Transitioning toward Spring

We're not quite at the wearing of the green but Spring is getting closer so it may be time for spring cleaning of the pantry: using up whatever's stashed, and time for thinking greens. That makes Ribollita the recipe of the moment. Ribolitta is simply Italian for re-boiled because the dish is more or less yesterday's soup and bread served today. The soup itself is a brilliant way to use up leftovers and pantry staples still hanging around, so you can clean out the kitchen before Farmer's Markets open. And it features greens available at winter markets.

Ribolitta comes from Tuscany, from peasants who couldn't afford to waste anything and it showcases their beloved local produce: kale, cabbage, white beans and Tuscan (salt-free)  bread. The idea was to use leftover minestrone and bread by combining the two and letting them meld overnight into an entirely new casserole-like dish. So there is no pat, uniform recipe for Ribollita: there are as many versions as there are Tuscan grandmothers. What's consistent is the blending of greens and beans with bread. That makes it perfect comfort food for right now when we're oh so ready for something hearty and bright green on the table.

I've been playing with recipes that vary widely from boil to bake, potatoes or not, and haven't settled on the ultimate ...yet. But here's a good start.  I didn't use potatoes because I figured bread was starch enough but I did throw in an old Parmesan rind for its rich smokiness. (Note: this is stomach and heart warming food that doesn't use any spices or hot peppers; it just purveys the flavors of kale, chard and cabbage.)

 Ribollita
For 6 as main course
(Remember, you can tweak this anyway you want.)

3 tbsp and 2 tsp olive oil

1 med onion, peeled and diced

1 lg garlic clove, peeled and minced

½ tsp dried rosemary leaves (if you prefer oregano, go for it.)

2 sm or 1 lg celery stalks, finely chopped

1 lg carrot, peeled and finely chopped

½ Savoy cabbage, shredded

5 stalks red chard, stems removed and leaves chopped

1 bunch Tuscan/lacinto/blue kale, stems removed and chopped

6-7 cups broth or water

salt and freshly ground black pepper to your taste

2 cans (about 14 oz) cannellini (white kidney) beans, drained

1-2 tbsp tomato paste

6 slices day or two old (i.e.stale) Tuscan or other dense crusty Italian bread (dense is the key word)

Fruity olive oil for final garnish

Optional: 1 sm parmesan rind

Coat bottom of a large heavy-gauge pot with 3 tbsp olive oil and heat on medium flame.  Add onion, garlic, rosemary, celery and carrots. Sauté until soft, 5 minutes.  Season with freshly ground black pepper to your taste.

Add Savoy cabbage and chard, stirring to blend, and cook until they wilt.

Add broth, optional Parmesan rind, salt and kale. Bring to boil, reduce heat to simmer, cover pot and simmer 40-45 minutes, until vegetables are soft. Timing does not have to be precise.

Purée 1 can of beans. Add puréed and whole beans to the soup along with the tomato paste. (suit yourself with how much) Stir to blend everything. Continue to simmer with lid on pot 15 minutes. Stir from time to time so nothing sticks to the bottom.  Taste for salt and correct if necessary.

At this point, you can be very Tuscan and get out a large earthenware casserole pot, then layer the bread and soup in it. Or you can simply add the bread to the soup pot you’re already using, trying to “layer” it in. In either case, remove soup from heat and let cool. Refrigerate overnight so it sets up.

To serve: stir in 2 tsp olive oil. Reheat on low flame or in the oven until hot enough to eat. Garnish with more fruity olive oil. Serve with simple green salad.

More colorful, tasty winter food: butternut squash in a whole new way

Sticking with the idea of brightening the blahs of winter with vivid, fragrant food, here's an easy to make but complex dish that's filling and seriously delicious. It features winter squash. It's gluten-free, if that's your thing now. It can also be vegan, if that's your thing. This very thick soup is a winner every which way.

