Colman Andrews

Steve Hope Bread

Preparation info

  • Serves

    6 to 8

Appears in

Everything on the Table

Everything on the Table

By Colman Andrews

Published 1992

  • About

Steve Hope was my boss for a time when I worked as a film inspector at ABC-TV in Hollywood in the early 1960s. He used to bring this bread to work sometimes, and I liked it well enough to ask him for the recipe—which in fact was his wife Betty’s.

Hope now has his own film-editing company, I learned when I tracked him down recently to ask his permission to use the recipe, and he remembers me well. This, I assume, is because I was always getting in trouble for one thing or another at ABC. Like staying out too long for lunch.

Ingredients

  • 1 long loaf sourdough bread
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 pinch each dried thyme and dried basil
  • 2 pinches dried rosemary
  • 1 teaspoon each dried oregano, marjoram, summer savory, sweet red (bell) pepper flakes, sweet green bell pepper flakes, onion flakes, parsley, chives*
  • 2 sticks salted butter, at room temperature

Method

Preheat oven to 250°

Carefully slice bread into thirds lengthwise.

Blend all remaining ingredients together well, then spread evenly on all cut surfaces of bread and reassemble loaf.

Wrap loosely in aluminum foil and bake on cookie sheet for 30 minutes. Serve at room temperature.

* Red and green bell pepper flakes are hard to find these days, and may be omitted if necessary. Would this bread taste as good with fresh herbs instead of dried ones? Sure. Probably better. But it wouldn’t be Steve Hope Bread.

© 1992 Colman Andrews. All rights reserved.