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wrote:

> Looking for a sure-fire method for great garlic bread.
>
> What do you use? Chopped garlic? Garlic powder or garlic salt? Garlic
> butter?
>
> How do you cook it so that it browns and hardens correctly?

There's garlic bread and garlic bread, i take your request to be
indicative of the latter rather than the former? I have used a knife i
sliced garlic with to then cut butter and butter a piece of toast, to
remarkably good effect.

However the garlic bread "to die for" is IMO conditional on 1 very
important ingredient. Really very good bread. An excellent garlic
bread is capable of being made with a loaf of dark rye, but i prefer a
loaf of ordinary white French. Fortunately i live in an are where i can
purchase easily a good loaf of French bread. As well as just about any
other type of bread if for some reason i do not wish to or are not abel
to make my own, a loaf of French bread is very easy.

Next i prefer to take a couple of days to make a quantity of beurre de
aiole. And whether to include cheese or not along with what specific
herbs.

Ordinarily i would take a couple of cups of butter and melt , clarify it
and add several (2 - 3 ) cloves of mashed garlic. I would then cook
that butter and garlic for several minutes without browning it. Remove
from the heat, pour into a container and add 1 clove of finely diced raw
garlic to the warm butter which i would then seal and set to chill in
the refrigerator overnight.

Early the next day, hours before using the butter to make the garlic
bread with i would add whatever herbs i thought necessary. If using
grated cheddar on the garlic bread i would also use oregano. If using
parmesan or other hard grated cheese i would probly use chopped parsley
or sage, some people like tarragon but i think it is too sweet. It is
not unheard of to use finely chopped shallots and a bit of wine.

Once the butter is sufficiently flavoured one slices the loaf of bread
in half, liberally and generously slather the 2 halves with the butter,
i will build up an 1/8 inch layer of the flavoured butter, then sprinkle
even more of ones chosen herbs over it and add any cheese one may
desire. Many people prefer it without the cheese.

Then set to toast in a hot oven of at least 400 degrees, for about 5
minutes then turn down to 350 and either watch for the cheese to begin
to bubble and then move the loaf to the broiler so the cheese may brown
a bit, or, if not using cheese, retain the loaf in the oven until it
begins to 'toast. It is important if one 'slathers' ones bread with
butter to make a cradle of tin foil for it to sit in with only the top
exposed. If one uses the butter sparingly a simple cookie sheet or large
roasting pan is sufficient.

The above instructions will produce a highly flavoured soft loaf, some
people like a harder, crunchier loaf, in which case it is almost
preferable to lightly toast the loaf before adding the butter and
finishing the loaf with the butter in place.

One can also do a half way decent fix with garlic granules stirred into
cold butter, and then use that to butter a piece of toast fresh from the
toaster, lightly buttered with that butter will be nice.

Margarine do not make good garlic bread at least IMO. But the Italians
make a version of garlic bread with olive oil.
---
JL