Garlic Bread

First of all, thank you so much for all of your congratulations on the previous post! It seems surreal still, and I'm slowly starting to relax; helped along by a weekend of fun with friends, a trip to Top Chef Masters champ Rick Bayless's new Mexican street food joint XOCO (Rick himself was there!), and apple picking! :)

Now to the recipe. My mom's Garlic Bread is truly a recipe for all seasons. Over Labor Day weekend, she made it with barbecued chicken (my dad's handiwork), oven-roasted Parmesan potatoes, and a salad - seriously the BEST meal I've had in a long time. When the weather is cool, nothing goes better with lasagne or a big plate of spaghetti and (turkey) meatballs than this bread, in my opinion. My mom created this recipe a long time ago, probably before I was born, and I've eaten it ever since I could eat! My dentist (who was also a family friend) always jokes that when he and his wife came over for dinner, he was shocked to see a 2-year old (me) gobble down this garlic bread. As a young child, apparently I said "the crust is good but the filling is best." My mom and aunt still repeat this to me each time we have it. Not to disagree with the me of the past, but I now like the "filling" and crust equally because both are amazing!

This recipe may seem very simple, but my mom says the key is to cook it long enough and at a high heat - that way the crust gets nice and crisp. Although I LOVE this bread, it is definitely reserved for special occasions because of the amount of butter it requires! It does sound like a lot of butter, but I'm sure it's no more than a good Paula or Ina recipe :)

Garlic Bread

Ingredients:
1 loaf of French or Italian bread (about the size of a baguette)
1 stick of butter, softened
2-3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1/8 teaspoon garlic salt
Parmesan cheese, grated

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400F.
1. Mix butter, garlic, and garlic salt together.

2. Slice bread completely through into ~2-inch thick slices (see picture). Spread one side of each slice with about 2 teaspoons of butter mixture. Reassemble the bread on a long sheet of aluminum foil.

3. Spread a very thin layer of butter on top of the loaf. Note: You may have leftover butter mixture. You may use the rest or save it for another recipe. The extra butter on top will just melt and run down to make an extra buttery bottom crust - yum!

4. Sprinkle with lots of Parmesan cheese. Fold foil over to seal tightly. Bake for 20 minutes to achieve a nice, crispy crust.

Source: My mom!