A burrito on a plate with guacamole and sour cream

Choosing Garlic:
For the best flavor, select firm, heavy heads with tight skins. Hardneck garlic varieties (such as Music or German Red) offer more complexity and a cleaner heat than most supermarket softneck varieties.

Preventing Bitterness:
Garlic burns quickly. Add minced garlic to warm—not scorching—fat, and cook just until fragrant. Overcooking turns it harsh and metallic.

Balancing Butter & Olive Oil:
A blend of butter for richness and extra-virgin olive oil for aroma delivers a more nuanced flavor and prevents the butter from over-browning under the broiler.

their color and freshness.

Garlic bread is basically bread topped with a blend of garlic and olive oil or butter, toasted or grilled.
Although sliced, Italian bread is most common, it's fun to pre slice a hoagie/hero roll about 3/4  through and pour lightly toasted garlic and olive oil over the loaf-then bake in the oven. Add fresh Italian parsley or even top with fresh mozzarella and bake. People can 'tear' off pieces and enjoy with their meal.

It's important to use a great bread (you can choose your favorite) and good quality garlic and olive oil. I prefer Italian bread or baguette, an imported, Italian olive oil and always use fresh garlic rather than the pre-peeled or chopped available in markets. I actually grow my own garlic these days!

Garlic itself is a remarkable ingredient: pungent when raw, mellow and sweet when roasted, and transformative in most savory dishes.  I plant garlic in the fall, covered in a cold frame to overwinter, and harvest in spring and summer; this slow development provides great flavor.

Garlic Bread

Prep Time: 20 min

Cooking Time: 15 min

Yield: 4 portions


Ingredients       

8  ea                   Baguette slices                                                                            

1/2 C                  Olive oil or melted butter

1/2  C                 Fresh Garlic, peeled and minced       

3 Tbsp              Italian parsley, rinsed and chopped

tt                        Crushed, black pepper     

4 Tbsp              Mozzarella cheese shredded; optional


How to Prepare Garlic Bread

A pot filled with rice and greens is being cooked
A close up of a tortilla with meat and rice on a cutting board.
A tortilla with meat rice and cheese on it
A person is rolling a burrito on a cutting board.


Step 1

Slice the bread.  350° F



Peel the garlic by gently smashing the whole clove to loosen the skin and then peeling with your fingers or a paring knife.






Step 2

Split the whole cloves and pick out the thin stem in the center-it's bitter; discard. Slice or mince the garlic.




Step 3

Heat the butter or oil, add the garlic and cook gently at low temperature until lightly browned.




A chopped herbs and crushed, black pepper,


A burrito on a plate with guacamole and sour cream

Step 4

Place the baguettes slices, dipped in garlic butter, onto a sheet tray and bake at  350° F until golden brown on top and bottom- enjoy.





 

Beginners recipe: Vegetable Stock

By Tom Griffiths • January 16, 2026
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Beginners recipe: Breakfast Burritos

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I still remember cooking breakfast burritos with my son Daniel, for volunteer workers at church events—simple, hearty, and made to fuel a long day of service. The workers were always so appreciative. Years later, I served a crowd favorite, nicknamed “The Bacon-ator,” a breakfast superstar inspired by the over-the-top spirit of fast-food indulgence. We had a popular food booth at the local country fair, where we cooked hundreds of breakfast burritos each day-stuffed with Mexican cheeses, extra bacon, fluffy scrambled eggs, and fresh salsa—nothing pre-made, nothing rushed. Every burrito was warm, fresh, and full of flavor. When food is made with love, even the most straightforward breakfast is memorable.

Beginners recipe: Stuffed Peppers

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Culinary Basics; The Art of Stocks-Vegetable Stock

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Paella

By Tom Griffiths • January 13, 2026
Paella is a Mediterranean dish originating in the Valencia region of Spain. It is a humble meal, originally cooked on an open fire. I’ve enjoyed many wonderful paella meals in Spain. In Valencia I had a local paella with rabbit, snails and local beans. Short-grained rice is always used to prepare Paella, there are several great Spanish varieties like Bomba and Calasparra , prized for absorbing the delicious, flavorful stock and flavors of the ingredients without getting mushy. This is important for creating the dish's signature, crusty bottom layer called the socarrat. Paella is all about the rice!

Copy of Beginners Recipe: Breakfast Burrito

By Tom Griffiths • January 7, 2026
I still remember cooking breakfast burritos with my son Daniel, for volunteer workers at church events—simple, hearty, and made to fuel a long day of service. The workers were always so appreciative. Years later, I served a crowd favorite, nicknamed “The Bacon-ator,” a breakfast superstar inspired by the over-the-top spirit of fast-food indulgence. We had a popular food booth at the local country fair, where we cooked hundreds of breakfast burritos each day-stuffed with Mexican cheeses, extra bacon, fluffy scrambled eggs, and fresh salsa—nothing pre-made, nothing rushed. Every burrito was warm, fresh, and full of flavor. When food is made with love, even the most straightforward breakfast is memorable. 

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