Make It Yourself: Croutons
When I mentioned over the holidays that the croutons on our Christmas salad were actually homemade (in response to a question on the brand), I was met with more surprise than I expected. Unfortunately, that response is something I've heard from lots of other people who actually make their own stuff, from food to robots.
The last 100 years of manufacturing, particularly the last 60 or so, have rendered the bulk of several generations incapable of seeing certain items as anything other than the result of factory production.
For food, that means that really simple items like croutons and whipped cream, when made instead of bought generate incredulity. It's as though those items have been moved from the class of things you can make yourself into the class of things you pay $3 for in the grocery store in a hermetically sealed container that's been on the shelf or in the refrigerator for 6 weeks or 6 months.
Fortunately, the whole "Maker" movement is helping to rectify some of this problem. Lots of people are taking these matters back into their own hands and discovering the joy of having made this stuff yourself as well as products that end up at a higher quality standard than the stuff plopping off the end of the Kraft factory line.
Anyway, last night, the homemade crouton supply was running low, so I made up another batch. I had the small digital camera in my pocket, so I took a few shots while I made them and strung them together early this morning into a quick slideshow and put the video up.
The croutons themselves look a little dark in the photos, but they taste great.
January 24th, 2008 at 11:07 pm
I think the cookbook "How To Cook Everything" by Mark Bittman is a great resource for people who want to do this stuff.
The cookbook is full of recipes for things like croutons that are ridiculously easy to make and taste far superior to any store-bought version. Another good example is spaghetti sauce: you can make delicious spaghetti sauce in the time it takes to boil water.
The great thing about Bittman's cookbook is that it encourages experimentation. He has a core recipe and then variations you can try. I highly recommend it.
January 25th, 2008 at 7:20 am
Hrm. Don't know what happened to the embedded video link, but it looks fixed now.
January 25th, 2008 at 7:23 am
I agree about Bittman's book and include it along with the stuff from Alton Brown, America's Test Kitchen, etc. as well. ATK fosters that experimental attitude as well when they make it clear that their recipe often came at the end of a tail of HUNDREDS of experiments to get it right.
I think food is one of the best places to get started engaging your "maker" side because it's part of every single day and pretty much everyone already has the tools and skills necessary.