Green Onion French Bread

Preparation time: 5 minutes or less
Cooking time: about 10 minutes
Yield: 4 to 6 servings

Any recipe that uses only three ingredients but tastes this good is near and dear to my heart.

Kid Tip
Young ones love mashing the butter and chopped green onions together, and can get quite carried away when it comes to shmearing the mixture on the bread slices.

Cooking Tip
When slicing bread, use a serrated knife—the kind that has a wavy edge rather than a smooth edge. To prevent mashing the bread down as you cut, move the serrated knife back and forth in a sawing motion, and grip the bread with fingers and thumb on the opposite sides of the loaf, pressing together slightly to keep the loaf firm. (Don't press down on the top of the bread or you'll flatten and mash it.)

Ingredients and steps

1 loaf French bread
4 to 6 green onions
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) softened butter (or margarine, if you prefer)

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees F.

2. Trim and chop the green onions (including the white and green parts). With a fork, mash the green onions into the softened butter.

3. Cut the loaf diagonally into 3/4 inch slices—but try not to cut the loaf all the way through. By leaving the bottom of the loaf just barely uncut, it holds together better.

4. Place a length of foil slightly longer than the loaf on a baking sheet. Place the loaf on the foil.

5. Spread the butter mixture on one side only of each slice, and smear a little on the top of the loaf as well.

6. Fold the sides of the foil up loosely around the loaf, leaving the top exposed. Bake for 5 to 10 minutes, or until the butter has melted into the slices and the top is brown. Serve in the foil, allowing guests to cut or pull each slice off at table. To keep the foil-wrapped loaf warm, put it in a bread basket, or wrap a towel around it.