them.

There is one recipe in the book that I’ve been making ever since I saw it on her show. It’s essentially a loaf of bread that’s given an olive oil bath and then patted down with rosemary and sea salt. The loaf is baked until you have a crusty, rosemary-scented piece of heaven.

I was intrigued by the idea because it reminded me of a party hall, just outside of Toronto, that used to be very popular at one time for Italian weddings. The start of the meal was always indicated by the emergence of servers from the kitchens with loaves of Italian bread that had been drenched in olive oil and baked with salt and rosemary. No matter how much you swore that you’d avoid the bread during the wedding meal (everyone knows that bread is a killer duirng an Italian wedding meal), you just couldn’t help snatching up a piece of that bread and digging in.

This is so easy to make and it’s perfect for a family dinner or a larger gathering. It goes well with any course and it’s also a great way to use day-old bread.

Okay, people. December is here. Time to party.

Ciao!

Rosemary Bread
From Dish Entertains by Trish Magwood.

1 large loaf of good bread (Yes, I know, that’s vague but what can I say. I like to use a loaf of sourdough bread or a loaf of Italian bread like Pugliese.)
extra virgin olive oil
3 tbsp. finely chopped rosemary
1 tbsp. sea salt (I use coarse sea salt)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Prepare the loaf by cutting 1-inch slices but do not cut all the way down (cut about three-quarters of the way down).

Drizzle a bit of olive oil (about a teaspoon) in between each slice of bread and then drizzle a few more teaspoons over the crust of the bread, rubbing it all over with your hands.

Sprinkle the rosemary in between each slice and over the top. Sprinkle the salt over the top as well.

Wrap the bread in aluminum foil and bake for 25 minutes.

Serve while hot.

Enjoy!