Fried Croutons for Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Remove the crust from the bread and cut it into very small dice.
Fry and drain
Place the bread dice in a frying basket and plunge it into smoking hot oil.
Fry until brown, then lift out and let drain on soft paper.
Serve
Serve on a paper doily alongside white soup.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Bread
- Its starch dehydrates and crisps in hot fat, forming the crunchy texture of each crouton.
- Dripping or oil
- Transfers heat quickly to the bread, driving off moisture and promoting browning and a crisp surface.
The step that matters
Plunge into smoking hot oil. The fat must be very hot when the bread goes in. Hot oil quickly seals and crisps the surface, while cooler oil soaks in and makes the croutons greasy and soft.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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