Garlic Butter for French Bread

• wide-blade knife
• serrated knife
• small bowl
• garlic press
• spoon
• butter knife
• cookie sheet

About The Ingredients . . .

Butter

Butter is a pale yellow, salted or unsalted, rich, heavy, savory, creamy when solid, succulent when melted, dairy product made from fresh or fermented cow’s cream or cow’s milk.

It is made by churning (vigorously agitating) milk or cream until the butterfat grains separate from the liquid buttermilk. The liquid buttermilk is drained off, and the butterfat grains are kneaded and pressed into rectangular sticks and packaged for sale.

When its made from pasteurized (heated) fresh cream, it is referred to as “sweet cream” butter and has a shelf life of several months. When it is made from unpasteurized cream, it is referred to as “raw cream” butter and only has a shelf life of about ten days.

It is labeled with a quality rating grade in the U.S.—AA being premium, A being good, and B being of lesser quality. Softened butter that has had herbs, spices, or other flavors added to it is called “compound” butter.

Garlic

Garlic (Allium sativum) is a strong, pungent, spicy, sweet when heated, unique, tasty, aromatic vegetable bulb that is a close relative to onions, chives, and leeks. The garlic bulb, also called the “head,” is subdivided into sections called cloves.

Both the whole bulb and the individual cloves are covered in an off-white papery sheath. It is the pale-yellow, fleshy part of the cloves underneath the sheath that are eaten. Found in the produce section of supermarkets, the most common variety of garlic typically has between 10 to 15 cloves per head.

Italian Seasoning

Italian seasoning is a herb blend (a mixture of herbs) used to flavor Italian dishes. The main ingredients are rosemary, thyme, oregano, and basil. It may also contain other ingredients such as marjoram or sage.

Rosemary

Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) is a pungent, earthy, sharp, lemon-pine flavored herb with a pine-like scent. The rosemary plant is a Mediterranean evergreen shrub sprouting needle-shaped leaves that are a deep green color on top and a silver-white color underneath. It can be used fresh or dried.

Thyme

Thyme (Thymus vulgaris), pronounced “time”, is a sweet, mildly pungent, slightly minty, slightly peppery, woodsy, earthy herb with long, thin, woody stems and tiny, spear-shaped, green leaves. It is a low-growing, aromatic, Mediterranean perennial. It is sold both dried and fresh.

Oregano

Oregano (Origanum vulgare ) is a spicy, astringent, slightly bitter, complicated, somewhat sweet, pungent, peppery, bold perennial herb. It has small, spade-shaped, olive to dark green leaves and produces tiny pink, white, and purple flowers. Dried oregano has a more assertive flavor than fresh.

Basil

Basil (Ocimum basilicum) is an earthy, peppery, sweet, strong, licorice-clove tasting herb that belongs to the mint family. It has solid, oblong, pointy, bushy, green leaves with woody, branching stems. It is a warm-weather annual plant. It is more pungent fresh than dried.

French Bread

French is a golden brown, crisp, crusty, chewy, sweet and toasty smelling, nutty, buttery, sweet, and savory tasting type of white bread. When you squeeze it, the crust should crackle. When it's sold in plastic wrap it loses its hard, chewy crust and becomes softened. It should, instead, be purchased wrapped in a paper covering to prevent this from happening. The inside of the loaf should be soft and full of bubbles. Its shape is long and narrow with rounded ends. It can also be referred to as a baguette, batard, torpedo, or French stick.