Garlic Bread Fingers from a Wheat Baguette

I cannot start every post with “I haven’t written for ages”. But it happened. So… I haven’t written for ages. But here I am, because it is the May holiday weekend and I finally have a little time to write something. Believe me, there has been so much inspiration… Anyone who follows the Prymitywna Kuchnia Facebook page knows that inspiration has been there. In all sorts of places, too, from east to west… from sunrise to sunset.

Seriously, though, most of that inspiration came from the southwest. Italy, Spain and, above all, my beloved Portugal. In November I went to a very large event (it is hard to call it a conference), Websummit in Lisbon. Admittedly, to escape the conference crowds in the city centre in the evenings, I stayed in Cascais, another favourite of mine. Believe it or not, when Websummit is on, 60 thousand visitors descend on a city of barely half a million. So it really is hard not to run into them in town, especially in the evening. We also went to Portugal during the summer holidays, for longer: over two weeks, including almost a week in a beautiful villa overlooking the ocean in the Algarve. Paradise, barbecues and wine every day. A sea—an ocean, really—of wine 🙂 Wine: guilty as charged.

But let’s come back down to earth. Or simply come back. Since I am returning to writing, I should explain what brings me here. Letters to the editor, that’s what. You often write asking how to make the simplest garlic baguettes. The ones supermarkets push on you for three fifty, stuffed with who knows what, on a baguette of all-too-familiar quality, with who knows how long a shelf life.

I will not tell you how to make those; I will tell you how to make better ones. I call mine fingers because I cut the bread into narrow strips and usually serve them to my little daughter (who lately mostly eats salads with garlic toasts). She likes ketchup with them too. I don’t, particularly. But I certainly recommend these garlicky treats.

Highly recommended.

PRO TIP: how to heat your oven to a high temperature quickly?

If your oven has a top-and-bottom heat setting and a preheating option, you have probably noticed that it takes quite a while. That is why the best way to heat the oven is to use the fan-assisted grill function (if you have one, of course, but I think most reasonably new ovens do). Set the fan-assisted grill to high power and turn it on for 2 – 3 minutes. Then switch to normal baking and voilà. The oven should already be at roughly 200 degrees Celsius. Just don’t forget to change the cooking setting, because that turbo grill really does burn everything at turbo speed 😉

Recipe details:

Preparation time: about 5 minutes

Baking time: about 8 – 10 minutes

Baking temperature: 200 degrees Celsius (top and bottom heat, with no extra functions)

Serves: one

Calories: so many that it is better not to remember

Ingredients for perfect garlic bread fingers made from a wheat baguette:

• a piece of wheat baguette (I buy mine from Lubaszka, so it is a sizeable baguette—if you know, you know; generally, one salad needs a piece of baguette 12 – 15 cm long)
• 1 medium clove garlic (ideally young Polish garlic)
• 2 pinches of salt
• 2 pinches of freshly ground black pepper
• half a teaspoon of sweet red paprika powder
• 1 teaspoon Italian herbs
• 1 tablespoon butter
• half a tablespoon olive oil

Recipe for baked baguette with perfect garlic butter:

I sliced the baguette into 3 layers (as I said, mine was large and a proper baguette; make sure yours is not a supermarket baguette made from powder, because then the toasts taste rubbish), then cut each layer in half. That gives you the finger-shaped toasts shown in the photo.

I made the garlic butter by putting all the remaining ingredients (apart from the baguette, obviously) into a small bowl and mixing thoroughly.

I spread this mixture over the tops of my bread fingers (it should have the consistency of almost melted butter, mainly thanks to the olive oil). Then I put them into the oven, preheated to 200 degrees Celsius, for 8 – 10 minutes. Just watch that they do not burn too much or dry out.

The garlic toast fingers were ready. You can serve them alongside a salad or eat them on their own or with ketchup. Enjoy 🙂

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