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Why would anyone make homemade croutons when there are so many packaged varieties to buy? For me it’s because the store-bought ones I’ve tried are oversalted, over garlicked, overgreased and hard as rocks. And I trust my own instincts about whether my leftover bread is stale but still fresh enough to be useful rather than some commercial firm’s where they’re looking to get every penny’s worth. Besides, croutons are incredibly easy to cook and they are so versatile and tasty you can feel like a genius after you make a batch and use them for some recipe or other. And also because you can use almost any kind of bread, any kind of cooking fat, any kind of seasoning, depending on which recipe you will be adding them to. For example — I make basil-infused croutons for fresh tomato soup, chipotle seasoned croutons for pea soup. I prefer traditional garlic and herb croutons for Caesar Salad. I’ve also made buttery cheese-croutons, which are wonderful as toppers for vegetable casseroles and have even stuffed some into an omelet when I was at a loss for some other ingredient. I’ve made a variety of croutons with fresh herbs to use as a bed for stirfried vegetables. There’s no end to the possibilities. Croutons are supposed to be the crispy, luxurious, contrasting crunch and flavor your tongue savors as it tosses around soft lettuce leaves or buttery avocado or tangy salad dressing. The hard-as-rocks kind from the package are always too distracting.    Tomato Salad with Herb-infused Croutons and Goat Cheese   4 slices 3/4-inch thick Italian bread 1-1/2 tablespoons butter 1-1/2 tablespoons olive oil 1 large clove garlic, sliced 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste 1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes, halved 1 ripe avocado, peeled and cut into bite size pieces 1/2 cup crumbled goat or feta cheese 1/4 cup chopped red onion 3-4 tablespoons olive oil 2-3 tablespoons red wine vinegar     Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Trim the crusts from the bread and cut the pieces into small cubes. Heat the butter and olive oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. When the butter has melted and looks foamy, add the garlic slices and cook for 1-2 minutes or until the garlic slices turn lightly brown. Remove and discard the garlic. Add the bread cubes, basil and thyme, sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss to coat all the pieces. Place the cubes on a cookie sheet. Bake for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the cubes are crispy and golden. Set aside. Place the tomatoes, avocado, goat cheese, red onion and croutons and toss ingredients. In a small bowl, whisk 3 tablespoons olive oil and 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar and pour over the salad. Toss and taste, adding more olive oil or vinegar as needed. Let rest for at least 5 minutes before serving. Makes 2-4 servings

Why would anyone make homemade croutons when there are so many packaged varieties to buy?

For me it’s because the store-bought ones I’ve tried are oversalted, over garlicked, overgreased and hard as rocks.

And I trust my own instincts about whether my leftover bread is stale but still fresh enough to be useful rather than some commercial firm’s where they’re looking to get every penny’s worth.

Besides, croutons are incredibly easy to cook and they are so versatile and tasty you can feel like a genius after you make a batch and use them for some recipe or other. And also because you can use almost any kind of bread, any kind of cooking fat, any kind of seasoning, depending on which recipe you will be adding them to.

For example — I make basil-infused croutons for fresh tomato soup, chipotle seasoned croutons for pea soup. I prefer traditional garlic and herb croutons for Caesar Salad.

I’ve also made buttery cheese-croutons, which are wonderful as toppers for vegetable casseroles and have even stuffed some into an omelet when I was at a loss for some other ingredient. I’ve made a variety of croutons with fresh herbs to use as a bed for stirfried vegetables.

There’s no end to the possibilities.

Croutons are supposed to be the crispy, luxurious, contrasting crunch and flavor your tongue savors as it tosses around soft lettuce leaves or buttery avocado or tangy salad dressing. The hard-as-rocks kind from the package are always too distracting. 

