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garlic bread


torakris

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help....

It has been cold and rainy lately and I have been craving soups, stews, braised dishes, etc and what better to accompany these than a nice hunk of warm garlic bread.

Just how hard can garlic bread be?? but when I just try and toss it together it just doesn't turn out right.

I think part of the problem is I am not really sure what I am looking for, I'll just know it when I find it.

How does everyone make theirs??

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

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I make mine a couple of different ways - depending on what dish it goes with and who might be eating it with me :rolleyes:

The way my mother made it is the way I like it when I am having pasta with red sauce......basically take your bread, butter it liberally, sprinkle grated parm on it along iwth a good amount of dried minced garlic and put under the broiler. Watch it so it doesn't burn.

The other way I make it is to rub a crushed garlic clove over the bread, drizzle with olive oil and toast/heat in oven.........maybe a sprinkle of salt when it gets warm.

(secretly i like the one with the dried minced garlic best!)

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Hi

I learned to make a garlic bread spread as follows. One pound of butter just soft enough to mix. Chopped garlic buds to your taste chopped parsley and juice of one lemon. Divide into four and roll into waxed paper. I freeze them and when ready to use soften and spread on french bread and then to the broiler watched carefully.

I also use them on steaks by slicing off about a half an inch which I put on the steak just after i have flipped it. It combines with the juices and make a great garlic sauce.

Cheers

Poorsh

It has been cold and rainy lately and I have been craving soups, stews, braised dishes, etc and what better to accompany these than a nice hunk of warm garlic bread.

Just how hard can garlic bread be?? but when I just try and toss it together it just doesn't turn out right.

I think part of the problem is I am not really sure what I am looking for, I'll just know it when I find it.

How does everyone make theirs??

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I have always made garlic bread with minced garlic (fresh) mixed into butter, spread on bread, and sprinkled with a bit of salt. It was great, but I also thought something was missing.

Then I bought some very good quality dried garlic--coarse, not fine--and sprinkled it on buttered bread with a bit of coarse salt. That did the trick! It's just what I crave when I think of garlic bread. I guess all those not-so-good Italian restaurants had an effect on me, afterall!

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I use 1 softened stick of butter to 1 clove garlic, smashed with a little salt, sometimes adding parlsey. That amount is about right for 1 loaf. Schmear onto slices of bread and heat or toast.

Stop Family Violence

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I usually use the recipe in Julia Childs for the garlic mashed potatoes or something, but stop before the potatoes. It involves simmering a huge amount of garlic cloves in butter for about a half hour. At this point you essentially have something very similar to roasted garlic (very mild and very soft) and some very garlicky butter. Then I take a whole baguette and smear the soft garlic on and drizzle the butter and add some coarse salt, wrap in foil, and warm until everything's uniform. It's very good that way. Incredibly garlickly, salty, and buttery, but not really "strong" in flavor. I love it.

Don Moore

Nashville, TN

Peace on Earth

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I like to microplane the garlic and mix in softened butter, smear on bread and then top with parmesan or pecorino before toasting.

*EDITED to specify toasting last.*

Edited by sanrensho (log)
Baker of "impaired" cakes...
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I usually use the recipe in Julia Childs for the garlic mashed potatoes or something, but stop before the potatoes.  It involves simmering a huge amount of garlic cloves in butter for about a half hour.  At this point you essentially have something very similar to roasted garlic (very mild and very soft) and some very garlicky butter.  Then I take a whole baguette and smear the soft garlic on and drizzle the butter and add some coarse salt, wrap in foil, and warm until everything's uniform.  It's very good that way.  Incredibly garlickly, salty, and buttery, but not really "strong" in flavor.  I love it.

That sounds really good! I do roast garlic and then smash it with butter, olive oil, S & P, a dash of red pepper flakes and a drizzle of balsamic and spread on warm toasted bread..........that is one thing I really do love to eat but I don't really think of it as "garlic" bread. Even though I guess it is...... I am just stuck on Mom's version......LOL!

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Wow! great responses and quickly too! :biggrin:

I am really embarassed to admit this but I never added salt.... I think this may have been part of the problem.

I think the one with dried garlic is probably the taste I am craving when eating dishes like spaghetti and meatballs.

