I don’t know about your house, but I know in our house that there is very rarely challah leftover after Shabbat so I never thought I would have the chance to make this recipe of homemade croutons. However after the festival season and Shabbat UK/Shabbos Project there was much challah leftover due to the intense amount of food that our families and guests were consuming, giving me the opportunity to create these simple yet unbelievable effective and tasty croutons. I am now going to have to make sure we always have challah leftover.
Truth be told I can’t claim total responsibility for this recipe as it was my cousin who gave me the idea and the original instructions, and in return she got a challah baking lesson and a mention on my blog!
As winter is approaching on us this is the perfect addition to your warm and comforting soups. They will add a kick to that special chicken, creamy mushroom or wholesome vegetable soup and become a family and friends favourite. Though I warn you that when they are fresh out the oven it is very tempting to eat them all before they cool down and therefore might not actually make it to the next hour let alone the next Shabbat.
The following recipe below is with suggested seasonings and are not exact due to the varied amount of challah that you may be left with. I say suggested seasonings as you may have a seasoning such as zatar that you really like and would enjoy putting on your croutons. I would highly suggest that you play around with your flavours and work out which you enjoy the most. It would be great to hear your flavour combinations. In the meantime here are my suggested seasonings, as you will notice I love my garlic!
Ingredients:
Challah cut up into cube
Olive oil and sunflower oil
Salt
Pepper
Garlic clove sliced
Garlic powder
Dried Oregano
Chives (fresh or dried)
Method:
Set oven to 200 degrees. Place the cubed challah into an oven proof roasting dish. Sprinkle over seasonings to taste and drizzle over olive oil and sunflower oil. They are not to be soaked in oil but enough to ensure the seasoning sticks to the Challah. Give it a toss to ensure that the seasoning is evenly distributed. Place in the oven for 13-18 minutes depending of the size of your challah cubes and how crunchy you want them.
Once cooled, store them in and air tight container. They keep up to a week. If freezing them, once they have defrosted you should place them back in the oven for 2-5 minutes to crisp them up again.
first published on Arutz Sheva http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Blogs/Message.aspx/7668#.Viyju01OeP8
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