The Bread

By Ree DrummondPublished: Sep 17, 2010

4 Ratings

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French bread and butter. That's it. But it's the baking technique that sets it apart.

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Yields:: 12 serving(s)
Prep Time:: 5 mins
Cook Time:: 15 mins
Total Time:: 20 mins

Ingredients

1 loaf French Bread, Split Lengthwise
2 sticks Regular (salted) Butter, Softened

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spread one stick of softened butter on each half of the loaf.

Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes, or until butter is melted and starting to soak into the bread.

Crank on broiler and broil bread for 3 to 5 minutes, watching the whole time. Remove when butter has started to brown and blacken. Don't under-broil it! The flavor really kicks in when the butter's color changes.

Slice into strips and serve immediately.

Whenever I have a friend or family member over for dinner, they will ask the following question:

“Are you making The Bread?”

And I always smile and say:

“Yes. I am making The Bread.”

I smile because it’s a foregone conclusion that I will be making The Bread.

I smile because The Bread is so darn delicious and no one who tastes it can believe it contains only two ingredients.

I smile because it’s probably the easiest, simplest, effortless thing I make.

I smile. Because butter is involved.

Split a loaf of French bread in half, then spread one stick of room-temperature butter all over the surface.

That’s one stick per half loaf.

Yes, you read that right.

The idea here is that every speck of the surface of the bread needs to be coated.

Next, you put the bread into a 350-degree oven for ten minutes, long enough for the butter to melt and the bread to warm. When the butter has melted into the bread, this stage is done.

Now crank on the broiler.

This is a couple of minutes under the broiler, and this is not brown enough. The goal here is to broil the bread to the point that the butter becomes very dark brown and, in just a few areas, begins to burn.

When that happens, the flavor shows up.

If you don’t take it to the next level, it will just be buttered, warm bread.

Which is fine, and all…but it’s not The Bread.

That’s more like it. Oh, yes.

This is where the flavor is. And it’s not even a butter flavor—it tastes seasoned. It tastes indescribable.

Oh, baby.

When I serve this, I slice it on a cutting board into relatively thin (because it’s so rich) strips.

I serve it with tenderloin. Pasta dishes. Soup. Chili. Chicken Spaghetti. Stew. Salads.

It’s the perfect crispy, crunchy, flavorful complement to so many things.

Try it this weekend!

Love,
P-Dub