Croutons

These are my favorite croutons!

First you start with fresh sour dough french bread. A really good quality loaf. Slice it up into little cubes. You can do small or medium or large, it all depends on your style. Sometimes I make large and small if I'm doing soup and salad. Small for the salad, large for the soup. These are practically your garlic bread and croutons all in one.

Preheat oven to 375

Then whip this up in a blender:

2-4 cloves or garlic (depends on your desires or your plans for later that night, if you know what I mean...)
4 Tb spoons of butter
1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil
1/2 ts sea salt*
herbs (I love this with herbs de Provence, but a bit of oregano, basil, parsley, and/or tarragon will do)

Blend until super creamy. Feel free to add more oil if it's thick. It needs to be runny.

Put all of your cubed bread in a large plastic bag without any holes. I use a garbage bag. Then pour the buttery-oily-garlicky mixture over the bread, twist the bag closed at the top leaving some air in the bag (like a balloon). Then SHAKE, SHAKE, SHAKE!

Once everything is coated spread them evenly on a baking sheet and bake at 375 for 10-15 minutes, check regularly, toss as needed. Once they start to brown, it will happen quickly so stay close, take them out and let them cool. You'll be tempted to eat one right away. Trust me, even after you blow on it for a minute it will still burn your mouth. I have to learn this lesson EVERY TIME, so maybe you can learn from my experience. Just wait another minute, and dig in! They can be stored in a ziplock bag for a while once they have cooled completely.

*If you are still using table salt in your home do your food a favor and replace it next time you're at the store. Buy some sea salt (you can even get it in bulk sometimes) and keep a little bowl in the kitchen ready to offer you a pinch any time you need it. At the very least replace your table salt with kosher salt. After a little while you'll understand and never go back.