A Bed of Croutons!

Croutons go very well with salads and soups. I made my own croutons the other day and I thought I'd share it with you guys. It's the southwestern method aka the fat boy's version of croutons. I adapted the recipe from Paula Dean from the Lady and Sons Restaurant in Savannah, Georgia. Her recipe link HERE.

Alright, let's get right to the recipe!

Ingredients:



6 slices of stale bread (any kind) cut up into small cubes.
Oil enough to cover up to 1 inch of the frying pan


Seasoning:
1 tablespoon of garlic powder
2 teaspoon of salt
a handful of dried parsley
1 tablespoon of fine herbs (or any kind you like - pick a woody kind of herb like terragon, thyme or even basil would do the trick better)


Method:
1. Heat oil on medium heat till it sizzles when you throw in a piece of breadcrumbs
2. Once oil is heated through add the cube bread in - take care not to burn the bread...it takes about 1 min before you can scoop the bread out of the oil.


3. Place the fried bread onto a paper towel to soak up excess oil...move it around to make sure all excess oil is soaked up.
4. Put bread while it's still hot onto a bowl and add all the seasoning in.
5. Shake and toss till the croutons and seasoning are well mixed. After that, let it cool before you store them in an air tight container. It will last you a while.

A sea of croutons

It's definitely decadent. But if you're only eating salad with lemon and olive oil dressing, the croutons makes up for a fulfilling bite. It's great with tomato soup too! Of course, croutons in Caesar Salad is a must ;)

Oh...and if you would like a healthier version of croutons, just drizzle oil onto the breadcrumbs and bake for 20-30 mins on 375 F oven. Then combine the seasoning on the crouton as followed.