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Cronstades or Little Bread Boxes
Cronstades or little bread boxes play an important part in the entree. They are quickly made. Cut a stale loaf of bread into four or five inch cubes. Scoup out the interior with a small spoon leaving a little box with sides half an inch thick. Fry in hot lard until a golden brown, drain, and fill with any prepared meats.
A croustade is a fried bread case, and the whole thing succeeds or fails on the bread: it must be dense, day-old and cut with a sharp knife so the walls hold their shape in the fat.
- The name"Cronstades" appears to be a misprint or phonetic spelling of croustades, from the French for crust. Croustade is the spelling in general use today.
- That cube sizeFour or five inches is very large for an entree case — that is a fist-sized box. Two to three inches square is the usual size for a served portion; go bigger only if you are making a single filled centrepiece.
- The breadA firm, close-crumbed white loaf, a day or two old, unsliced. Modern soft sandwich bread collapses and drinks fat. Trim off all crust before cutting the cubes so the sides brown evenly.
- Hollowing outCut down around the inside about half an inch from each edge with a paring knife first, then lift the centre out with a spoon. Leave the base at least half an inch thick or hot filling will soak through.
- Frying temperatureThe book says only "hot lard." Aim for 360–375°F. Below that the bread absorbs grease; above it, the outside colours before the walls set. Lard is authentic and gives good flavour, but any neutral oil works.
- DrainingInvert the boxes on paper or a rack the moment they come out so oil runs out of the cavity rather than pooling in it. They keep a day in an airtight tin and crisp again in a 350°F oven.
- An oven versionBrushed inside and out with melted butter and baked at 375°F for about 15 minutes, the cases come out drier and lighter, though the book gives only the fried method.
- Filling and timing"Any prepared meats" means a thick, hot mixture: creamed chicken, sweetbreads, mushrooms in béchamel, minced ham. It must be thick enough to hold, and the cases should be filled at the last moment or they soften.
- YieldAt the smaller two-inch size suggested above, a standard 1 lb loaf should give roughly six to eight cases. At the four or five inches the book calls for, expect far fewer.
Croustades belong to the elaborate multi-course dinner service of the late nineteenth century, where the entrée was a made dish served between the fish and the roast, and often came in or on something — a pastry vol-au-vent, a rice or potato border, a timbale case, or, most cheaply, a box of fried bread. The word derives from the French croustade, from crust, and shares a root with the Italian crostata. Their appeal to a household cookbook like this one is economy: they use up a stale loaf and a small quantity of leftover meat, yet arrive at table looking like the pastry work of a professional kitchen.