Post by Loupy on Jun 6, 2012 21:46:40 GMT -7
Making the Basics: Croutons
From: Annie's Eats
annies-eats.com/
Photo by Annie's Eats
Do you make your own croutons? If you don’t, you should try it.
The basic idea is to mix cubes of bread with a bit of fat, seasonings, and then dry them out in the oven until crisp. There are tons of variations you could make to suit your tastes – use different types of breads, use more olive oil than butter, play around with the seasonings. As long as the bread has been fully dried out and there is no chewiness to the croutons, they will keep in an airtight container for a pretty long time – at least a couple of weeks.
Yield: about 3-4 cups
Ingredients
1 medium baguette or about 4 cups ½-inch bread cubes
1½ tbsp. olive oil
1½ tbsp. melted butter
Garlic powder
Dried parsley
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 300˚ F.
Remove the crust from the baguette and cube the bread to the desired size.
Place the bread cubes in a medium mixing bowl.
Stir in the melted butter and olive oil and toss to coat.
Season to taste with garlic powder, dried parsley, salt and pepper (¼ teaspoon of each seasoning is a good starting point.)
Toss once more until everything is evenly combined.
Spread the croutons in a single layer on a baking sheet (preferably a rimmed baking sheet unless you’re a daredevil like me).
Bake, stirring once every 10 minutes, until the croutons are light golden and crisp and no chewiness remains (be sure to let a crouton cool for a minute or two before testing!)
They will bake about 40-50 minutes total but the time may vary depending on the size of cubes and type of bread.
Remove to a cooling rack and let cool completely.
Store in an airtight container.
Cook tip:
You can use whatever type of bread you like to make these. Though many people use regular sliced bread, I find the texture lacking. I typically use a baguette or sourdough, both because they have the texture I prefer and because I keep them in the freezer at all times.
© Copyright 2012
From: Annie's Eats
annies-eats.com/
Photo by Annie's Eats
Do you make your own croutons? If you don’t, you should try it.
The basic idea is to mix cubes of bread with a bit of fat, seasonings, and then dry them out in the oven until crisp. There are tons of variations you could make to suit your tastes – use different types of breads, use more olive oil than butter, play around with the seasonings. As long as the bread has been fully dried out and there is no chewiness to the croutons, they will keep in an airtight container for a pretty long time – at least a couple of weeks.
Yield: about 3-4 cups
Ingredients
1 medium baguette or about 4 cups ½-inch bread cubes
1½ tbsp. olive oil
1½ tbsp. melted butter
Garlic powder
Dried parsley
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 300˚ F.
Remove the crust from the baguette and cube the bread to the desired size.
Place the bread cubes in a medium mixing bowl.
Stir in the melted butter and olive oil and toss to coat.
Season to taste with garlic powder, dried parsley, salt and pepper (¼ teaspoon of each seasoning is a good starting point.)
Toss once more until everything is evenly combined.
Spread the croutons in a single layer on a baking sheet (preferably a rimmed baking sheet unless you’re a daredevil like me).
Bake, stirring once every 10 minutes, until the croutons are light golden and crisp and no chewiness remains (be sure to let a crouton cool for a minute or two before testing!)
They will bake about 40-50 minutes total but the time may vary depending on the size of cubes and type of bread.
Remove to a cooling rack and let cool completely.
Store in an airtight container.
Cook tip:
You can use whatever type of bread you like to make these. Though many people use regular sliced bread, I find the texture lacking. I typically use a baguette or sourdough, both because they have the texture I prefer and because I keep them in the freezer at all times.
© Copyright 2012
