Borodino bread croutons with garlic

1. Cut off the crust from a loaf of yesterday's Borodino bread, retaining only the crumb.

2. Cut the crumb into slices 2 cm thick. Cut each slice into 2-3 sticks or several smaller pieces of the desired size.

3. Peel the garlic cloves. Cut 2-3 cloves of garlic into slices and use to flavor the oil when frying croutons. Another 4-6 cloves of garlic finely chop or mince with a garlic press and use to make "garlic paste".

4. To prepare a "garlic paste" for greasing croutons, combine chopped garlic cloves and 0.5-1 tsp. salt. Pound the mixture with the flat side of a knife on a cutting board or mortar until the salt is dissolved and the garlic pieces are soft and oozing.

5. Optionally, add 1 tsp to the garlic mixture. olive oil to give it a more spreadable consistency and uniformity.

6. Heat vegetable oil over high heat until light white smoke appears above the surface. Add chopped garlic and sauté for 20-30 seconds until golden brown.

7. Then remove the pieces of garlic and carefully put the pieces of bread into the hot oil. Frying in boiling oil allows you to create a crispy crust on the surface of the bread in a matter of seconds, which, in addition to being appetizing, will prevent the absorption of a large amount of oil into the croutons.

8. Fry the slices of bread for a few seconds on each side, until golden brown.

9. Put the finished croutons on a paper towel or towel to absorb excess oil. Then rub the slices of bread with garlic paste and serve.

10. Borodino bread croutons with garlic are ready.