Croutons

Every once in a while I will grab a baguette at the market with ideas of making a killer sandwich. Most times the sandwich is pretty big and the loaf gets used up fast. Other times the loaf will get devoured before I can make a sandwich, on rare occasions the loaf will sit all day waiting for me. When the baguette gets too tough for my taste I will opt to make my wife her favorite croutons. When these get made, I am always surrounded by family eager to 'sample' them for me. They are very helpful in that department.

Making the croutons is pretty straight forward. The list of things I keep on hand are as follows.
1. One large Baguette
2. One stick of butter
3. Dried Italian seasonings
4. Garlic powder
5. Pecarino Romano Cheese
6. Salt & Pepper
7. A bowl for the mixture
8. A large bowl for the croutons
9. A sheetpan
10. Electric knife
11. Preheated oven to 300 degrees

Cut the baguette with the electric knife, making long strips.
I cut three strips length wise, then each strip I cut into three long pieces.
Taking the long pieces all lined up, I cut cubes from them.
I then take the plain cubes and lie them onto the sheetpan.
I toast them for about 10 minutes, or until they are crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside.

In a microwave soften the butter but not melt it.
Add seasonings to butter and mix thoroughly.

Take half of the mixture and spoon it into the large bowl.
With my hand I lightly coat the inside of the bowl with the mixture.
The coolness of the bowl will solidify the butter mixture to the sides.
The reason I do this is because once the hot croutons hit the bowl, the butter will disperse evenly.

Once the croutons are out of the oven, dump them into the bowl and toss until all of the mixture is off the bowl and onto the croutons.
If the mixture is coated evenly, dump them onto the pan again and coat lightly with the grated cheese. Return to the oven.

Repeat the bowl coating with the other half of the mixture.
After the croutons have cooked for additional 5 minutes (until the cheese has melted), toss in bowl again.
Return the croutons to the sheetpan one last time. Coat them again with grated cheese and also the salt and pepper to taste.
Allow them to cool then transfer them to a sealable bowl.

These will keep for about a week. They never last that long so you be the judge.