What's Cookin' Wednesday ~ Ummm ... Cheesy Bread

I know.  It's not Wednesday.  I, however, made the Cheesy Bread yesterday.  That counts in my book as 'What's Cookin' Wednesday.

I have finally figured out the secret ingredient that makes cheesy bread so yummy and gooey.  All these years I have repeatedly tossed some grated cheese on a hunk of bread, popped it into the oven and then was bitterly, horribly and sadly disappointed in the results.

Deciding to use this wonderful tool called the internet, I googled 'cheesy bread' and found what I had been looking for all these many years.

My life is now complete.

Bread, of course, is where it all starts.  Use any kind of bread that floats your boat.  Speaking of boats, Randy and I are heading to the marina tomorrow to see if ours is still afloat.  We ditched the poor thing in the heat of the summer.  Now that fall is here, the temperatures are a whole lot more tolerable to be out on the water in the sunshine.

Anyway ~

I would highly recommend heading to your local WalMart and picking up these here ciabatta rolls from their bakery.  Dee ... Lish ... Ous.  Our WalMart can't even keep them on the shelf.  If your store doesn't have them, track down the twelve year-old manager and ask him - or her - just why the heck can the WalMart in Mountain Home R-Can-Sauce have these yummy rolls, but not your store that is in the middle of a booming metropolis?

If you don't have a local WalMart ... well, gee, I don't know what to say.  I'm sorry?

Split the rolls in half and place them on a pan.

Now, this is what I would call a 'Guess and By-Golly' recipe - meaning there is no 'recipe'.  I just grabbed whatever ingredients that were handy.

To softened butter, I added onion powder, garlic salt and some dried herbs.  I would like to tell you that I knew what herbs they were.  But I don't.  I can't remember what I planted this spring, and even if I did remember that, I can't remember what died and what I got rid of.  Lets just pretend it was rosemary, oregano and sage.

I tossed in some grated parmesan cheese at the last minute.

Mix that up really well.  In a perfect world, if one was dreaming of being Martha Stewart one day, you could make this far enough in advance to let the flavors blend.  I, however, was in a hurry.

After doing my chores yesterday, I spent the remainder of the day on the deck totally immersed in Puzzle Quest Two.  Long about 6:30pm, I realize that Randy has brought in the roast that he cooked in the Big Easy.  I was scrambling to get my cheesy bread made as well as get pictures taken of the entire process.  This on top of sidestepping Randy, who was dealing with said roast and Roxy, who was waiting for said roast to fall on the floor.

Anyway ~

Spread the butter mixture on the bread.  This is a fine example of why you need the ciabatta rolls from WalMart - they have lots of holes and craters to stuff in extra butter.

Broil the bread until it is lightly browned.

In the meantime ...

Mix 'some' grated cheese with 'some' mayonaise.  Yep, mayonaise is the secret ingredient.  I used colby/jack cheese last night.  I personally think that sharp cheddar is better.  I used the colby/jack 'cause I already had it shredded.

Spread the cheese and mayo mixture over the browned bread.

Pop it back under the broiler until the cheese is browned and bubbly.

I must confess that I used too much mayo and not enough cheese.  My bread looked a little bit sparse in places.  But here is my theory ...  gooey cheese melted on toasted bread with herb butter.  I couldn't go wrong with any combination of those ingredients.

I also must confess that I am not happy with my pictures.  In the dance that Randy, Roxy and I did in the kitchen last night, I wasn't able to get my usual picture-taking spot.  That's the spot where I know what settings to use on my camera.  These, however, were all over the place.  On top of that, my bowls and plates don't lend well to displaying cheesy bread nicely.

Here's what I'll do - to make up for the lack of cheese on the cheesy bread and the less than perfect pictures, you come to my house.  I will make you the most beautiful slice of cheesy bread that you have ever laid eyes on.  Martha'd be envious.

Have the BEST day ever!

~ Dorothy