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Bread Croutons for Soup
Slices of bread a quarter of an inch in thickness are cut into quarter-inch dice, after removing all crust. Heat in a pan some clarified butter, and fry in it the croutons until they are of a light golden color, tossing them about to insure equal color to all. Drain on a sheet of paper, and serve. Bread Croutons a la Conde for Soup Cut off from rolls or slices of brad the dark crusts, and cut the bread into dice. placing them on tin in the oven to brown. Then remove, and serve in soup plates with soup.
Two methods for the same garnish: fried in clarified butter, or dried and browned dry in the oven. The fried version tastes better; the oven version keeps its crispness longer in hot soup.
- Clarified butter is the pointWhole butter burns well before the dice color evenly, and the milk solids stick to the pan. Melt butter gently, skim the foam, pour off the clear fat and leave the milky residue behind — or use ghee. Depth of about an eighth of an inch is enough.
- Bread choiceA firm, close-grained white loaf a day or two old cuts into clean cubes and absorbs less fat. Fresh, soft sandwich bread tears and turns greasy.
- Oven temperature for the Condé methodThe original gives none. A moderate oven, 350F, on a sheet pan for 10 to 15 minutes, shaken once or twice, gives even color. Higher heat browns the outside before the center dries.
- Keep the heat moderate when fryingMedium heat and constant tossing; the cubes go from golden to bitter in well under a minute. Pull them a shade lighter than you want, since they continue to darken on the paper.
- DrainingThe original says only "a sheet of paper"; any absorbent paper answers, and paper towels do the same job. Spread them in a single layer so trapped steam does not soften them.
- "Brad" is a typoThe second recipe's "slices of brad" is a printer's error for bread. Nothing else is meant.
- Quantity and timingTwo slices of bread yield roughly half a cup to a cup of dice, enough for several bowls; the original gives no quantities. Fry them at the last moment, since croutons added early go soft in the soup.
- StorageOven-dried croutons keep for some days in a tin at room temperature. Butter-fried ones stale faster and are best made close to serving.
The word comes from the French croûte, crust — croûton being a diminutive, "little crust." Garnishing soup with fried bread is far older than any cookbook: it belongs to the same thrift that produced panades and bread thickenings, using up loaves too dry to serve at table. The "à la Condé" tag appears on a number of nineteenth-century French preparations, traditionally said to be named for the princely house of Condé; here it distinguishes the dry oven-browned dice from the buttered ones.