Cheese and Onion Beer Bread

In Durban, whenever we went to a braai with friends,

one of the things we took with was beer bread.

I don't remember where we originally got the idea;

it was most likely at one of the caravan rallies we had been to

when our daughter was young,

but it became a 'staple' for a braai.

We have made it with all sorts of additions,

but cheese and onion seem to be the family favourite.

Ingredients:
500g self raising flour
250ml grated cheddar cheese, the stronger the better
3 finely chopped spring onions, the white and green parts.
5ml salt
5ml dried marjoram
350ml beer
25ml melted butter
25ml sesame seeds

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180C.

Mix together in a large bowl, flour, cheese, onions, marjoram and salt. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour in the beer. With your fingers, mix the flour mixture into the beer until you have a sticky dough.

Pour the dough into a greased and floured loaf pan so that it fills the pan to the ends and is fairly level. Brush the top of the loaf with the melted butter and sprinkle on the sesame seeds.

Bake for 35-45 minutes until golden on top and a metal skewer comes out clean.

Serve warm or cooled, buttered or plain.

Additional toppings could include Parmesan cheese,

paprika, cayenne pepper, poppy seeds, fennel seeds -

the list goes on.

Try varying the cheeses; perhaps use blue cheese or feta.

You could also use different herbs like

fresh or dried thyme, rosemary, chives, or parsley

and basil with chopped sun dried tomatoes makes a great bread too.