Caesar Salad Croutons

2 slices of Seedless Rye Bread frozen

          2 slices of Pumpernickel Bread frozen

          2 slices of white bread frozen

          1/2 stick of butter

          1 tsp Onion Powder

          1 tsp Garlic Powder

          1 tsp Kosher Salt

          1 tsp Fresh Ground Black Pepper

          1 tsp Italian Spices

Preheat the oven to 250°

Cube all of the bread into postage stamp sizes and place them into individual piles. Add 1/4 of the butter to a pan and melt it over moderate heat. Toss in equal amounts of bread from each pile into the pan. Dust the tops with Onion and Garlic Powder

Take a deep breath and a sip of wine. Using your finger and a fork turn each crouton over (This exercise will increase your tolerance to pain and you will become quicker at the process of making the croutons) Dust the second side and brown. Add a twist of black pepper and a pinch of salt into each batch. The last batch gets a pinch of Italian spices.

Depending on the size of the pan you should be able to do these amounts in four batches. The idea is to toast each batch and dry the croutons in the oven on a cookie sheet. Drying time will take about 40 min.  

Homemade Croutons

6  slices  regular bread (fresh or day old), crusts trimmed, cubed

3  Tbs  melted butter or olive oil (or some of each)

1  tsp  garlic powder and a pinch of salt, OR 1/2  tsp  garlic salt

1  tsp  dried parsley flakes

   

Preheat over to 300°.

Mix melted butter, garlic powder/salt, and parsley flakes until garlic powder is dissolved and mixture is clump free. Toss butter mixture with cubed bread in a medium bowl until cubes are evenly coated. Spread coated bread cubes on a cookie sheet in a single layer.

Bake for 15 minutes and check to see if they are dry, crispy, and golden brown. Stir the croutons around and bake for an additional 15 minutes until done. Store croutons in air-tight container or Ziploc bag.

Mine typically take 30 minutes baking time total – your baking time may vary.

Seasoned Croutons

There are lots of ways to make croutons, ans all of them are better than the store bought ones in a bag. You can use any old white bread for these. In fact, you may want to toss the last few slices in that old loaf of bread into the freezer instead of tossing them out, and make these when you get a good stash. You can play around with the spices to suit your taste.

30  slices  old white bread
1/3  cup  oil
3  Tbs  instant minced onions
3  Tbs  dried parsley
2  tsp  garlic salt
3/4  tsp  ground sage
1/2  tsp  seasoned pepper

For Garlic Croutons:
2  cups  bread cubes
3  Tbs  olive oil
2  cloves  garlic, crushed

Cut bread into 1/2" cubes, removing crusts. In a very large pan, toast cubes in a 300 degree oven, for up to 45 minutes, turning to brown evenly. Remove from oven and cool slightly. Stir in remaining ingredients and store in a dry place.

For garlic croutons, prepare as above, adding the garlic before baking.