Dean Fearing’s Cheese Croutons
You ay have noticed that I have been doing a lot of summer reading lately! A few good books, but mostly vintage cookbooks like my current favorites – Baking with Julia, German Baking and Cooking and the cookbook this recipe came from – Dean Fearing’s The Mansion on Turtle Creek.
This cookbook caught my eye for a few reasons:
- I lived just a few miles north of the Mansion on Turtle Creek when this cookbook was published. I was getting my Masters at SMU and often drove past imagining all of the fanciness that was going on inside.
- It is a signed copy – LOVE signed copies of cookbooks!
- It has some CRAZY delicious yet approachable sounding recipes.
- It’s Dean Fearing, HELLO.
As I read through Chef Fearing’s cookbook, a large number of recipes caught my eye. I tagged many pages and took a slew of notes. Surprising as it may be, out of all the recipes I read, this little recipe tacked on to the end of a salad recipe caught my eye and catapulted me into the kitchen so I could try it for myself
Although the salad sounded tasty, I immediately imagined these cheese croutons were the star of the show. I could just hear people raving about them – “you have to get the salad, his cheese croutons are to.die.for!” “I could make a meal out of them all by themselves” “I wonder how he makes them…??”
Whether those actual conversations took place or not – I don’t know (because I wasn’t there, sniff). But I PROMISE, if my 22 year old, poor college student self had been invited inside those Mansion doors and offered a salad, I would have made a meal out of these babies!
Let me tell all about this simple recipe – combine the following ingredients in a food processor:
- Brie
- goat cheese
- white cheddar
- cream
- chives
- chili powder (I used Hatch green chili powder – my fave)
- a pinch of s & p
Pulse until the mixture is creamy and similar to the consistency of softened butter. Taste and add additional salt and pepper if necessary.
Smear 1-2 tablespoons of the cheese mixture atop toasted baguette rounds.
Place the rounds into the oven until the cheese is bubbly and golden.
Top the cheese croutons with a little fresh chopped chives (because it makes them look so pretty) – and serve with your favorite salad or as an appetizer all by their delicious little selves. The original recipe makes 8 but – let’s be real, if 8 is good, 24 is better. I made 24 – #worthit.
A little salty, a wave of heat – thanks to Hatch, and the most wonderfully delicious mixture of cheesy goodness baked until crisp and gooey. Yes – I would order a salad just to get my hands on a few of these yummies. And since they come with salad, they are healthy, right?
