Monday, January 2, 2012

Home-made Garlic and Parmesan Croutons

So if you weren't aware of it already, I'm a bit infatuated with baguettes. As fate would have it, during exams, my normal baker's dozen baguette recipe sat unused on the baking rack. That never happens. Rather than throw it out, I decided to make the stale bread into crispy, gourmet, home-made croutons. Cost me nothing, and they came out delicious.

Now of course you can, use any bread, or even make a smaller batch of this same recipe I'm posting below. In fact this exact same recipe appears here, if a dozen or so baguettes seems too much. On the other hand, you can make a few for tonight fresh, and sit the rest out for croutons in a few days. Your choice.

So first step, get some bread. I made my crouton's from this recipe a few days prior:

Poor baguettes!

Baker's Dozen Baguettes

one 5lb bag of bread flour

6 1/4 cup water

1 Tablespoon of salt

1/4 cup + 1.5 teaspoon yeast

Method:

Follow the directions here, (you will need a very large bowl for this mix) and bake at 450F. If using the same day, bake for about 18-20 minutes, then allow to cool.

Now of course I let mine sit out for about 3-5 days. They were just on the verge of staleness. (If such a thing exists.) Then I took a couple of the baguettes, and sliced it into crouton size squares. Placed it on a oiled baking sheet and added the following.

A delicious chicken ranch salad with green olives!

Garlic and Parmesan Croutons

A bit of salt and pepper
Spritz of cooking oil
Garlic powder
Parmesan cheese

Bake for another 6-10 minutes at 450F, or until toasted to normal, delicious, crouton consistency, and enjoy!

Hands down probably the best homemade croutons in the world. Certainly the best I've tasted.