Securing Crouton’s Kitchen
July 2, 2021A reader comments: “I think for a buck or two you can display the secure wwws.irl heading, making many of us more comfortable.” It took Crouton a minute to figure out what the reader was getting at. When it clicked Crouton realized it was something he’d been meaning to do anyway but didn’t quite know how. Most websites today are secure, meaning any data you enter is encrypted, making it harder for hackers to get your info. You can tell whether a site is secure by looking at its URL: “http” no, “https” yes. Crouton’s Kitchen isn’t a commercial site,…
Improving Crouton’s Kitchen
This morning I, Crouton, finally finished adding a line of code to the recipes on this blog. I don’t know about you, but when I look up online recipes I like to cut & paste the important bits … the…
No-Knead Dutch Oven Bread
... may I say how much I hate food and recipe bloggers who make you scroll and scroll to get to the information you came for; namely, the ingredients and instructions? Crouton's Kitchen readers, I promise to give you want…
Crouton’s Pasta with Italian Sausage
Here’s another easy pasta dish anyone can make. It tastes as good as it looks. Notes I’ve tried this with both kalamata olives and canned black olives. The strong flavor of the kalamatas overpower the bell pepper and broccoli, so…
Crouton’s Cheesy Shrimp & Grits
We’re not Southerners, and until a few years ago knew not of shrimp & grits … or even grits for that matter. But we were exposed one night at a restaurant in downtown Tucson, and last night I decided to…
Ditalini’s Goulash
This is the Czech version of goulash, as served at the Tábor Restaurant in Portland, Oregon, modified by Ditalini. Traditionally it is served with dumplings, which I’ll include in the recipe, but we serve it with pasta, as shown. The…
Future Projects Photoblog
Today, a photoblog. These are all things for future Crouton’s Kitchen posts. Pizza w/bread machine dough Ditalini preparing lumpia & wonton soup Lumpia & wonton soup Truffle deMenthe’s jambalaya Ditalini’s egg sliders Crouton’s Fortress of Smoke™ Fried polenta w/eggs There.…
Crouton’s Fortress of Smoke™
A while back I added an equipment & technique section to this blog. This post is the first entry in that section, and describes my method for setting up and using a Weber Smoky Mountain cooker (aka Crouton’s Fortress of Smoke™). This post…
Shelter in Place: Bread Machine Basics
Like many of you, judging by how hard it is to find flour and yeast these days, we’ve taken the old bread machine out of the closet and put it back in the kitchen where it belongs, mostly as a…
Crouton’s Hot Party Wings
Ditalini and I try to have a special meal on Friday night. It’s our way of marking the end of the work week, less stressful than drinking and partying all night. Sometimes we’ll bring home takeout hot wings from Hooters or…
Crouton’s Sloppy Joes
Ditalini had a busy day planned and asked me to make dinner. She left a packet of Sloppy Joe mix on the kitchen counter, along with a pound of ground beef to thaw. I was underwhelmed by the idea of using…