Roasted Butternut Squash and Chickpea Soup
serves 4-6 depending on size of serving

       1 butternut squash, peeled and diced, reserving the seeds*

1 tablespoon cumin seeds

1 dried red chili, crumbled

2-3 tbsp olive oil

2 sticks celery, trimmed and finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped

a few sprigs of fresh flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked and chopped, stalks finely chopped

2 small red onions, peeled and finely chopped

6 cups organic chicken or vegetable stock

2 cans (13/5-14 oz) chickpeas, drained

1/3 c ground/finely chopped almonds

½ tablespoon fennel seeds

½ tablespoon sesame seeds

½ tablespoon poppy seeds

       sea salt

              freshly ground black pepper

              zest of  2 lemons

              a few sprigs of fresh mint, leaves picked and chopped

              harissa or other hot sauce

              extra virgin olive oil

*if you don’t have squash seeds, use ½ cup packaged pumpkin seeds

Preheat oven to 400°F. Place the squash, cumin and crumbled chili on to a baking tray. Drizzle with olive oil, mix together and place in the preheated oven. Roast for 45 minutes until the squash is tender.

Once the squash is roasted, heat a large saucepan and pour in 2 tbsp olive oil. Add celery, garlic, parsley stalks and two-thirds of the onion. Cook gently with a lid on until the veggies are soft, about 5-8 minutes. Add the roasted squash and let it sweat for a few minutes, then pour in the stock. Bring to a boil, turn down heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

Add the chickpeas and simmer for 15 minutes more.

Meanwhile, in 2 tsp olive oil, toast the squash/pumpkin seeds with the ground almonds, fennel, sesame and poppy seeds until they are nicely browned all over.

Season the soup well with salt and pepper.  If you have a hand-held blender, whiz the soup for a few seconds so it thickens, but there are still some chunky bits. If you don’t have one, pour about 2/3 of the soup into a food processor and whiz a few rounds. Pour it back into the pot and blend.

Keep the soup on simmer. Mix together lemon zest, chopped parsley leaves and mint leaves. Chop remaining onion until it’s really fine, then mix into the zesty mixture.

To serve, spoon ½ tsp harissa paste or other hot sauce into each bowl. Divide the zesty herb mixture between the bowls. Ladle in the soup and stir each bowl once with a spoon to blend everything. Sprinkle on top the toasted seeds and almonds, and finish with a drizzle of really fruity olive oil.

Serve this with toasted pita, naan or lavash, a green salad, and perhaps a cheese platter if you're not vegan.

NOTE: if you use vegetable stock, this soup is vegan and gluten-free.

Spice up your life right now

Strong spices can go a long way to relieve the bleak tedium of winter and the few foods it still offers fresh. Many of them actually warm the body. All of them wake the taste buds. They are a great benefit.

Many cultures have their own mix for the job. In South Asia (India, Pakistan, Nepal) it's garam masala, literally 'mixed spice'. It's subtler than our version, "curry powder," and often added at the final moment of cooking so it hits the tongue with full force. The key ingredients of garam masala are turmeric, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, clove and black pepper.  Moroccans have "ras al hanout", a fragrant concoction  whose name means "head of the shop" as in "best available spices in the shop." It's likely to include cardamom, clove, cinnamon, paprika, coriander, cumin, mace, nutmeg, peppercorn, turmeric and sometimes even rose petals or lavender.

My favorite is Ethiopian berbere, which has a zing of heat. I use it to roast pumpkin seeds, steam cauliflower and mash winter squash. I love it on chicken, especially fried, and put a pinch on ribs. It's terrific in a chickpea tagine or soup, or with any beans.  Here's my version, which I bother to make every few months and keep in a jar in the fridge to grab at any moment my taste buds need a wake-up call.

Ethiopian Berbere
1/2 tsp cumin seeds

2 tsp. coriander seeds

1 tsp. fenugreek seeds

1⁄2 tsp. whole black peppercorns

6 white cardamom pods

4 whole cloves

3 dried arbol chiles, stemmed, seeded,

and broken into small pieces

3 tbsp. paprika

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. ground allspice

1 tsp. ground nutmeg

1⁄2 tsp. ground ginger

1⁄2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1. In a small skillet, combine coriander seeds, fenugreek seeds, black peppercorns, allspice, chilies, cardamom pods, and cloves. Toast spices over medium heat, swirling skillet constantly, until fragrant, about 4 minutes.

2. Let cool slightly; transfer to a spice grinder and grind until fine. Mix with the other salt and spices until everything is thoroughly blended.

3. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and stir in paprika, salt, allspice, nutmeg, ginger, and cinnamon.

NOTE: when ready to use you will have to add a garlic clove or two blended with minced with 1 tsp freshly minced ginger root. 