 

Tomato Salad with Herb-infused Croutons and Goat Cheese

 

4 slices 3/4-inch thick Italian bread

1-1/2 tablespoons butter

1-1/2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large clove garlic, sliced

1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil

2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes, halved

1 ripe avocado, peeled and cut into bite size pieces

1/2 cup crumbled goat or feta cheese

1/4 cup chopped red onion

3-4 tablespoons olive oil

2-3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

 

 

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Trim the crusts from the bread and cut the pieces into small cubes. Heat the butter and olive oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. When the butter has melted and looks foamy, add the garlic slices and cook for 1-2 minutes or until the garlic slices turn lightly brown. Remove and discard the garlic. Add the bread cubes, basil and thyme, sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss to coat all the pieces. Place the cubes on a cookie sheet. Bake for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the cubes are crispy and golden. Set aside. Place the tomatoes, avocado, goat cheese, red onion and croutons and toss ingredients. In a small bowl, whisk 3 tablespoons olive oil and 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar and pour over the salad. Toss and taste, adding more olive oil or vinegar as needed. Let rest for at least 5 minutes before serving. Makes 2-4 servings

My mother always said “don’t try out new recipes on guests.” Because what if the recipe doesn’t work or we don’t like it and so on and so on and then there might be nothing to eat. Well, first, there is never nothing to eat at my house. Because my mother’s other advice (shown by example) was to have a freezer full of food “just in case.” Second, because I like to try new recipes and who else could I try them on if not for the people who dine at my table? Usually what I do when I have a dinner party is to make one new dish. All my friends know there will be some experiment or other for them to taste and comment about. But next Sunday I am having lots of people over to celebrate the birth of our granddaughter Carina (I am a little slow, she is now 7 months old) and several of the dishes I will be serving are experiments. Only I took my mother’s advice. I tried them out first so I know they work. One of the hors d’oeuvre I worked on was gougeres, the wonderful, crispy baked French cheese puffs. I’ve made them a zillion times, so no problem there.  But I needed to make them dairy-free. How do you make gougeres without butter and cheese? I substituted Earth Balance buttery sticks for the butter. And instead of mixing in grated cheese I added finely chopped chorizo sausage (I used Jack’s Gourmet), which gave the puffs the characteristic tangy taste needed for a good gougere. Voila! Followed my mom’s advice and have plenty in the freezer just in case. Here’s the recipe: Herb and Chorizo Gougeres  1 cup water 1/4 pound (1/2 cup) Earth Balance Buttery Spread, cut into chunks 1 cup all-purpose flour 3/4 teaspoon salt 4 large eggs 2 tablespoons chopped fresh mixed herbs 1/2 cup finely chopped chorizo (one Jack’s Gourmet chorizo) pinch cayenne pepper Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the water and Earth Balance in a saucepan over medium heat. When the Earth Balance has melted, add the flour and salt all at once. Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until the mixture is well blended and begins to come away from the sides of the pan. Remove the pan from the heat and let cool for 2-3 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, blending well after each addition. Add the herbs, chorizo and cayenne pepper and blend them in thoroughly. Lightly grease and flour a baking sheet. Drop 1-inch mounds of dough from a teaspoon onto the sheet. Leave space between the mounds for the puffs to rise. Bake for 20 minutes or until the puffs are lightly brown and crispy. Lower the heat to 300 degrees and bake for another 5-6 minutes. Turn off the heat but leave the puffs in the oven for 3-4 minutes. Serve hot or at room temperature. Makes about 60

My mother always said “don’t try out new recipes on guests.” Because what if the recipe doesn’t work or we don’t like it and so on and so on and then there might be nothing to eat.

Well, first, there is never nothing to eat at my house. Because my mother’s other advice (shown by example) was to have a freezer full of food “just in case.”

Second, because I like to try new recipes and who else could I try them on if not for the people who dine at my table?

Usually what I do when I have a dinner party is to make one new dish. All my friends know there will be some experiment or other for them to taste and comment about.

But next Sunday I am having lots of people over to celebrate the birth of our granddaughter Carina (I am a little slow, she is now 7 months old) and several of the dishes I will be serving are experiments.

Only I took my mother’s advice. I tried them out first so I know they work.

One of the hors d’oeuvre I worked on was gougeres, the wonderful, crispy baked French cheese puffs. I’ve made them a zillion times, so no problem there. 

