This recipe was inspired by a restaurant I dined at when in Vail, CO for my brother’s wedding. Every dish on their menu featured such an unusual combinations of ingredients; it even made me want to try cornbread, which is something I’m not normally into. In fact, I think this was the first time I really had cornbread! While I definitely did not go the traditional route on this cornbread, the real key to this recipe in my opinion is the combination of the cornbread with the cheese and fruit. Feel free to use your own cornbread recipe (or google one) if you want to do a more traditional cornbread.
Cornbread with Quark, Pluot, Peach, & Bee Pollen
Serves 4 as an appetizer/side
-
cornbread of your choice or my almond flour cornbread (see recipe here)
-
2 pluots, sliced thinly
-
1 large peach or 2 small peaches, sliced thinly
-
8 oz quark*
-
sprinkle bee pollen (optional; more for drama and fun!)
*What’s quark? It’s a cheese I was introduced to when in Annapolis at the Preserve. It’s a soft, creamy cheese- almost like creamcheese (which you can definitely use in place of this more unusual cheese)- but with a little bit more body and more mellow. Having bought quark at a variety of different places, I’ll also note that it can really differ from place to place. Most recently, I got some quark that had dried cranberries in it at the farmer’s market and it was delicious! You’ll most likely need to go to a specialty store or a farmer’s market to get this. If you can’t find it, creamcheese or a spreadable goat cheese will work just fine!
Not too many directions here once you’ve baked the cornbread. Spread quark on bread and top with pluots, peaches, and bee pollen.
