| A lot of people make them in the oven; I use a frying pan on top
of the stove. I have only made garlic croutons for Caesar Salad,
but I imagine you could just as easily add any other spices/seasonings
you want.
Cube 4 slices of bread into crouton-sized cubes (any kind of bread
will do, but I prefer scali or other somewhat substantial white
bread).
In a frying pan, melt 1/2 stick butter; add 2 cloves garlic, crushed,
or equivalent amount of garlic powder (do not use garlic *salt*,
as the croutons will taste too salty). (I usually use much more
garlic than this, but I understand not everyone has my taste for
it!) Add the bread cubes, and stir frequently till they are browned
all over and crispy. Be careful; they burn easily.
Karen
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CATHY--expect to get a few replies to this query, since croutons
are like chili--everyone has their own mix of ingredients, cooking
time, etc., and you can't really mess up unless you try to mess
up!
Using sliced bread of your choice (anything goes), slice off crusts
and set aside. Cut bread into 1/2 inch squares and set aside. In
heavy skillet, melt clarified butter (use about 1 TBL for each 2
slices of bread). Heat butter to hot, not smoking stage. Add croutons
while stirring with wooden spoon. Reduce heat to medium, and stir
frequently to coat evenly and prevent serious browning/burning of
edges. (I toss in the crusts too, since I snack on them myself or
serve them to myself at the table). Cook the "little toasties" until
they reach the color, crispness level you wish (or until you get
impatient with stirring them!), and spoon out onto folded paper
towels immediately.
I add thick slices of garlic to the heating butter, and press hard
to release as much garlic juice as possible--then remove the garlic
when they atart turning brown and discard them. While turning the
cooking croutons, I add good paprika and some msg for a "kick".
I suggest clarified butter for cooking, but you can use regular
butter if you are careful of the heating/cooking process. As an
aside, I feed my family "croutons from the store box" when they
are being tossed into salad+dressing, since they turn to a soggy
mess anyway, and make my own for adding on top of nice fish dishes,
and other "semi-dry" applications.
Experiment--you will enjoy the results of different types of bread,
combinations of herbs/spices, etc. (I recommend you add herbs/spices
to croutons as you are stirring them around in skillet, not when
heating butter--unless it's garlic, of course!)
Mac
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