Dad’s Famous Garlic Bread

I am not sure when we started calling Jason’s garlic bread by this name, but in our house it is definitely a hit and well deserving of the fame it has gained over the years. It has saved many a meal in our son’s eyes when I added that half a loaf that was leftover from spaghetti night and tucked in the freezer to a roast chicken and broccoli dinner that would otherwise not have appealed to them in the least. So even though the list of ingredients is exactly what you would expect to find, it is worth reading on for the couple of tweaks that make his bread the star of any meal.

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The first key is a high quality loaf of bread. We typically use sour french, though we have tried it with other varieties as well. Whichever type you decide to use make sure it is fresh, day old is ok, but beyond that it just won’t taste as good. If you are shopping ahead and don’t plan to make your garlic bread for several days just wrap it in foil and stick it in the freezer until the day you will be serving it.

Jason does not use the garlic press pretty much ever, and uses what we like to call a “rustic” mince here. He uses the garlic mainly to flavor the butter, it will not all end up on the bread, so it is ok if some of the pieces are on the bigger side. He also adds salt because I only buy unsalted butter, if you are using salted butter omit the salt entirely. (On another note, if you are buying salted butter, ask yourself why. Unsalted better is WAY better for baking, and because salt content varies widely in butter using unsalted means you can control the saltiness of all your dishes.) After the butter is completely melted turn off the heat and let it sit on the stove for about 10 minutes to allow the garlic flavor to permeate the butter.

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Once the butter is steeped it is time to spread it on the bread. We use a silicone basting brush which can be thrown in the dishwasher and will not retain the garlic flavor or the greasiness of the butter.

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Be sure your oven is well preheated. You want to warm the bread all the way through before broiling the top, and if your oven is nice and hot that will only take a few minutes. Once you turn it up to broil do not walk away from the oven! We have only ruined our loaf a couple of times over the years, but it happens remarkably quick. This will always be the last thing before you get dinner on the table since it needs to be served right away, so just do yourself a favor and do not multi-task.