Breads and Pizza
Santa Maria Garlic Bread

Sample barbecue in Santa Maria, California, and along with the tritips and the pinquito beans, you’ll almost always find garlic bread. And the soft, oversize loaves of “French” bread sold in supermarkets are perfect for grilling (in other words, don’t worry if you can’t find artisanal baguettes for this recipe). While they don’t usually use parsley when they make garlic bread in the Santa Maria Valley, I like the way it looks and tastes.
Santa Maria Garlic Bread Recipe
Santa Maria Garlic Bread
Recipe Notes
- Yield: Makes 20 slices
- Method: Direct Grilling
Ingredients
- 10 tablespoons (1-1/4 sticks) salted butter
- 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 1 loaf supermarket French bread
Recipe Steps
1: Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and parsley and cook until the garlic is fragrant but not brown, about 2 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat.
2: Using a serrated knife, cut the bread sharply on the diagonal into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Lightly brush some of the garlic butter on both sides of each slice of bread. Work with a light touch; if you soak the bread the dripping butter will catch fire.
3: Set up the grill for direct grilling using a two-zone fire; preheat one zone to medium-high and leave the other zone unlit so you can move the bread over it if it starts to burn.
4: When ready to cook, brush and oil the grill grate. Place the buttered bread slices over the medium-high zone of the grill and toast them until golden brown, 1 to 3 minutes per side. Don’t take your eyes off the grill for a second, as the bread can burn quickly. Transfer the grilled bread to a basket and serve at once.