Sunday, November 11, 2012

Recipe for Yummy Homemade Croutons


I really, really, really like food. Making food, eating food, looking at food. So I was wondering, why I haven't shared really anything food related with you guys before? Well, better late than never!

Husband likes to eat salads, but I always feel like something's missing when eating a meal with only greens and proteins. So, I usually make these croutons to go with salads, and they work well with tomato soup, too! When I make these, I don't need to use any salad dressing, either.


1. Slice the bread of your choice (one slice per person), and slice into cubes
(I usually go for wholegrain, multigrain or sourdough, also works with Finnish rye bread)

2. Put olive oil in a small bowl (1-2 tablespoons per bread slice)
(Back in Finland I used to use half the amount of olive oil and then add melted butter as the second half while cooking, but I haven't found lactose free real butter here yet. The butter gives a more golden brown color to the croutons.)

3. Slightly "smash" garlic cloves (one per 2 tbsp) with your knife before peeling them; the peel will be much easier to take off  

4. Cut the garlic cloves into smaller pieces, put them in the olive oil and let sit in the fridge for at least couple of hours

Bonus: I sometimes add some chopped fresh rosemary to change it up a bit

5. Pick the garlic pieces out

6. Put your bread cubes on the pan, and pour the olive oil evenly over them

7. Over medium heat, stir around occasionally, until they are the color you want, then remove from the pan

8. Add salt, ground black pepper and oregano to taste

Add to your salad/soup while still warm, yum!

These will be much softer and airier than how croutons made in the oven usually turn out, (for me at least); you'll have a better feel of their texture since you're stirring them.

Quick Tip: Sometimes we don't even get to the crouton part, since it tastes so good just dipping the bread in the garlicky oil... Just add ground black pepper, salt, and maybe some balsamic vinegar, to the dip. YUM!

2 comments:

  1. Looks super yum! One of my favourite things to do - is to eat while watching the Food Network lol.

    http://rhythmandruffle.com <3

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    Replies
    1. Haha, yeah, if I don't have my salad made before I make these, there's a risk I don't get to the salad at all... :)

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