June 25, 2011

Make Your Own: Croutons


...Continuing with the "make your own" theme...This is something I've been doing for a few years now.

This is my favorite way to use up leftover bread.  You can use any kind of bread, really.  My favorite is sourdough.  But Italian, French, Rye, Pumpernickel...even dinner rolls...it all works!

For this, I used a loaf of Jalapeno Cheddar Bread that we've had in the fridge for about 3 weeks.  It was from a local bakery.  Rule #1 of living either by yourself or with just one other person:  ALWAYS put your bread in the refrigerator.  It will stay fresh for weeks longer than it would on the counter.  It took awhile for me to first figure this out.

Make Your Own:  Croutons

3-4 thick slices of bakery bread
1 t. onion powder
1 t. garlic powder
1 t. sea salt
1/2 t. pepper
Olive oil


Start by coating a saute pan with olive oil.  Cut the bread into 1/2 chunks.   It works best if you do two batches.

Put half the bread cubes into the pan and lightly brown all sides.  Add half of the seasonings and toss it all around (i taste as i go.)


Once they're browned, pull them out and put in the next batch.  Store in a Tupperware container or Ziploc bag for up to a couple of days.

These are particularly tasty on French Onion Soup or Tomato Soup.  
I eat most of my share directly from the hot pan. 

Oh, and we're huge fans of Slack's Sugar Shack Bakery.  Look at that bread!

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