garlic bread

[Toliver]

There's a local italian restaurant that gilds the lily...

They bake their garlic bread and then unwrap it, top it with slices of mozzarella cheese and broil it until the cheese is melted and gooey. Decadent.

edited for spellling

Edited October 6, 2006 by Toliver (log)

[Pam R]

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

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Basically, what he said.

I just do one thing differently. First, slice the loaf of bread lengthwise - then shmear the garlic butter on nice and thick onto one of the exposed sides. Put the loaf back together and slice as instructed (on an angle).

The thing is, if you wrap it tightly with foil and leave it in the oven a little longer (or at 350), it will get nice and toasty. - Soft on the inside, crusty on the outside.

[Octaveman]

I have the recipe for Gilroy's Garlic Festival garlic bread that they put on a magnet about five or so years ago. It involved margerine, butter, oregano, salt/pepper and garlic. There may be some other ingredients too but they combined/melted/cooked everything in a pan then dipped the toasted bread upside down in it to coat. It's at home so I don't have it handy but will post when I find it. I've eatin at other Italian places that used this same method.

[scubadoo97]

Tonight I am making lasagna and garlic bread was in the picture. After reading the many suggestions I decided to take my french and cuban bread out to the grill and toast prior to adding the smear. My topping includes herbs from my garden; basil, rosemary, thyme, oregano and parsley as well as minced garlic, salt, pepper and a dash of crushed red pepper. This was mixed into softened butter and evoo and coated liberally onto the bread as well as the crust. I will wrap it all up in foil and bake just before serving.

[gus_tatory]

i also cut a baguette nearly all the way through to the bottom, diagonally, about every inch or so.

the only thing i have to add is i sometimes swap out part of the butter for olive oil, and 'paint' the butter/oil/garlic/etc. between each slice with a pastry brush before foiling, then baking.

someone mentioned cheese on top, whch really is too much of a good thing. and i'm totally behind that. i have used asiago, crumbled, with *great* success.

[Ann_T]

This is my favourite way to make garlic bread.

Italian Bread with Gorgonzola

=============================

Long loaf of Italian Bread or long crusty rolls.

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup gorgonzola cheese

1 to 2 cloves garlic

parsley

salt

pepper

fresh grated parmesan cheese

Optional: Basil or Oregano

.

Cream the butter with the gorgonzola cheese.

Mince garlic and add to cheese mixture. Add chopped parsley, and

season with salt and pepper.

If using the basil or the oregano add now as well.

Leave loaf whole, but cut slices so that the loaf stays together.

Spread cheese mixture in between each slice and reshape loaf. Sprinkle

top of loaf with parmesan cheese and wrap in foil. Place in 400°F oven

for 10 or 15 minutes and serve hot.

[ruthcooks]

Here's what one website has to say:

"THE CASTELLAMMARE DEL GOLFO METHOD

Melt butter and mix in equal amount of garlic juice with melted butter.

Lightly toast bread.

Spread melted butter-garlic juice combination on bread.

Again, lightly toast until butter & garlic juice combination are slightly bubbly."

Of course, these people are selling garlic juice, but I wonder if it wouldn't work. I once made the best butterflied shrimp ever, in which the shrimp was first"painted" with garlic juice, but I haven't used this product in a very long time.

Has anyone tried using garlic juice?

Personally, I like to cut the bread lengthwise as it's so much easier to butter.

[Toliver]

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....

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This reminded me of how a good friend makes his garlic roasted mashed potatoes. The oven is usually going with some sort of roast or chicken so he'll toss in a ramekin of butter with the garlic cloves and roast them until done. Once the garlic is roasted, the butter and the garlic are both used in the potatoes.

Sorry to go off-topic!

There's also the simple crostini method. Grill or broil the bread until crisp. Rub the now-crusty bread with a cut garlic clove and then drizzle the bread with olive oil. Add some salt and pepper, if you want.

You can also top this with a concasse of tomatoes and some basil for bruschetta.

[FistFullaRoux]

I've had good luck with pullapart garlic bread. Use a basic white or "italian" bread dough, but wheat works nice as well. I've also done this with the frozen french bread dough.

Form the dough into a tube that will fit into a round cake pan. Using scissors, snip every inch or so along the length, about 2/3 if the way through the thickness of the bread.

Then, softened butter, garlic powder, onion powder, dried parsley, and a little hint of ground cayenne get to mixing. Now smear this mixture all over the bread, being sure to get in the slits that you cut earlier. Proof, then bake. The bread becomes interactive and will pull apart into chunks easily. Place the dough around the inside of the pan making a ring and bake according to instructions, but lower the temp about 25 degrees or so to keep the butter on the surface of the bread from burning.

One last hint, mix the seasonings with the butter ahead of time. That will give the powders (if you are using them) time to rehydrate some and flavor all of the butter. This spread can be used on already baked bread, just spread it on and warm carefully. I've also been known to spread this onto regular toasted sandwich bread in a pinch. I quite like it that way, in fact.

ETA - clarifying

Edited October 7, 2006 by FistFullaRoux (log)

[swieton]

My mom has an unusual recipe, but I've always liked it. It's a softer garlic bread, preferably toasted so it's got a still slightly soggy top but mostly crisp all the way through.

She always uses a stick of margerine - this probably was butter in the original, but she thinks this is healthier. Some garlic obviously, crushed. The really strange thing I've never seen anywhere else is worchestershire sauce. Not in garlic bread, anyway.

Anyway, I like it, so that's how I make it. I do get some odd looks when people watch me cook, though

-- Mike

[judiu]

1 long loaf of cheap grocery store "Italian" or "French" bread

1 stick of salted butter, softened to room temp.

Lots of cloves of garlic, run thru the garlic press (a totally different flavor from minced, or smashed)

Kosher salt

Mix together well the butter and pressed garlic (amount adjusted to taste, in this house it's usually about 5 BIG cloves) with a good BIG pinch of kosher salt, and let set for about an hour at room temp. Slice the loaf the long way, spread on garlic butter and bake on a cookie sheet at 325-350 for about 10 mins. YUM!

Add parsley or other herbs to butter as desired, and if going for the gold, drape sliced cheese (of your choice) over the bread after about 7 min. baking time, and

let bake further until melted and gooey.

[Octaveman]

My fav garlic bread recipe courtesy of the Gilroy GF:

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup margarine

1/2 cup oil

6-8 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp Oregano

1/2 cup white wine

3 Tbl chopped parsley

Melt butter, margarine in pan. Add oil and garlic. Simmer over low heat for 1 minute. Add pepper, oregano, and wine. Bring to boil and add parsley. Remove from heat and pour in large baking pan. Cut 2 sweet french bread loaves in half lengthwise and toast on grill or broiler. Press toasted halves cut side down in butter mixture making sure to sop it up. Serve immediately.

I add a little more oregano than stated and add salt too. Whenever I make garlic bread, this is what I do and it is very very tasty. Make sure to get all the minced garlic on the bread too.

Edited October 9, 2006 by Octaveman (log)