But I needed to make them dairy-free.

How do you make gougeres without butter and cheese?

I substituted Earth Balance buttery sticks for the butter. And instead of mixing in grated cheese I added finely chopped chorizo sausage (I used Jack’s Gourmet), which gave the puffs the characteristic tangy taste needed for a good gougere.

Voila! Followed my mom’s advice and have plenty in the freezer just in case.

Here’s the recipe:

Herb and Chorizo Gougeres 

1 cup water

1/4 pound (1/2 cup) Earth Balance Buttery Spread, cut into chunks

1 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon salt

4 large eggs

2 tablespoons chopped fresh mixed herbs

1/2 cup finely chopped chorizo (one Jack’s Gourmet chorizo)

pinch cayenne pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the water and Earth Balance in a saucepan over medium heat. When the Earth Balance has melted, add the flour and salt all at once. Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until the mixture is well blended and begins to come away from the sides of the pan. Remove the pan from the heat and let cool for 2-3 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, blending well after each addition. Add the herbs, chorizo and cayenne pepper and blend them in thoroughly. Lightly grease and flour a baking sheet. Drop 1-inch mounds of dough from a teaspoon onto the sheet. Leave space between the mounds for the puffs to rise. Bake for 20 minutes or until the puffs are lightly brown and crispy. Lower the heat to 300 degrees and bake for another 5-6 minutes. Turn off the heat but leave the puffs in the oven for 3-4 minutes. Serve hot or at room temperature. Makes about 60

It’s cheesecake season. Whatever the reason: Shavuot, Mother’s Day, graduation, upcoming pool or patio party, Father’s Day and so on. So last week I handed out my very special recipe for cheesecake.  Which got a terrific response and one particularly nice one for me from Eli’s Cheesecake in Chicago, Illinois, which I became familiar with many years ago when I was at college at Northwestern University. When the good folks at Eli’s read my blog and saw how I was bragging that my cheesecake recipe is unsurpassed, they offered to send me one of theirs to compare. So here’s the deal. My cheesecake is smooth, creamy, dense and tangy. I mix in freshly grated orange and lemon peel to infuse it with a refreshing citrus flavor. Eli’s cheesecake is smooth, creamy, dense and tangy, pleasantly sweet and spiked with rich vanilla.  It’s the old apples-oranges thing. They are too different to compare. If you like baking your own, try my recipe. If you’re looking for scrumptious bakery-bought cheesecake, order one (or more) from Eli’s. In addition to plain vanilla there’s lots of other flavors including gluten-free versions as well as chocolate, salted caramel, turtle, cappuccino, blood orange, key lime and more (including sampler packs that include several flavors together). Either way, you can’t go wrong, especially now. Cheesecake season. Whatever the reason.

It’s cheesecake season. Whatever the reason: Shavuot, Mother’s Day, graduation, upcoming pool or patio party, Father’s Day and so on.

So last week I handed out my very special recipe for cheesecake. 

Which got a terrific response and one particularly nice one for me from Eli’s Cheesecake in Chicago, Illinois, which I became familiar with many years ago when I was at college at Northwestern University.

When the good folks at Eli’s read my blog and saw how I was bragging that my cheesecake recipe is unsurpassed, they offered to send me one of theirs to compare.

So here’s the deal.

My cheesecake is smooth, creamy, dense and tangy. I mix in freshly grated orange and lemon peel to infuse it with a refreshing citrus flavor.

Eli’s cheesecake is smooth, creamy, dense and tangy, pleasantly sweet and spiked with rich vanilla. 

It’s the old apples-oranges thing. They are too different to compare.

If you like baking your own, try my recipe. If you’re looking for scrumptious bakery-bought cheesecake, order one (or more) from Eli’s. In addition to plain vanilla there’s lots of other flavors including gluten-free versions as well as chocolate, salted caramel, turtle, cappuccino, blood orange, key lime and more (including sampler packs that include several flavors together).

Either way, you can’t go wrong, especially now. Cheesecake season. Whatever the reason.