Here’s an idea whose time has come: cornbread croutons. They form a part of a trout recipe that I tried out the other day, and they are the sole reason for this post. The tomato and parsley and red onion salad that formed the base of the fish dish was all well and good, but it was the croutons that were the star of this show. (And the point of this post, so I won’t get into recipe details just yet.)
At first I was hesitant – I’m not the biggest fan of cornbread, and it seemed just a little too sweet for a savory salad like this. That turned out to be its most pleasantly surprising feature. Countering the sting of the onion and a bit of vinegar, the cornbread mellowed the whole scene, and provided just enough carbs to render an additional side dish unnecessary.
The original recipe came with a ‘See page__ for Cornbread recipe’ which is a notation that I always dread. If I cook, I’m cooking one thing. But Andy found a decent pan of cornbread from the market, so I cheated like Sandra Lee and cut the thing into crouton-sized cubes.
In order to keep the cornbread from crumbling, and to give the croutons their customary crunch, it was necessary to toast them in the oven for a few minutes. This too worked in changing the consistency of the bread for the better.
The rainbow trout was a fine addition, but I could have eaten the cornbread and tomato salad on its own. It was that good.
