Croutonology ~ making your own Croutons is cheaper, easy and delicious

Firstly I’d like to mention another of those strange National Days – Saturday was World Naked Gardening Day. I’m sorry if you missed it but, then again, the weather wasn’t great. 

Right, to the matter in hand – croutons (it is after all Real Bread Week very soon!)

In Tesco recently I noticed little bags of Fresh Gourmet croutons for sale (I’ve seen them before, of course, but never taken any notice till now) – 75p for 28g (1 ounce). What a surprise! Apparently they contain the following ...

As, for instance, a fresh 100g loaf of Tesco’s Crusty Farmhouse is 70p you could, buying a loaf specially, make almost six times as many croutons for the same price! Your homemade croutons would be fresh and flavoured to you precise requirements without resorting to chemical and additives And it’s so very easy!

Not only that; croutons are a great way of using up crusts and ends and stale pieces of bread (which I presume you have been adding to your freezer collection) and other things too – see below.

Make your Own Croutons

Firstly, as I have said before I do hold very strong beliefs so far as croutons on concerned; which are that in almost all cases the bread or other item should be torn rather than diced. This creates a lot more little points and edges to go all crispy and they look so much prettier too. They are also best baked although frying is an alternative, more about this later.

This is what you do ...

~   Preheat oven to a medium sort of heat, say 190ºC/375ºF/170ºC fan/gas 5 (or more economically  bung them in for a few minutes whilst something else is cooking).
~   Tear (or in rare occasions cut) you croutons to the size you prefer.
~   Drizzle with a little olive (or bacon fat, or butter as appropriate) to lightly moisten, season and toss all together.
~   Spread on a baking tray and bake till crisp and golden. This doesn’t take long, 5-10 minutes, so keep an eye on them.

If you prefer to fry your croutons then treat the bread exactly the same but toss them about in a dry frying pan over medium high heat till crisp and brown. The result will not be quite so uniform or as crisp right through to the middle, you may need a little more oil and, of course, you have to be attentive, but still your croutons will be fresh and tasty and perfect for you.

Another bonus of homemade croutons is they are lovely hot, fresh from the oven, with soup and other hot dishes.

To Season Croutons

~   Salt and pepper (doh!)
~   Garlic or onion powder if you keep such things in – I don’t, but they can be useful.
~   Dried herbs
~   Spice mixes such as Mexican spice or Jerk seasoning or garam masala etc.
~   Chilli flakes - cautiously.
~   Bacon salt or other seasoned salts, eg. smoked.

Different Fats and Oils

I mostly use a light olive oil but in certain cases, such as cakes or other sweet croutons, butter is better. Or try ...

~   Bacon fat – not very good for you but delicious with cheese soups.

~   Oil mixed with something else for instance a little balsamic vinegar or chipotle paste.
~   Flavoured oils such as chilli or garlic or the oil resulting from roasting garlic  or yummy black garlic oil.

Additions to Croutons

~   Cheese is a good addition, grate some hard cheese such as Parmesan or mature Cheddar and toss it into the croutons when they are fully cooked. Pop back into the oven for 30 seconds or so melt it.
~   Stir a little soft buttery cooked onion into the bread pieces before baking.
~   Finely chopped garlic.
~   Grated lemon zest.
~   Fresh herbs.
~   Toss shredded ham or chorizo with the bread before cooking and it will go crispy too.

Alternative Bread and Cake Croutons

~   White sliced bread will make for a very crisp and fragile croutons and is one of the few ways I actually like this type of bread.
~   More solid and rustic breads make more solid and rustic croutons, delicious but need a good suck if you haven’t got your teeth in!
~   Brioche is good, use butter with it, of course.
~   Croissants are excellent because they have all sorts of crisp flakes and crevices.

~   Hot cross buns (see the photo at the top of this post) make lovely sweet spicy croutons to serve with ice cream or maybe a fruit dish. Use butter and a little soft light brown sugar.
~   Plain cake also makes lovely croutons for ice cream – butter and sugar again. (The recipes for the luscious no-churn coffee ice cream and its sauce in this picture are in my book Luscious Ice Cream without a Machine).

Ways to Use Croutons other than Soup

It is only natural to want to serve croutons with soup but thee are other ways ...

~   Make small crouton and sprinkle onto creamy pasta dishes for a lovely texture contrast, or make big flat ones and call them croûtes!

~   Add to salads and not just Caesar Salad where they are traditional.
~   Sprinkle into an omelette just before folding and serving.
~   Instead of baking or frying the croutons, pile the torn bread on top of a hot cooked pie filling and bake till crisp for a different sort of crust.

See also my post on Pangrattato - posh word for crispy, tasty breadcrumbs which are great for improving almost any meal!

Balsamic Croutons

~ Menu ~
Smoked Pigeon Breast Salad with Balsamic Croutons
Small glass of Red Wine
A few Freshly Picked Strawberries

The other day I accidentally invented balsamic croutons and they were so good I invented them again today.

Last week I had a small dish of olive oil and balsamic vinegar sitting around which I was occasionally dipping pieces of gorgeous bread into, as one does. I ran out of bread before I ran out of oil and vinegar. Later on, when making croutons to go with my soup of the evening, I reached for the olive oil but seeing the little dish thought what the heck (or similar), poured it over the bread pieces and croutoned on in my normal fashion.

Balsamic Croutons

I always tear croutons rather than cut them. This way they are interesting shapes which look pretty and also tend to be crunchier as they have more points and edges. So - tear some bread into pieces, mix together a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar in the proportions of 3:1 or thereabouts. Drizzle over the torn bread, sprinkle with salt and pepper, spread on a baking tray and do in a hot oven till crisp and golden which will only take a few minutes.

I have written more about the how and why of making croutons with lots of other variations here.

Today, when I found I had two smoked pigeon breasts in the fridge (OK, I did know they were there!) I sliced them into a simple salad and added the balsamic croutons. For a dressing I made my standard honey enhanced balsamic vinaigrette, the sweetness of which compliments the smoky gamey taste of the pigeon and, well, you know – yum, though, to be honest, not very photogenic! 

Balsamic/Honey/Mustard Vinaigrette

1 tbsp Dijon mustard
50ml balsamic vinegar
1½ tbsp honey
225ml olive oil
salt and pepper

~ Whisk together the mustard, vinegar and honey.
~ Gradually whisk in the olive oil – it should emulsify – and then the salt and pepper.
~ Keeps ages – store in a lidded jar and if it separates give it a good old shake before using.

For lots more ideas and recipes for vinaigrettes see here.

Still glorious weather, a bit cooler and much colder at night but lovely. Not having experienced an English autumn for many years I'm really enjoying it now but is this normal, so late in the year? .....

I picked 5 strawberries from our pot outside the caravan and they were so sweet!