The Great Chef

Although the term had been generalized to designate small pieces of browned bread, croûtons,  on its original French conception, consist of triangular pieces of bread, very lightly browned in clarified butter, that serve to garnish an entrée.  The ones I will be sharing here are not the original French croûtons . Instead, I this recipe is for making the most popular looking version of this garnish - little cubes of golden bread. The quantities are really only a suggestion. You can make pounds of croûtons  and store them on a sealed plastic container, if you want. This recipe renders about 3 cups. Preheat the oven to 350º F. Take half a loaf of white bread, preferably old, and cut it into small cubes. You can choose to take the crust of before cutting the bread. It is up to you and your taste. Personally, I prefer to keep the crust because it turns crispy and delicious. In a bowl, mix the bread with 3 to 4 tablespoons of olive oil. Transfer to a baking sheet cove...

As in almost catholic countries these days, Easter in Portugal is less about religious celebration than it is about family gathering around the table. The main dishes vary from region to region but there are a few common traditions. The presence of the sweet bread is one of them. Traditionally, the sweet bread was the gift from godmothers to their godsons/goddaughters on Easter Sunday, in return for the flowers received on the Palm Sunday. Nowadays, the gadgets became the traditional gift and the sweet bread makes its appearance as a dessert for Easter lunch. Being as it may, this bread is a must have at any Portuguese Easter table (Greeks also have sweet bread in the Easter, as far as I know). Here it is my recipe for the Portuguese sweet bread: Start by dissolving 2 packages of yeast into 1/3 cup of warm milk. Set it aside while preparing the dry ingredients for the dough, allowing it to grow a bit. In a big bowl mix 4 cups of all purpose flour, 10 tablespoons of sugar, 1 cup of warm...