french garlic bread with caramelized onions

Let's face it. Garlic bread is one of those things that everyone loves to shove in their mouths almost any chance they get. It's one of the ultimate comfort foods but after awhile, same ol' garlic bread gets a bit boring. Similar to chicken, bread is the type of food that is simply a canvas just begging to be painted on. So start painting! Get creative with foods like this because the discoveries are endless.

Garlic bread is typically an Italian type of side dish accompanying an equally garlicky main course. So today I decided to experiment with different additions to the basic garlic bread combinations. The outcome was a bit of a French inspired version of the old favorite. The key difference in this recipe that I wanted to focus on are: lemon & rosemary.

Are you willing to take the risk of smelling like you just bathed in a tub of garlic and onions? Okay, good.

What You Will Need:

-Good bread!

(I used sliced italian bread that I had laying around the kitchen and needed to be used up. This is a great recipe that will help you use up the last couple pieces of fresh sliced bread before it goes bad! no waste!)

-One yellow onion (I used half since I didn't make that many pieces)

-Juice of one lemon

-Extra Virgin Olive Oil

-Balsamic Vinegar

-Parsley (Dried or Fresh)

-Two garlic cloves

-Rosemary

-Black Pepper

-2 tbsp of butter

-Good quality shredded mozzarella cheese

-Shredded parmesan cheese

For the caramelized onions-

1. Heat up your sautee pan with a bit of olive oil.

2. Mince one clove of garlic and toss into the pan to infuse the oil, but keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't burn.

3. Chop up the yellow onion and add to garlic & oil in the simmering pan.

4. Stir the onions, garlic & oil around so everything is evenly coated.

5. Squeeze the juice of 1/2 a lemon into the pan & sprinkle black pepper onto the onions.

6. Add just 1/2 tsp of balsamic vinegar into the pan. Make sure everything is evenly coated.

7. Sautee in the pan on medium until the onions are fully caramelized.

For the French butter & bread-

1. In a small mixing bowl, add the butter (make sure it's at room temperature/a bit soft. if not, put in the microwave for 10 seconds), parsley, pepper, rosemary, 1/2 tbsp of olive oil, juice of 1/2 lemon and garlic (one clove minced) until it is all smooth and evenly mixed. Use a fork to really get in there until it reaches a good consistency.

2. Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.

3. As the oven is heating up, line a cookie sheet with tin foil and drizzle a bit of olive oil onto it to avoid sticking.

4. Slice up your bread however you desire and line them up on the sheet.

5. Spread the French butter onto each slice of bread and then add the caramelized onions.

6. After each slice has the right amount of butter and onions on top, sprinkle a bit of shredded cheese to the top. (I used mozzarella cheese & parmesan cheese)

7. Bake until golden brown (about 10 minutes)

enjoy!