So do most of you do it like toast? With a family of 5 and often cooking for double that I sometimes prefer to do a whole loaf of bread. I am asuming wrapping in foil is a must but at what temp and for how long?

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

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I sometimes prefer to do a whole loaf of bread. I am asuming wrapping in foil is a must but at what temp and for how long?

Until the butter melts.

High heat in a hurry, low heat if you have time to fill.

The bread doesnt mind, as long as its well wrapped in the foil.

In a pinch, broil it. (or use a torch on it).

"You dont know everything in the world! You just know how to read!" -an ah-hah! moment for 6-yr old Miss O.

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For us, the bread has to be grilled outdoors, topped with garlic butter - sometimes mixed with grated parmesan - sometimes we butter the grilled bread with the garlic butter, top it with mozzarella and then back on the grill just until the cheese melts. The only one we don't like is the one done in the oven - bread is just too soft for us. :smile:

Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

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I use 1 softened stick of butter to 1 clove garlic, smashed with a little salt, sometimes adding parlsey. That amount is about right for 1 loaf. Schmear onto slices of bread and heat or toast.

In my opinion the way to ruin garlic toast is by applying the garlic butter before toasting. You end up with soggy bread and burnt garlic. I toast my french bread or baguette and immediately spread the pre softened garlic butter. Makes a big difference.

Try it.

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I use 1 softened stick of butter to 1 clove garlic, smashed with a little salt, sometimes adding parlsey. That amount is about right for 1 loaf. Schmear onto slices of bread and heat or toast.

In my opinion the way to ruin garlic toast is by applying the garlic butter before toasting. You end up with soggy bread and burnt garlic. I toast my french bread or baguette and immediately spread the pre softened garlic butter. Makes a big difference.

Try it.

My garlic bread is:

450 gms unsalted butter

1 head of garlic, minced

1 bunch flat-leaf parsley, chopped fine

1 -2 tsps sea salt

Warm the butter till soft and then beat together with the other ingredients. Roll up in greaseproof paper, like a sausage, and refrigerate.

Put your oven on broil. Leave it for at least 10 minutes.

Cut a baguette or a "canilla" in half, then cut each half lengthwise. Slather with garlic butter, place in the oven for about 3 minutes.

Ready.

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If you wrap it in foil, be sure to leave the top open. You want to create a sort of foil cradle, or your bread will steam and you'll have a soft, mushy glob. Yuk. :shock:

Stop Family Violence

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I also always wrap mine in foil, but leave the top exposed. You want the bread to take on a bit of crispiness. The crunchy parts are my favorite.

I'm in the dried garlic camp. For some reason, I think it provides a much stronger garlic flavor than fresh garlic. i always add a little fresh cracked black pepper.

Preach not to others what they should eat, but eat as becomes you and be silent. Epicetus

Amanda Newton

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Wow! great responses and quickly too! :biggrin:

I am really embarassed to admit this but I never added salt.... I think this may have been part of the problem.

I think the one with dried garlic is probably the taste I am craving when eating dishes like spaghetti and meatballs.

So do most of you do it like toast? With a family of 5 and often cooking for double that I sometimes prefer to do a whole loaf of bread. I am asuming wrapping in foil is a must but at what temp and for how long?

Are you using salted butter? That makes a difference. I use mashed garlic in salted butter. Sometimes I add some finely grated parmesan. Slice a french loaf in half then spread with the garlic butter and wrap each half in foil. Wrapping it in foil first allows the butter to permeate the bread. Stick it in the oven at 200 for 10 or 15 minutes then unwrap and broil for a few minutes till the top browns. Slice and serve.

Edited by Marlene (log)

Marlene

Practice. Do it over. Get it right.

Mostly, I want people to be as happy eating my food as I am cooking it.

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I don't wrap in foil. If I'm doing a whole loaf, I cut it in half, lay it out with the buttered side up, and then toast/broil it (in Japan I always use the toaster oven for garlic bread). I don't notice that it burns the garlic (I'm using dried, anyway) so I assume it doesn't, and I like the crispiness of the buttered side. Wrapping in foil, to me, just makes soft (sometimes slightly soggy if you don't unwrap it in a timely manner) bread.

