How to Make Spicy Garlic Bread

Spicy garlic bread Recipe 

Ingredients

• 1/2 baguette - day old is fine
  
• Olive oil
  
• Fresh or jarred chopped garlic
  
• Your choice of spice: Joe's Hot Stuff, Emeril's Essence, all purpose spice, or dried red pepper flakes. All are great!
  

Steps

1. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees and put your rack on the 2nd or 3rd rung from the top. You want it just above the center of the oven.
   
2. Set up a cookie sheet with a sheet of foil on it to make for easier cleanup.
   
3. Get 1/2 a loaf of French, sourdough, or wheat baguette, your choice. It does not have to be fresh, and tastes equally good with day-old bread.
   
4. Slice the baguette lengthwise in half, then score it (shallow cuts-don't separate!) into 'slices' of about 3-5 inches long, depending on how many people you're serving. Split half of a long baguette, with 3 pieces each to share between two.
   
5. Take a coffee cup or bowl, mix about 3-4 TBSP of good olive oil with 2-3 tsp of chopped garlic (fresh or from a jar). Do not use garlic powder! If you run out, feel free to add more of each. It's all to your taste.
   
6. Put your bread on the cookie sheet, then using your spoon, spread the garlic mixture over the long, scored halves of the baguette
   
7. Use your favorite spice. Joe's Hot Stuff is delicious. Some other options include: Emeril's Essence, All-purpose spice, Mexican seasoning, and dried red pepper flakes. Choose what you like best!
   
8. Bake the bread for 5-6 minutes, depending on thickness and newness. If the bread is fresh or thick (1.5-2 inches thick), then it'll need a bit longer baking time (5-6 min).
   
9. Leave the bread in the oven, switch to the broiler setting and broil for 2 minutes. It will dramatically change color then. Don't burn it! If in doubt, check after a minute.
   
10. Serve and enjoy!
    

Tips

• When slicing a baguette, slice it so the outside will lay on the pan flat. Some baguettes are more rounded, and that's okay, but if it won't lie flat, you might want to shave off some of the rounded bit on the outside so that the oil won't drip off
  
• When scoring, use your bread knife and just saw about halfway deep, so that each piece is still connected, but would be easy to tear away when serving
  
• The optimal texture when done should be crunchy on top, and a mix of crunchy/soft on the bottom. With my supermarket French baguettes, I usually can do 5 minutes on bake, then 2 minutes on broil and it's perfect.
  
• If you don't have a broil feature on your oven, then you can just bake it a bit longer (10 min total). It'll taste just as great, but not as crunchy.
  
• A great option is a quick bruschetta mix, which I do with: 2-3 fresh tomatoes (coarsely diced), 1/4 red onion (chopped), 2-3 tsp fresh parsley (chopped), a splash or two of red wine vinegar, and a pinch of sugar. Mix and serve on top of the bread for a great summer treat!
  

Warnings

• Garlic powder is not a good substitute here. If you don't have fresh or jarred chopped garlic, either buy it, or don't make it.
  

Things You'll Need

• 1 cookie sheet
  
• Foil
  
• Oven mitt