Grilled Garlic Bread

I have a new favorite cookbook.  How To Grill by Steven Raichlen.  You may remember Raichlen; he had a grilling show on PBS called Primal Grill.  I saw this cookbook on tv and checked it out from the library.  As I was reading through it, I was marking the pages I wanted to copy for future reference, and realized I wanted to copy all of them!  The great thing about this book is that it's not just a cookbook full of recipes.  In fact, most of the book isn't recipes, it's step-by-step instructions on how to grill any food you can think of.  It also has all the information you need to start grilling, even if you've never done it before.  What I like about it is all the instructions for grilling things you wouldn't normally think to grill, like this garlic bread.  I want to try all the veggies and side dishes in there!  I knew that I couldn't try everything in 3 weeks, so I went out and bought my very own copy.  If you like to grill, I highly recommend this book.  Here's the recipe for the garlic bread.


Grilled Garlic Bread


Ingredients:
1 loaf French bread (20” - 24” long)
12 tbsp salted butter, room temperature
4 cloves garlic, grated
¼ cup fresh herbs, finely chopped
¼ cup Parmesan, grated


Directions:
Preheat grill to medium-high.  


Cut the bread sharply on the diagonal into ½” thick slices.  Arrange the bread slices on a tray or baking sheet.


Place the butter in a medium bowl and cream it using a spatula.  Add the garlic, herbs, and Parmesan and beat until the butter is light and fluffy.  Using a spatula or pastry brush, spread the garlic butter on both sides of the bread slices.


When ready to cook, place the buttered bread on the hot grate and grill until golden brown on both sides, 1 to 3 minutes per side.  Don’t take your eyes off the grill for a second, as the bread will burn quickly.  If it starts to burn, use tongs to move the slices to a cooler area of the grill.  Remove from the grill and serve immediately.


Makes 8 servings.

I was out of butter, so I used a tub spread instead.  That worked just fine and I will probably use that instead of butter in the future, so my dairy-allergic daughter can eat it.

The recipe in the book called for parsley, but since I don't like it I substituted fresh chives because that's what I had I had in the fridge that day.  I think any fresh herb would be good and that makes it easy to compliment your main dish.  Also, I increased the garlic a tad bit.  I like my garlic bread nice and garlicky!

Like I said above, I can't wait to try more recipes from this book.  In the past we have pretty much only grilled meat, but I figure since we already have the grill going, why turn on the oven or stove top to make the sides?  I definitely want to branch out in terms of grilled side dishes.  So stay tuned for more to come!