By April. The month of thunderstorms and promise and the specific restlessness that comes from living through a Nebraska winter and emerging on the other side, blinking and grateful and slightly feral. The kids have spring fever, which manifests as an inability to sit still, an unwillingness to do homework, and a constant petition for outside time that I grant as often as possible because children who are outside are children who are not breaking things inside.
I planted the garden this weekend. Earlier than last year because the frost dates cooperated and Josie patience was at zero. Same layout: tomatoes in the back, peppers and basil in the middle, lettuce in the front. This year I added cucumbers because Josie requested them and because I could not resist the image of Josie cucumber, which is almost as good as the image of Josie tomato, which was last year highlight.
Tyler and Dave built a trellis for the cucumbers, which was an engineering project that took longer than expected and involved a trip to the hardware store and a minor disagreement about angle brackets, which Dave won because Dave always wins disagreements about angle brackets, and Tyler conceded with the grace of an eleven-year-old who knows he will win the next one.
I made my slow cooker Mississippi pot roast on the road this week: chuck roast, ranch seasoning, au jus mix, butter, pepperoncinis. It is still the most requested recipe on my blog, which makes sense because it is the easiest thing I make and the most delicious, and the combination of easy and delicious is the holy grail of cooking and of life. I ate it on bread at a rest stop outside York and gave some to the trucker next to me, a young guy who was eating a gas station hot dog that looked like it had been through a war. He ate my pot roast and said where did you get this. I said I made it. He said in the truck? I said in the truck. He said that is the most amazing thing I have ever heard. It is not the most amazing thing he has ever heard. But it is pretty good.
When I described eating that Mississippi pot roast at a rest stop outside York, I may have glossed over the most important detail: the bread. I always travel with a loaf of something good, because pot roast on its own is a meal, but pot roast on bread is an experience. This pull-apart cheesy garlic bread is what I had that day — I’d made it the morning before leaving, wrapped it in foil, and it was still soft enough to soak up every drop of that buttery, peppery braising liquid. If that trucker had known what he was eating it with, he might have said something even more complimentary than “most amazing thing I’ve ever heard.”
The Best Cheesy Garlic Bread (Pull Apart Recipe)
Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 20 minutes | Total Time: 30 minutes | Servings: 8
Ingredients
- 1 loaf Italian or French bread (about 12–14 inches)
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 4 cloves garlic, minced (or 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder)
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped (or 1 teaspoon dried)
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat and prepare. Preheat your oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with foil.
- Score the bread. Place the loaf on the prepared baking sheet. Using a serrated knife, cut the bread in a crosshatch pattern, slicing every 1 to 1 1/2 inches both lengthwise and crosswise, cutting almost all the way through but leaving the bottom crust intact so the loaf holds together.
- Make the garlic butter. In a small bowl, combine the softened butter, minced garlic, parsley, onion powder, and salt. Mix until fully combined and smooth.
- Fill the cuts. Using a spoon or your fingers, work the garlic butter into every cut of the bread, making sure to get it deep into the crevices. Be generous — this is not the moment for restraint.
- Add the cheese. Combine the mozzarella and cheddar, then stuff the mixture into the cuts as well, pressing it down into the bread. Sprinkle the Parmesan evenly over the top.
- Wrap and bake. Loosely wrap the entire loaf in foil, leaving the top slightly open to allow steam to escape. Bake for 15 minutes, then open the foil fully and bake for an additional 5 minutes until the cheese is melted, bubbly, and beginning to turn golden at the edges.
- Serve immediately. Pull apart and serve hot alongside your favorite soup, stew, or — if you happen to have a slow cooker going — Mississippi pot roast.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 310 | Protein: 11g | Fat: 18g | Carbs: 27g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 480mg