You will need:
3 slices of bread 2 centimeters thick
50g of finely grated cheese
2 tablespoons of olive oil.
Begin by dicing up the bread, heat the oil in a large pan, using a large pan makes it easier to toss the crouton about a bit, add the crouton to the hot oil and keep them moving around to avoid any one side becoming overcooked. when the crouton have taken on some colour, sprinkle on the grated cheese and immediately take the pan off the heat while moving the crouton around to evenly distribute the cheese. Place the crouton on a cooking tray in a oven set to 140 C for ten minutes to finish crisping up. These crouton can be stored in an airtight tin for a week in the fridge, but believe me, they are very moreish and if you put them out with drinks they will dissapear very fast. Great also to add to salads and of course soup.
Notes, using good bread is important of course but whereas gluten free bread in my experience leaves a lot to be desired, transforming it into these crouton is going to work well. You can also vary the flavour to some extent by using different cheese, I have used parmesan and aged gouda; I have also sprinkled on some dried oregano and used garlic flavoured oil.
These look wonderful. I forgot to mention that I made sourdough bread! It looks, tastes and "is" delicious :). I managed to get hold of some good sourdough starter from the mainland and realised that my own personal starter "Herman" was more lactobacilli than yeast and I was perpetuating the problem by only feeding him once a day thus enhancing the sour and minimising the yeast. My new sourdough has made pizza, delicious light fluffy cinnamon muffins, an enormous and most delicious chocolate cake and now a perfect loaf of bread (and we even cooked it in the covered bbq!). I am so impressed with what sourdough can do! I am going to make some of these gorgeous cheesy croutons with the last of our loaf. Humble soup will never be the same :)
ReplyDeleteI am so pleased that using wild yeast is working for you so well, brilliant. I love using wild yeast as you know, I do still have a place for commercial yeast in my kitchen though, mostly when a thin, tender crust is what I require. I look forward to hearing more about your sourdough adventures, best wishes and happy baking, Tôbi.
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