Here's an easy way to try this with ingredients from the pantry and winter market:

Spicy Green Lentils with Carrot

1 cup french green lentils

3 c vegetable broth

2 cups diced onions

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp  fresh ginger, minced

1 cup diced carrot

1 cup diced tomatoes (boxed are fine right now)

2-3 tbsp Berbere spice mix

1 tsp salt

3 tbsp olive oil

Fresh Italian parsley for garnish

In a medium heavy bottom pot, or dutch oven, sauté the diced onion, carrots, garlic and ginger in the olive oil, until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the berbere, blend and sauté 2-3 minutes. Add green lentils,  diced tomatoes,  and 3 broth.  Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low and cook until lentils are just past al dente, about 30-40 minutes. Check there is enough liquid as they cook and add 1/4 cup at a time if necessary.  Serve garnished with chopped fresh Italian parsley. 

These are great for vegetarians on a bed of basmati rice or couscous with garlic laced sauteed broccoli rabe on the side. Carnivores can enjoy them with deep fried chicken that's dusted with berbere before getting coated, with pan fried chicken, roasted turkey, or flank steak marinated in red wine to soften tough fibers and dusted with berbere before being grilled or broiled. Just remember to get chicken and beef from your local farmer so it's poison free.

For carnivores, fragrant and filling lamb tagine is another good option right now. A tagine is a North African stew made in the oven or on the stove top that mixes meat with the sweetness of fruits, nuts and sensuous spices. For 4-6 people, you'll need 2 lbs of good quality stewing lamb cut into chunks. After that, it's up to you.  I just made a lazy lamb tagine with raisins, dried apricots, green olives and raw almonds.  I seasoned the lamb with salt and pepper, then browned it in olive oil in a heavy casserole pot with lid. I threw in a diced onion and when it was soft and golden, I added in lieu of 2 tbsp ras al hanout 4 minced garlic cloves, an inch of fresh ginger minced, 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, 2 tsp ground coriander, 2 tsp ground cumin, 2 tsp paprika, a lg pinch of saffron threads, 1/2 tsp dried mint and 1/2 tsp salt. I let that saute a minute and added raisins, about a doz dried apricots and a dozen pitted green olives. (Some people would add an inch of orange peel but I didn't.) I covered everything with water that was about 1" over the top, stirred in a tbsp tomato paste, brought everything to a boil. covered the pot, reduced heat to low and let the tagine stew for 90 minutes. Then I skimmed off impurities and fat, threw in a dozen raw almonds and let it cook another 5 minutes while I made couscous to serve underneath where it could sop up that scented sauce.  I garnished the whole shebang with freshly chopped cilantro leaves and savored the sublime smell in the house. 

Egging Us On: Shakshuka and Noodle Pudding

It gets tough around now to find a farm fresh product to celebrate, so let's salute the egg.
Sometimes it's sold as organic, which means the chicken feed was certified organic and the hens weren't fed prophylactic antibiotics. Sometimes local farmers sell both organic and non; the guy I buy the most incredibly large and tasty eggs I've ever found describes the difference as: chicken feed. "Sometimes I run out of the organic and have to give the other hens ordinary grains."  My theory is: if that's the worst of it, stick with the local farmer's non-organic before you even think about the supermarket shelf.

Free-range is supposed to mean the chicken got to walkabout. But in truth, there's no telling whether that means the chicken got out of its cage for sixty seconds or actually spent its days in the great outdoors free to peck and claw. Chances are from a local farm, it's the latter.

One of the reasons the egg is nature's most perfect food is its packing case. That seemingly thin, vulnerable shell is a marvel of insulation. Eggs do not need to be continually refrigerated to be clean. It's widely known in the baking business how much better it is for separating the white from the yolk to leave eggs on the counter for a few hours.  It's also true that if you keep them on a windowsill where the average temperature is, say, 55º , they'll stay fresh for two to three days.  Unless the weather is torrid, a hard boiled egg in its shell can be carried in your pocket all day long for an evening snack.

So boil, scramble, fry and bake.  Here's a very colorful, flavorful and unusual way to enjoy eggs right now:
poached in spicy tomato sauce.

