Home

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Cheesy Garlic Bread

Last Friday night I completely and totally tweaked my neck.  Of course stuff like this always happens on the weekend when your choice is the E.R. or sucking it up and dealing as best you can.  So after a weekend full of heating pads, Epsom Salt baths, ice packs, ibuprofen, and maybe a little tequila, I was SO happy to meet my new bestie....Dr. Redd the chiropractor.
After a few sessions and some rice krispys later....you know, snap crackle pop, I am somewhat more mobile. 
Absolutely none of this has anything to do with my other new bestie, this cheesy garlic bread, but I felt I owed a little explanation as to my absence this week. 
Now, this bread is AWESOME....a total new favorite!  Forget buying the frozen garlic bread, or the stuff in the foil-y packets...this is just as easy and tastes UMPTEEN TIMES better!  Umpteen, that is a professional term for quite a lot...not to be confused with butt-load which has a negative connotation, especially in a blog about food.  For example, when your hubby comes home from a football night and admits he ate a butt-load of Taco Bell Bean Burritos, that is bad.  Very bad.  For your safety, make him sleep on the couch, or on the roof.   However, if he has gone with you to see your favorite 80's cover band UMPTEEN times...that is good.  Very good.  See the difference?  Class dismissed.  Amen.

Ingredients:
  • 1 loaf French or Italian bread 18-20 inches sliced in half horizontally.  Don't use the skinny baguette's....not that I have anything against skinny, just you will need a "bigger" platform to hold the goods.
  • 5 garlic cloves, VERY FINELY minced.  I used the Trader Joe's frozen garlic cubes and it worked beautifully
  • 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, divided and softened
  • 1/2 teaspoon water
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese.  I used the blend in the packet that has Mozzarella, Provolone, Parmesan, Asiago, Fontina, etc. 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In a small saucepan or skillet over low heat, melt 1TBSP of butter, garlic, and water together.  Stir occasionally until the mixture is straw colored, about 5-7 minutes, being careful to lightly brown but NOT BURN the garlic.  Browned garlic=yummy, burned garlic=hurl.
In a small bowl, combine the remaining 7 TBSP butter with the salt and pepper.  Add in the melted butter/garlic mixture and stir to combine.  Using a rubber spatula, spread butter mixture on both cut sides of the bread.
Sandwich the two sides back together and cover completely with foil.
Place on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes.
Remove baking sheet from oven and unwrap bread from foil.  Place the 2 sides, cut side up, back on the baking sheet.  Sprinkle with shredded cheese and set your broiler to high.  Put bread under the broiler and watch very carefully for the cheese to melt and get bubbly and brown.  It will go very fast....anywhere from 30 seconds to 2 minutes, and only about 10 seconds to burn.  ENJOY!!!

I would like to thank the lovely Melanie from My Kitchen Cafe for introducing me to this extraordinary bread!

This recipe has been linked up at:
Frou Frou Decor
Simply Sweet Home
Tidy Mom
Mommy's Kitchen

11 comments:

  1. Sounds yummy! When I think about cheesy bread, I think about Little Cesar's and a phone call at Patti's house... what a night!

    ReplyDelete
  2. OMG, I would have this for dinnner, and this for dinner ALONE

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dearest Siggy,
    I was wondering where you were last week...thought maybe it had to do with your up and coming move. I am soooo sorry you had an ouchy neck BUG soooo glad you found a new "bestie" being a chiropractor that could help you. I have been seeing one too to help me out with my ouchy bum/lower back from my pregnancy....he is a GOD SEND!!! Hooray for chiroprators!

    And well, the bread you have just posted a lovely recipe on....is making me drool!!!!!!!!! I need to make this bread soooo soon!

    I hope you have a great weekend coming up with no more ouchies!
    ~avril :-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. This looks delicious and would work for me anytime! You teach a good lesson. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  5. yum, looks delicious! I could eat this for dinner!!

    Here from tidymom, have a great weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  6. This looks amazing. I'll never make plain garlic bread again.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Count me in! Butter, cheese and garlic, the stuff dreams are made of.

    ReplyDelete
  8. popped over from mommy's kitchen--and now i'm wishing I wasn't in bed or I'd be making this!!

    -Krystal @ recipesofacheapskate.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oh! This is making me hungry. I love cheese bread! Thanks for linking up for Friday Favorites last week!

    Hope you'll stop by again this week. I'm celebrating my blogiversary with a giveaway for a Presto Cool Touch Griddle!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Oh wow... That looks spectacular! I love bread like this... So wish I had a loaf of bread in the house right now!

    ReplyDelete