So you over-proofed your French bread and ended up with a flat loaf of what could have been sliced up and made into biscotti had you known it was going to flop. Note to self, set timer when proofing bread while novel writing. Even if you are sitting in the dining room right outside the kitchen. Seriously. Do it.
Why yes, that is a Shun bread knife, thanks for noticing. If you’re going to bake bread, get a good bread knife. ‘Nuff said.
Alright, back to our sad little loaf of bread. Do not despair! Bake that sucker, make some Panini, and/or, you could make these, but I warn you, they are addictive! You can also make these with regular, well-formed French bread or pretty much whatever bread you want. This particular batch was made from a partial loaf of flopped home-made French bread that would have been on its way out. No kidding. Instead I made these Italian flavored croutons. Even failures in the kitchen can turn into something wonderfully yummy. Plus I just saved some cash on those store-bought bags of jawbreakers covered in preservatives.
You’ll need:
About 4 cups of bread you have cut into roughly, 1-inch cubes
4 teaspoons melted butter (salted)
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon Garlic Festival Garlic Ghetti
1 teaspoon dried parsley
Directions:
Preheat oven to 300˚. Chop bread and set aside in a large bowl. Combine butter, olive oil, Garlic Ghetti, and parsley in small bowl and stir until all ingredients are incorporated and there are not lumps. Drizzle the Garlic Ghetti mixture over the bread and toss until thoroughly coated. Spray a cookie sheet with olive oil spray to prevent any sticking and bake for 30 minutes turning once at 15 minutes. Store any croutons you don’t eat warm from the oven and manage to cool, in an airtight container or zipper bag. The hardest part is staying away from them long enough for them to cool so you can store them.
Ta-da! Crispy little croutons that are going to make your salad very happy!
Just look at those little cubes of crunchy goodness! (Eats a dozen before you know it.) STEP AWAY FROM THE CROUTONS!
Check out the Garlic Festival website for fun garlic spice blends and other cool stuff including a kick-ass, lemon garlic pepper and something called Garlic Garni that is awesome sprinkled on meat, veggies, and even in salad dressing.
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