NORTH AFRICAN SHAKSHOUKA

for 2  (all amounts are variable except the eggs)

3 tbsp fruity olive oil

2 lg garlic cloves, minced

1 sm red onion, diced

1 sm green bell pepper, seeded and chunked

1 sm yellow bell pepper, seeded and chunked

1 chili pepper like Serrano, seeded and minced

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

½ tsp caraway seeds, smashed or ground

1-2 tsp smoked paprika

1/2  tsp dried mint leaves

¼ tsp turmeric

¼ tsp ground cayenne or arbol chili powder

pinch ground cinnamon

1 tsp wine/balsamic vinegar

½ tsp honey

1 tsp tomato paste

3-31/2 cups chopped tomatoes in their juice

salt to your taste

black pepper to taste

4 eggs

1 bunch fresh cilantro, stemmed, washed and chopped for garnish

optional add ons: feta cheese, pitted black kalamata olives, chopped spinach

In a large heavy-gauge sauté pan that has a lid, heat olive oil. Sauté onions, bell and chili peppers and garlic over medium heat til soft, about 5 minutes.  Add the spices—cumin through cinnamon—and heat until fragrant, maybe 60-90 seconds.

Stir in vinegar, tomato paste, honey and tomatoes.  Season with salt and pepper.

Cook until the sauce thickens, maybe 10-12 minutes depending on how juicy the tomatoes were.  Taste for flavor and add seasonings to your taste.

Get the sauce very hot and bubbly over medium heat and have the pan lid handy.  Carefully create 4 small pockets in the sauce and crack an egg into each one. Try to nudge a little sauce into the eggwhites. Lightly salt the eggs  Cover and continue cooking to poach the eggs to your liking, usually they're done in 3-4 minutes.

Uncover the pan. Add the optionals you desire.  Remove pan from heat. Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve right out of the pan.

(NB: this photo is of a two egg/one person version)

Serve with crusty or pita bread to mop up the plentiful, thick sauce.

A more prosaic way to celebrate farm products still available at this point in time is an old European dish,  noodle pudding, which can be served as a main or side dish, snack or dessert, warm or room temperature.  It keeps in the fridge several days and is perfect for potluck and parties.

NOODLE PUDDING

for 6

1/2 lb wide egg noodles, cooked and drained

1/2 c granulated sugar

1/2 stick/1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

1 lb cottage cheese or fromage blank

4 oz cream cheese or mascarpone

5 oz sour cream or creme fraiche

salt to taste

1/2 c raisins

5 extra large eggs

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

pinch ground cardamom

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1 doz dried apricots, coarsely chopped

1/4 c dried cranberries

1/2 c Graham cracker crumbs

2 tbsp butter, melted

Preheat oven to 375º. Lightly butter an 8" sq baking pan.

In a very large bowl, put the cooked noodles and add all other ingredients down through cranberries. Mix well.  Pour into prepared pan and smooth into a level layer.

Make topping by adding melted butter to the cracker crumbs. Blend well. Sprinkle this topping lightly over the pudding.

Bake at 375º about 45 minutes or until pudding is set: a cake tester should come out clean.

Cool for at least 10 minutes before cutting to serve.

Bean me up, Scotty

 News from the meat world is getting worse all the time now. Latest revelation is that chickens marked "organic" or "antibiotic-free" may harbor as many deadly pathogens as the cheaper birds. All the supermarket stuff is tainted, potentially with killer bacteria that can now outwit our antibiotics. So once again, cozy up to your local farmer if you want poultry.

That said, let's think vegetarian for the moment, and in keeping with the thought that January needs a lot of color added, consider beans. They're red, pink, black, white, yellow, green, even spotted. And they're great with greens and bright yellow cornbread as I said about black-eyed peas last time. This time, think black bean chili with luscious red salsa and a dollop of sour cream on top sitting beside cornbread and maybe slices of avocado dressed with a squeeze of fresh lime.

