Garlic Rye Croutons: Easy Homemade Recipe

Step-by-step recipe

1. The most important thing is to choose the right bread. To my taste, white bread or a baguette doesn't go well with garlic. I'll definitely make my favorite white croutons with herbs too, but later. To make rye croutons with garlic you need real rye bread. Not Borodinsky or Belarusian, not scalded rye. If you look carefully along the bread shelf in the supermarket, you can always find what you need: rye bread. It's much lighter than Borodinsky and darker than Ukrainian bread, with more warm brown tones. Quite often rye bread is sold already sliced for toasting, and dieters, athletes and other virtuous people happily buy it. Choose good bread, and tasty croutons are guaranteed!
   
2. When you're in the shop, head for the spice shelf. There is always dried garlic there. It's usually sold ground or granulated. For some inner reason granulated scares me; who knows what they granulated it with. But ordinary garlic, dried and then ground to dust, is perfectly acceptable, even very good. For some reason I remembered an interesting spice mix I buy in Bulgaria, samardala. It's usually a mix of salt and a dried, ground green plant resembling wild onion or ramsons. An ideal choice for croutons.
   
3. First, turn the oven on and set it to 150°C. Let it heat up well.
4. Cut the rye bread into thin slices, no thicker than 1 cm. If the bread is already sliced for toasting, it's cut just right. Be sure to cut off the crust with a sharp knife. It's too browned and will only spoil the taste, although many people even like it.
   
5. Next, cut the slices into pieces with a knife. The shape is entirely up to you. Cubes or little bars are easy to cut. If you want some elegance, cut diamonds. Surprise everyone!
   
6. Put the cut bread in a large bowl. Now comes the tricky process of seasoning. It's very hard to advise how much dried garlic and salt to add. Too much is quite unpleasant, and too little won't give you that kick you get after the first five gulps of ice-cold beer and a handful of croutons!
7. Do it like this: add fine salt in small portions, along with 1-2 pinches of dried garlic. Immediately stir gently with a spoon, without pressing, because fresh bread crumbles easily. Mix thoroughly. Taste and add more salt and garlic. Keep going until the flavor is to your taste, pardon the pun. Remember, moderation matters!
   
8. You need a large ovenproof dish or a baking tray. Pour the olive oil into the dish and spread it over the bottom. Add the prepared garlic croutons and stir gently until the bread has absorbed all the oil. It's fine if the oil is absorbed unevenly. During the rest of the cooking it will magically distribute itself as it should.
   
9. Put the croutons in the oven and let them dry. Some ovens can dry bread, mushrooms and vegetables with the door slightly open. If you have one, it's worth trying.
10. Drying garlic croutons is strictly individual. The general rule is to stir with a spoon every 5-7 minutes so they dry evenly and don't stick together. Once the croutons start to “ring” as you stir, begin testing for doneness. Mine dried in 40 minutes. The time depends greatly on the moisture of the bread, the variety, and the size of the cubes. If the croutons dry a little too much, it's not a disaster. But don't leave an underdried “piece” in the middle, or you'll spoil the taste and the charm.
    
11. The finished garlic croutons need to cool, to room temperature. If they seem too greasy, spread them on a paper towel and toss a couple of times to soak up the excess fat.
12. This snack is good not only with beer. There are many tasty recipes with croutons, for example a salad with croutons, or Caesar salad. By the way, a real split pea soup with smoked ribs, or a vegetable soup with shrimp, is unthinkable without croutons.
13. So as soon as the croutons have cooled, don't put it off: pour yourself a beer and relax.