Croquettes

For those of you who do not know what a croquette is it is minced meat in a thick white sauce that is formed into rolls, breaded and deep fried. Bitterballen are the same thing, except rolled into balls. And they are yum! Not sure where they originated from, but common to Dutch folk. Anyways, most people I know make them from roast beef, but my in-laws make them from turkey and I like it better as it's not as heavy. I made some recently as turkey's were on sale in my area and now my dear cousin, who sampled her first turkey croquette would like the recipe. So, T, here it is:

Croquettes


You will need 1c sauce for 2c diced cooked meat (which I do in the food processor or blender).

For 1c sauce you'll need:
2T butter
1/4 flour
1/2 milk
1/2c broth (chicken for turkey, beef for roast, etc)

Melt butter in sauce pan. Add flour and cook for a few minutes, stirring to incorporate. Remove from heat. Slowly add milk and broth, stirring or whisking constantly to ensure you don't get any clumps. Put back on med high heat, stirring constantly until it boils and thickens. Add meat.

Add in:
1t maggi (or soya sauce)
1/2t salt
1/4t pepper
1t curry powder
1t parsley
1/2t paprika
1/2t ginger powder

If the mixture is too thin, you can add some more flour. If too thick, add more liquid (ie milk). Put in fridge to cool (they roll better when the mixture is cold). To roll (and this is best done with a friend as it can get pretty messy), put bread crumbs in a container and an egg that has been mixed with 2T water in another container (foil pie plates work well). Roll a croquette into desired size and shape then roll first in bread crumbs, then in egg mixture, then once more in crumbs. Deep fry in hot oil until golden brown and serve with your favourite mustard.

You can also freeze them before you fry them. I do so by putting the finished croquettes on cookie sheet and putting them in the freezer. Once frozen, I transfer them to a container. When ready to deep fry, ensure that the croquettes are completely thawed out. Or you can also freeze them after they have been fried and heat up in the oven when you want them.

Note: My mom informed me that to make the rolling process easy, you should spread the mixture on a cookie sheet and freeze, then cut into the size of croquette you want and roll. I'm going to try that next time cuz I'm sure frozen mix is less sticky then just cold mix.