Feed Your People This Insane Garlicky Cheese Bread
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As we’re approaching game day season and dare we say… the holidays, we need a trustworthy cookbook source to help us prep for a crowd. That’s why we’re all about Feed Your People: Big-Batch, Big-Hearted Cooking and Recipes to Gather Around ($40), written by Leslie Jonath with 18 Reasons, a nonprofit cooking school / event space in San Francisco.
Jonath turned to the San Francisco-Bay Area chef community to fill the pages with crowd-pleasing recipes, from dips to soups to mains and desserts. Alice Waters (founder of Chez Panisse), Bryant Terry (author of Afro-Vegan), Alicia Villanueva (a La Cocina entrepreneur), and many more provided beginner (but delicious) global recipes like minestrone, grits with grilled veggies, and tamales to inspire any festivity. Jonath assured us at the cookbook preview party that all of the recipes have been tested and retested by herself and 18 Reasons diners to ensure foolproof-ness for even the greenest cook.
Because we’re very much into bread, cheese, AND potatoes (who isn’t?), we couldn’t look away from this pull-apart garlicky cheese-and-potatoes bread from the founder of Tartine Bakery, Elisabeth Prueitt. Though it’s certainly snack-ready as is, dunk it into marinara sauce or tomato sauce to send tastebuds over the edge.
whole-loaf garlic cheese bread
(Makes 1 loaf)
This garlicky cheese bread from Elisabeth Prueitt, co-owner of Tartine Bakery and Tartine Manufactory in San Francisco, can be placed in the middle of the table as an edible centerpiece. The cross-hatched loaf is brushed with butter, strewn with cheese, and baked atop boiled marble potatoes, which act as an edible cooking rack. It is so easy to put together that you can make a number of loaves quickly. Serve it hot from the oven and invite guests to tear off sections with their fingers (have lots of napkins on hand).
Serve this bread as a centerpiece in the middle of the table to go with soups. You can also serve it as a side dish for pastas, roasted meats, or salads to round out a meal.
Ingredients:
- 6 marble-sized potatoes
- 1 large round or oval country-style bread
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter
- 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons chopped, fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh rosemary, chopped
- 6 ounces (about 1 1/2 cups) cheddar or Gruyére cheese, grated
Equipment:
- 1 half-sheet pan
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Put the potatoes in a saucepan and add water to cover. Bring to a boil over high heat and boil until the potatoes are tender. Drain and set aside.
3. With a serrated knife, cut the loaf of bread in a crosshatch pattern, cutting all of the way through the bread but stopping just before the bottom crust.
4. Place the potatoes in the center of a half sheet pan and lay the bread on top of them so it lies in a convex shape, revealing the interior of the loaf.
5. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat and add the garlic. Swirl the pan over the heat to cook the garlic gently without letting it brown, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and add the parsley, thyme, and rosemary. Remove from the heat.
6. Brush the flavored butter into all of the crevices and on top of the bread. Sprinkle with the cheese, making sure some gets into the cuts as well as on top.
7. Bake until the cheese has melted and the bread is warmed through, about 20 minutes.
8. Serve the bread immediately, with the potatoes in a bowl alongside.
For more recipe inspo, follow Brit + Co on Pinterest.
(Photos via Molly De Coudreaux and recipe via Elisabeth Prueitt / Tartine Bakery)
