Parmesan Coated Croutons...Quick on the Stovetop

I hate to throw away food, and this week my loaf of Italian bread was not being eaten for some reason. It was getting kind of stale, so instead of tossing it in the freezer for a later date, it went into a semi hot pan with garlic infused butter and olive oil and got a shake up in a brown paper bag with grated parmesan cheese. Voila! Croutons for tomorrow's salad. A simple technique and a great snack even if you're not a salad fan.

Parmesan Coated Croutons

3 or 4 slices of semi stale Italian bread cut into 1 inch cubes
1-1/2 T unsalted butter
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
4-6 cloves of garlic smashed
Kosher salt
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

In a large skillet heat butter and oil and add smashed garlic.

Cook until garlic becomes aromatic and slightly brown. Remove garlic from skillet with slotted spoon. This is about the color you're looking for because if you let it go any further it could easily burn and you'll have to start over. That's not something you want to do.

To garlic infused oil/butter mixture add your bread cubes and a tsp (or a little more) of kosher salt. Toss cubes in pan and cook for 5 or so minutes on all sides until mostly brown.

Now the fun begins. Remove croutons from pan and toss into a small brown paper bag with the cheese. Shake, shake, shake until your toasty bread cubes are covered with cheese. Immediate happy snacking and a fabulous salad garnish for another day. Wasn't that quick?