The Abridged version:
- Zoe Barrie’s latest Cooking In Season recipe is herbed cheesy garlic bread to accompany just about any cold-weather meal.
- She recommends using bread from The Baker and the Cakemaker, an Auburn bakery that travels to several area farmers markets.
- This recipe makes half a loaf, but can be stretched to cover a full loaf with a bit more mozzarella and olive oil.
This is Cooking In Season, a biweekly series from local recipe developer Zoe Barrie using seasonal produce available at Sacramento-area farmers markets.
My non-negotiable stop at the farmers market is the sourdough tent, where I’ll almost always grab a loaf of bread or a crusty baguette to serve with dinners throughout the week. Lately, I’ve been loving The Baker and the Cakemaker from Auburn — their Meyer lemon rosemary bread placed second in the World Bread Awards last year, and it’s easy to see why.
Sometimes, midweek, I find myself with about a half-loaf of bread and some leftover herbs in the refrigerator — usually ones I grabbed impulsively at the market (I can never resist fresh herbs). That’s exactly how this bread was born.
Maybe it’s the remaining half bunch of flat-leaf parsley you didn’t use, a few too many thyme sprigs sitting in the back of your refrigerator or the excess cheese in your cheese drawer. This bread uses it all.
And while it sounds like a clean-out-the-fridge type of recipe, the result feels far from an afterthought. The flavors come together harmoniously, tasting deliberate and worthy of making again.
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Herbed Cheesy Garlic Bread
Yield: about 6-8 servings
Total time: 20 minutes
This garlic bread is simple, crave-worthy and the perfect companion to soups, pastas or just about any cold-weather meal. While this recipe is written for half a loaf, you can use a full loaf sliced lengthwise if you’re feeding a crowd. In that case, increase the olive oil to ¼ cup and the mozzarella to 1 cup.
Ingredients
¼ cup room temperature salted butter
¼ cup full-fat mayonnaise
2 tablespoons olive oil
5 garlic cloves, grated
1 tablespoon chopped thyme
¼ cup chopped chives
â…“ cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
½ teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan (such as Parmigiano Reggiano)
½ (1-pound) rustic sourdough loaf (such as pain de campagne), split horizontally
½ cup shredded whole milk mozzarella
Instructions
Step 1
Position an oven rack about 6 inches below the broiler, then set the broiler to high.
Step 2
In a medium mixing bowl, stir together butter, mayonnaise, olive oil, garlic, thyme, chives and parsley until smooth, with no large clumps remaining — use a silicone spatula or fork to break down the larger chunks of butter, if needed. Fold in salt and Parmesan. Taste and season with additional salt, if needed.
Step 3
Place the bread, cut sides up, on a large sheet tray. Evenly spread the herb mixture over both bread halves, then sprinkle the mozzarella evenly over the top.
Step 4
Broil, rotating the sheet tray once, until the edges are deeply golden and the cheese is bubbling and lightly blistered, 4 to 5 minutes total. Watch closely to prevent burning, as broilers vary.
Step 5
Let cool slightly, then slice into 1½- to 2-inch strips and serve warm.
Zoe Barrie is the writer and recipe developer behind Cooking In Season, a biweekly column featuring recipes made from the Sacramento region’s seasonal produce. She runs the popular Substack page Restaurant Dropout and previously worked in Bay Area restaurants after graduating from culinary school.