Or think about yellow split peas enticingly spiced with cinnamon, cardamom and ginger as a soup or served with less liquid over red or black rice. Here's the recipe from my book: Veggiyana, the Dharma of Cooking:

Split peas with kale and cinnamon for 6

2 cups yellow split peas, cleaned

1 bunch Tuscan kale, chopped (thick stem removed)

1 lg. cinnamon stick

2 bay leaves

5 cloves

1 tsp. cumin seed

½ tsp. ground cumin

½ tsp. ground cardamom

½ inch fresh ginger, minced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp. turmeric

2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1 medium red onion, diced

2 tbsp. olive oil or ghee if you prefer
5 cups water

½ bunch fresh cilantro for garnish

Bring water to boil in a large saucepan or medium casserole. Add split peas, turmeric, cinnamon stick and half the salt (1 tsp.). Cook covered for one hour, checking that there is always some water in the pot. While the peas cook, heat the oil or ghee in a medium-sized frying or sauté pan. Over medium heat, fry the bay leaves, cumin seeds and cloves for one minute. Add the onion, ginger and garlic and cook until the onions lightly brown, stirring to blend. Stir in the kale and 1 tsp salt. Continue cooking until the kale is glistening and soft.  Remove the bay leaves from the pot. Add the contents of the fry pan to the split peas. Add the ground cardamom, cumin and black pepper, stirring to blend. Taste for seasonings and adjust to your preference. Continue cooking until the peas are soft, adding water if necessary.  Some people prefer this soupy and others on the dry side. 

There is a very nutritious and aromatic Nepalese soup made from 9 beans, also in my book Veggiyana, the Dharma of Cooking, called Kwaati.


And finally, to top this all off, how about bright orange carrot pudding!  It's super popular comfort from Kathmandu to Kuwait. And the recipe, yes, is in Veggiyana, the Dharma of Cooking, so no need to repeat it here.

Next up, I'm working out the best recipe for the colorful, fragrant and yummy North African eggs in tomato dish: shakshuka. Not quite there yet so stay tuned.

Hot Around the Collard

The cold, the dark, the dull post-holiday weeks cry out for colorful and hearty food, so this is a time to celebrate collards, maybe the most flavorful green in the garden. It's definitely one of the most nutritious.
Happily, collards are cheap right now: for $3.00 I got 2 organic bunches and that nourishes a crowd.

Since many northerners are baffled by collards, and they're no good raw, I'd say the simplest way to get them on the table is to braise them for 20-30 minutes, however much time you have. You can't overcook them.  The basic recipe is to soften a small onion in a tsp or two of oil  in a medium-size heavy-gauge pot while you rip the greens off the thick stems. Cut or shred the leaves into large pieces and throw them into the pot. Add a minced garlic clove and a pinch of salt. Then cover the greens with water or vegetable broth; water is fine because collards have so much flavor to offer. Put a lid on the pot, put the heat on low and come back in 10 minutes to make sure there's still liquid in the pot. Add if not. Continue cooking until you're ready to eat. The longer you cook collards, the more melt-in-your-mouth they become.

What do you serve these with right now? Well for color, how about sweet potatoes, quickly cooked in the microwave? Ham or roast pork, of course, or any barbequed meat if you're not vegetarian. If you are, I suggest arepas, the Venezulan cornmeal pancakes. You can buy Masarepa, the special cornmeal for them, wherever Goya products are sold in the international aisle of the supermarket.

It's traditional in the South to start January with collards as a lucky food: their green color represents greenbacks, so they're supposed to magnetize money in the year ahead. They're most often served with that other lucky and very flavorful food, black-eyed peas. Indeed my second simplest way to get collards to the table is to braise them as above, then 15 minutes into the cooking, dump into the pot a can of black-eyed peas and a pinch of smoked paprika.

When I have more time, and I make time this time of year, I put collards in the traditional black-eyed peas dish: Hoppin' John. It's a vat of peas with rice and collards--and if you're not vegetarian, chunks of smoked ham. It's champion comfort food for a multitude.  Here is my own vegetarian version. Last week I made it with a small smoked ham hock: I simply started the whole process with the ham in the pot and in the end I pulled out the naked bone, all the meat deep in the beans.

Happy Eating!

Hoppin' John Recipe: Vegetarian but see above to add ham

For 6-8

½ lb. black-eyed peas, soaked overnight and drained

2-3 tbsp corn oil, enough to cover the bottom of your pot

1 lg onion, peeled and diced

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 sm Poblano pepper, roasted and diced
1 tsp chipotle chili powder

½ tsp smoked paprika

¼ tsp ground cayenne

2 celery ribs, diced

4 cups vegetable broth

½-1 cup water

½ bunch collard greens, chopped

1-1½ cups rice (depending on how thick you want this)*

Salt and black pepper to your taste

*I find using short-grained paella rice better than long grain basmati for this dish.