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I buy the huge containers of whole peeled garlic from Costco and roast a few cups at a time until soft, mushy, golden brown and sweet. I then mix an obscene amount of this with softened butter (probably equal amounts of each), spread it on split sourdough bread and bake at about 425 until golden brown. It comes out crispy and so sweet!

Margy

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Wrapping it in foil first allows the butter to permeate the bread.  Stick it in the oven at 200 for 10 or 15 minutes then unwrap and broil for a few minutes till the top browns.  Slice and serve.

Yes, I agree with Marlene. You can add in some chopped fresh herbs for variety.

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I use 1 softened stick of butter to 1 clove garlic, smashed with a little salt, sometimes adding parlsey. That amount is about right for 1 loaf. Schmear onto slices of bread and heat or toast.

In my opinion the way to ruin garlic toast is by applying the garlic butter before toasting. You end up with soggy bread and burnt garlic. I toast my french bread or baguette and immediately spread the pre softened garlic butter. Makes a big difference.

Try it.

Oh absolutely! The bread must be toasted first.

Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

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I haven't made garlic bread for ages, but make it the way a friend taught me--melt your butter with the chopped garlic in it--pour over the bread which you've sliced almost through-- wrap in foil--leaving a bit open at the top--and bake until crispy.

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I usually take a loaf of crusty (Italian or French) bread. Cut lengthwise, smear on both sides a stick of softened salted butter. Spoon on chopped garlic and grated parm. cheese. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning. I close it up and cut into serving slices (I don't cut all the way through just enough so it's easier to serve when it's hot). I wrap in AL foil and bake at 350 for approx. 30 minutes. The outside is nice and crusty and the inside is a little mushy.

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It's probably worth distinguishing between "soft" garlic bread (as served in many old-school Italian-American restaurants) and "toasted" garlic bread (as generally, but not always, preferred by gourmets). Both have their place, I think, but it's helpful to think of them as separate foods.

To focus on restaurant-style soft garlic bread, which is I think what a lot of Americans remember from their childhoods, there are a few things I think make a difference:

- The bread itself should be low-quality "Italian" bread (semolina) with sesame seeds, as sold in long white paper sleeves in many supermarkets.

- The bread should be sliced on the bias into many slices, not into two long halves. When slicing, don't go all the way through the bottom crust -- you want the loaf to hold together just a bit.

- The topping should be a compound butter consisting of butter, salt, crushed garlic (as in with a garlic press), finely chopped parsley and a little olive oil.

- Spread the butter on both sides of each of the bread slices.

- Wrap tightly in foil and bake at 325 degrees F for at least 15 minutes.

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Good point, Fat Guy, to distinguish the two types.

Grilled garlic bread has been a perrenial and ubiquitious side dish for almost any grill out at my parents when I was growing up and they, and now I, still make it all the time. I don't really like the soft restaurant version that I also grew up with in CT, 'old school' Italian restaurants because the overall texture, to me, is just kind of soft and oily.

Like other posters above, I mix crushed garlic with softened butter. This gets spread on individual Italian or French bread slices before toasting. I also sprinkle a little garlic salt over the top. Then I either gril theml, face down or if cooking inside, place under the broiler. The trick is to cook it just long enough to get some toasty brown areas and even a *little* black. But, I like to not overcook it so that portions of the bread are still soft and oozy with melted butter. The trick on the grill, is to periodically check slices on different parts of the grill as some areas will be hotter than others. For me, the perfect specimen has a pleasing textural combination of toasted and soft areas.

I also make crostini and bruschetta, but look at that as another different, albeit similar, animal.

edited to add: When I was young, even in CT with its heavy Italian influence, many people did not use lots of fresh garlic unless you were Italian! We used to make them by just spreading softened butter on the rounds followed by a sprinkling with garlic salt. This comes out pretty well also, although we definately moved to including fresh garlic which is even better... :smile:

Garlic bread! So simple, but it evokes lots of good family memories for me.

Edited by ludja (log)

"Under the dusty almond trees, ... stalls were set up which sold banana liquor, rolls, blood puddings, chopped fried meat, meat pies, sausage, yucca breads, crullers, buns, corn breads, puff pastes, longanizas, tripes, coconut nougats, rum toddies, along with all sorts of trifles, gewgaws, trinkets, and knickknacks, and cockfights and lottery tickets."

-- Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1962 "Big Mama's Funeral"

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