Toaster Croutons Food

HOW TO MAKE CROUTONS

Steps:

• For oven method croutons:Preheat the oven to 375º F.In a large bowl, combine the bread, olive oil, parmesan cheese, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Toss well to distribute the ingredients.Spread the bread cubes out on a sheet pan, giving them plenty of space in between. Bake the bread cubes for about 10 minutes, or until slightly golden brown and crisp. Keep in mind that the staler and older the bread, the quicker it will brown, so color is a good indication of when it's done.Remove the croutons from the oven, and enjoy!For skillet method croutons:Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the torn bread pieces to the pan, and sprinkle with the dried thyme. Let the bread cubes sit in the pan for a few minutes until golden brown on at least one side, then you can give it a stir. Keep cooking for a total of about 10 minutes, until the croutons are golden and crisp. Enjoy!Storage: Croutons will keep in an airtight container for a couple days at room temperature. Make sure the croutons are completely cool before storing.Note: Recommended bread for croutons are any of the crusty loaf varieties, like sourdough, ciabatta, boule, etc.

TOASTER CROUTONS

Steps:

• Toast slices of bread until rather brown and firm.
• Place on cutting board and cut into about 1" x 1" squares.
• Toss in salad.
• Do not dress salad until ready to serve because otherwise the croutons will turn soggy.

CROUTONS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Remove crusts from stale bread slices. Brush bread on both sides with melted butter. Cut bread slices up into small cubes. Sprinkle with garlic salt (if desired). Arrange cubes on an ungreased cookie sheet.
• Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 15 minutes or until browned. Let cool. Store croutons in a covered container or plastic bag. Serve in soups or salads.

CROUTONS

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a large (10-inch) saute pan until hot. Add the bread and cook over medium heat, tossing frequently, until the bread is evenly toasted and browned. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

PLAIN TOASTED CROUTONS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Remove the crusts from the bread and slice into 1/2-inch strips and then the strips into 1/2-inch cubes, to make 4 cups. Spread the cubes in a single layer on a cookie sheet and set in the oven for about 10 minutes, turning once or twice, until lightly toasted on all sides. Spread the cubes on a tray to cool before using or freezing.

CROUTONS

Steps:

• For a quick bite to eat, or when a few guests are about to arrive and I want to have a little something ready, a crouton is the first thing I think of. Croutons, croutes, crostini, toast, and bruschetta are all names for variously sized pieces of bread, usually toasted or grilled, sometimes dried out in the oven, sometimes fried. A bruschetta is a thick piece of bread that is grilled over an open fire, or toasted, and rubbed with garlic and drizzled with olive oil, to be served either as is or piled high with juicy tomatoes and basil. Croutons, crostini, and toasts usually refer to thin slices of bread, but croutons can also be small pieces of bread cut into cubes or torn in irregular pieces and either toasted or fried in butter or olive oil and used to garnish a soup or a salad.
• Any good-quality bread will make a good crouton. A thick slice of a big round, country-style loaf grilled and drizzled with green olive oil makes a distinctly different crouton than a thin triangular toasted slice of dense white bread with its crusts cut off, brushed with melted butter, and one point dipped in chopped parsley before serving. The croutons I make most often are sliced from a big round loaf of levain bread. They're usually not uniform sizes and I always oil them after toasting, just after I've rubbed some garlic on them.
• Roughly torn pieces of bread (what's sometimes called pulled bread), toasted in the oven and tossed in oil, make good croutons for a salad.
• Baguettes are handy for croutons because they can be easily sliced into regular rounds or cut on the diagonal into long ovals, which are good for dipping into fava bean purée or tapenade.
• For croutons that are more evenly browned and crunchier and that have a more fried taste, oil or butter the bread slices before you cook them. Small croutons can be tossed in a bowl with oil or melted butter before going into the oven. Place larger, flat croutons in a single layer on a baking sheet, brush with oil or butter, and bake at 350°F until they just start to turn golden at the edges. Keep an eye on them; the timing will vary greatly, depending on the kind of bread used, how dry it is, and how thick it's cut. For a tasty garnish to a soup or salad, toss croutons hot out of the oven with chopped garlic and herbs.
• Fry little cubed croutons in butter to strew atop a delicate puréed soup. Use enough butter to coat the pan generously, adding more as it is absorbed by the croutons, stirring or tossing frequently over medium heat until the croutons are golden brown.
• To grill slices of bread, place them on the grill rack over a bed of medium-hot coals for a minute or two on each side. The bread should have nice charred marks from the grill and be golden brown here and there. I rub the slices with a clove of garlic and drizzle olive oil over the bread after it's grilled.
• Croutons taste best when they are made fresh, but the bread can be cut in advance. Wrap the bread slices in a kitchen towel to keep them from drying out (croutons tend to warp and curl up if left uncovered). When ready to serve, the bread can be quickly laid out and toasted.