Heat oil in a heavy gauge casserole or stock pot. Add onion and sauté over medium heat until onion is soft and translucent, maybe 5 minutes.

Add garlic and Poblano pepper, stirring to blend.  Sauté 1 minute.

Add spices and celery. Sauté 2 minutes. (Add oil if necessary)

Add broth, water and black-eyed peas. Bring to a boil, lower heat to simmer, cover and cook 45 minutes.

Add collard greens, rice, salt and pepper. Cover and continue to simmer another 20-25 minutes, checking from time to time that you have enough liquid. Add water by the ¼ cupful if you need it.

Taste for seasoning, adjust if necessary, and serve with freshly chopped cilantro leaves.

Holiday Gifts

This is just a reminder that since most people already have more stuff than they can store, food gifts are always perfect. Everybody has to eat so there's never too much in the pantry. And food gifts that brighten the dreary days of December and January bring joy to the world.  So don't forget to raid your pantry in the Christmas spirit of sharing with others. These gifts may not look as glamorous as a new i Pad  but they'll keep giving just as much pleasure. Nothing lifts a spirit like treats good to grab.

Here are the usual ideas:
Spiced pumpkin seeds
     These crunch up a green salad or winter squash dish,  crisp the top of corn pudding or corn tart, make a zesty snack, and best of all provide crucial nutrients like zinc that aren't in too many other foods.  Zinc is especially beneficial to men.

Maple Syrup
    Only the genuine syrup from a local farm is worth giving and it's getting more valuable by the year. Climate change is warming winters too much for the sap to rise; maple syrup is predicted to become extinct in 50 years. So indulge now. It's the perfect gift for diabetics because this is supposedly a sweetener they can live with. Maple syrup isn't just for pancakes; it's for oatmeal, yogurt, toast, baked apples, Indian pudding, barbeque sauce, muffins and cookies.  It can also glaze a roasted turkey.

Honey
   Most commercial supermarket honey is said to be sludge from China impure in more ways than one, so genuine honey from a local producer is a real gift to someone you love. Historically and universally, it's been the gift that signals a sweet relationship, a way to tell others you love them. Plus it's an antibiotic you can use on your throat or dab on a wound in an emergency.  Honey doesn't just add happiness to tea; it makes sour yogurt yummy. Greeks traditionally put honey and butter on their sourdough breakfast bread and that's delicious. With soy sauce and ketchup in equal parts, honey makes a tasty, easy spare rib cooking sauce. Frankly, its uses are endless.

Pickled Beans or Asparagus or Cucumbers
   This is the stuff of cocktail canapes, salads, Japanese suppers, cheese trays and sandwich plates.  Plus there is sweetness in all this sour: pickling creates a nutritional powerhouse because fermenting doesn't just preserve the veggies' original vitamins, it increases the mix.

Jam
   Whatever you made last summer or fall, give it now because the commercial stuff is mostly sugar, by design. It has to be made to last a lifetime. But if you have homemade jam without artificial pectin and with low sugar so that your friends can actually taste the fruit, they're gonna love you for giving them a jar. It will have less calories too. Jam isn't just for toast and croissants; it's good to make linzer torte or thumb print cookies and good for glazing a fruit tart.

Croutons
   Yes, stale bread like Cinderella can become something quite lovely. You just need dense bread, hopefully locally baked and a day old. If it's a baguette, cut it in thin slices. If it's a round or oval loaf, cut it into bite-sized pieces. Either way, put the cut bread into a wide shallow bowl half filled with really fruity olive oil and a mashed clove or two of garlic until it's moist.  Remove from the bowl, spread in a single layer on a baking sheet and dry in the oven at 300º for about an hour or so. Check. In the end they should be hard and golden.  Store and present in airtight tins.  The sliced croutons are perfect for soup or fondu, the diced ones for salads. They turn out to be very handy, especially because store-bought croutons can be prohibitively expensive.

Tomato Sauce, Spiced Nuts, Cheesesticks, Cookies
    You get the idea...

and don't forget locally made potholders because nobody ever has enough.

P.S. I like to present food gifts in tins, jars and baskets the recipient can use over and again. They are part of the gift.