My mom always made Garlic Bread with Parmesan. It was just the way it was done. My guess is SIL is similar.
That said, Garlic Bread is seriously one of my favorite things in all the world. With or without cheese, whatever.
The best garlic bread I ever had actually had garlicy bread topped with a layer of somewhat spicy marinara sauce and topped with a shredded mozerella. It was awesome.
If I make it for myself… I usually melt some butter and oil with some minced cloves of garlic in a microwave… brush it on the bread and broil with no parmesan until golden.
When I make garlic bread, I use about 1/2 shredded mozzarella and 1/2 shredded parmesan (not from the can). I like the crispier texture I get from the toasted parmesan.
Actually, I took the name from Insalata Caprese. It is my favorite salad.
The real irony is just how much I do love cheese, but how particular I am about its, um, distribution.
To me, more is not always better.
I get a big lump of softened butter, mix in a pinch of sea salt (kosher salt?), a minced clove of garlic, mixed herbs and a huge amount of parmesan. Then get a french stick, slice it down repeatedly, leaving two-inch segments, but only to about 3/4 of the depth of the loaf. Spread each semi-detached slice liberally with the butter mix, then if there’s anything left, spread it all over the top. Then wrap in aluminum foil and put in the oven for ten minutes to melt everything, then open the foil for five minutes to get the top crispy. Put into a bowl and let your guests rip a piece off at a time. It is, though I say it myself, the best garlic bread I’ve ever tasted.
Oh, it’s all about the right cheese in the right amount at the right time in the right place.
And right now in my fridge, I’ve got 3 year old cheddar with chipotle cheddar bits in it, a 7 year old cheddar, gjetost norwegian goat cream cheese, a 2 year old swiss (with that amber liquid in the holes instead of air), some stravecchio parmesan, some feta, some habanero jack cheese, and a nice farmer’s cheese with poultry seasoning in it.
I lack bufala mozzarella, sadly.
I just can’t imagine a world without a place for italian garlic parmesan toast. :eek:
When I was a little girl and we were not exactly rich, it was oleo, garlic salt, and green-can Parmesan on store-brand pieces of white bread.
We graduated to garlic powder and Italian bread by the time I was in high school, but we still used the green-can Parmesan.
I learned more about cooking in college – the Food network plus living in cooperative houses known for their cooking taught me a lot. That was where I learned the marvelous garlic bread recipe:
Take one hot Italian loaf. Cut the pieces all the way down to the bottom crust but do NOT break the bottom crust. Take a stick of butter or so and a huge amount of minced garlic. Gently brown the garlic in the butter and add a little salt. Spoon this mixture between each slice. Envelop the whole thing in foil, stick in oven until really hot. Exquisite.
I’ve since extended this to laying the pieces of bread out, dousing them with the butter stuff, and grating Parmesan over them. A bit too greasy/buttery, perhaps, but if those words bring another confused and questioning look, it’s a party for the mouth.
I am one of those people who eventually gets embarrassed for the poor waiter standing there grating weak air-thin wisps of cheese into my pasta. Grate that sucker!
[hijack] Though there was one guy who basically just waved the grater at the cheese for three seconds and walked off, assuming he was done. This was also the guy who stared at me blankly when I noted shyly that the tea I had just tasted like eleven AM’s dregs and it was three now, and could I please get a refill. He also wandered off immediately and sat down to chat with his coworkers rather than get me my freakin’ bread. The extra time it takes to calculate 14% for service just shy of acceptable is worth it sometimes.[/hijack]
This is what I tend to do, except I don’t use a whole stick of butter, and there is a lot of olive oil in there. I slather the butter/garlic/olive oil mixture all over the entire loaf, not just in between the slices. The loaf is enveloped in foil and warmed in the oven. I like how the slices are crusty on the outside but soft within.
This is what my sister in law did. And her brother, my husband, thought the Italian Garlic Parmesan Toast was great.
Me, I find it a distraction, a dilution of the garlic bread experience.
As much as I enjoy cheese (and certainly I love bread and cheese) to me, not every food is improved by the addition of it.
Fish tacos should not have cheese. I don’t like cheese fries, either.
