Croquettes: cooking at home
Croquettes are a real godsend for the busy but frugal housewife who loves to pamper her family with delicious food, but cannot spend too much time in the kitchen. Croquettes, which were first prepared in France, look like cutlets in the shape of a cylinder or ball the size of a walnut. They can be eaten warm or cold, taken with you to work, on a picnic, and served on the table for unexpected guests. If you make this dish, experiment with different ingredients as you can make croquettes with whatever you have in the fridge. It is very simple, convenient and practical.
Chicken croquettes. Three cooking recipes
Croquettes are a culinary dish made from minced meat or vegetables. Minced meat can be made from any meat; in this case, recipes from chicken are offered. You can also make croquettes from minced vegetables. The croquettes are shaped into round or cylindrical shapes, rolled in breadcrumbs and deep-fried. Mashed potatoes are sometimes used instead of crackers. France is considered the birthplace of croquettes, and later they became popular in many countries around the world. Croquettes are often used as a side dish.
Croquettes (1)
Chicken croquettes - delicious, very tender, original - a wonderful dish
Ingredients: chicken pulp 400 g, egg 1.1/2 pieces, crackers 20 g, deep-frying fat 200 g, wine 1 teaspoon, thick milk sauce 40 g, butter 1 teaspoon, nutmeg, salt, pepper, herbs.
Preparation
Cook the processed homemade chicken in a small amount of water or broth, separate the meat from the bones, pass it through a meat grinder with a fine grid 2 times. Place the cranked mixture in a saucepan, add raw eggs, butter, wine (Madeira), salt, ground pepper, nutmeg, thick milk sauce, mix everything thoroughly. Place the resulting mass on the table, roll it into a sheet 2-3 cm thick, cut into pieces 4 cm long, or cut it into balls the size of a walnut. You can form the croquettes into a cylindrical shape. Then soak the prepared croquettes in egg, bread them in ground breadcrumbs and deep-fry, then put in the oven for 4 - 5 minutes. To serve, place the croquettes on a plate covered with a paper napkin and garnish with a sprig of parsley.
Croquettes (2)
Chicken croquettes with the addition of mushrooms, very tasty meat balls, deep-fried, a wonderful second course
Ingredients: boiled chicken 160 g, champignons 120 g, melted butter 40 g, milk sauce 80 g, wheat flour 1 teaspoon, egg 1.5 pcs, stale white bread 30 g, salt, pepper, spicy herbs.
Preparation
Fry the mushrooms cut into strips until cooked, shortly before the end, add thin slices of chicken meat, sprinkle with salt and pepper, season with thick milk sauce and cool. Cut the resulting mass into balls, 2 to 3 per serving. Bread in flour, soak in egg lezone and re-bread in white breading. Deep-fry the croquettes until a light brown crust forms. After this, remove the croquettes, put them in a bowl and place them in the oven for 1 - 2 minutes until the crust softens. Serve the croquettes on a pie plate and sprinkle with chopped herbs. Serve the sauce separately.
Croquettes (3)
Chicken croquettes - deep-fried meat balls, very tasty
Ingredients: chicken 800 g, parsley root 50 g, carrots 50 g, potatoes 150 g, bread 100 g, butter 10 g, sour cream 25 g, egg 4 pcs, flour 5 g, boiled mushrooms 30 g, raisins 1 tbsp. Salt, pepper, ground crackers, fat for frying.
Preparation
Boil the chicken. Boil the roots and potatoes in the broth. Separate the poultry meat from the bones and pass through a meat grinder, mix with two eggs, sour cream, finely chopped mushrooms, raisins, spices and salt to taste, sprinkle with flour and leave for 30 minutes. Form croquettes into balls from the cutlet mixture. Soak each one in beaten eggs, coat in breadcrumbs and fry until golden brown. Serve with fried julienned potatoes and beet salad.
What are croquettes
Croquettes are made from beef, pork, turkey, cod, crab, hake, cottage cheese and even vermicelli. Chicken, potato and carrot croquettes are especially tasty, as well as croquettes with mushrooms, cheese, cereals and any vegetables. Croquettes are prepared either from one product or from several ingredients - for example, potatoes can be added to croquettes with minced meat, and rice or semolina can be added to cabbage croquettes. Combinations of meat with cereals, fish with potatoes, mushrooms with cheese, eggs with herbs, carrots with raisins are very tasty.
Balls or sticks are formed from the prepared minced meat, and then the croquettes are breaded, deep-fried or baked in the oven until golden brown and crispy. It is no coincidence that the word “croquette” is translated from French as “crunch.” Croquettes are served as an appetizer, side dish or independent dish, accompanied by thick sauces - meat, mushroom, tomato, cream and cheese. Croquettes can also be desserts if they are prepared with rice, cottage cheese, sweet dough, fruits and nuts.
On the menu of Barcelona restaurants
There are a huge number of recipes for potato croquettes: with jamon, mushrooms, cheese, vegetables... Any establishment tries to stand out and come up with its own unsurpassed taste.
Ous i Croquetes
Another great restaurant whose potato croquettes will leave you speechless is Ous i Croquetes. These crispy round balls are made from potatoes and topped with pistachio sauce.
Bodega Sepúlveda
Among a large number of similar places, the Madrid restaurant, which is called Bodega Sepúlveda, is especially noticeable. The menu includes more than 10 variations of potato croquettes. The most unusual ones are made from morcilla (blood sausage) with onion, apple and fried pine nuts.
Leku
Potato croquettes made from cuttlefish in their own ink are considered a true delicacy. They are deliciously prepared and served in an original way at the Leku restaurant.
How to prepare croquettes?
The minced meat is mixed from the necessary ingredients. To prepare vegetable croquettes, potatoes are boiled, and cabbage, carrots, corn, celery, spinach and other vegetables are lightly simmered in water with the addition of oil. Croquettes with meat and fish are made from raw minced meat, crumbly cereal is cooked for rice, buckwheat and millet balls, and cheese croquettes are prepared from grated cheese with the addition of herbs, mushrooms and eggs. Liver croquettes are very tasty and can be prepared according to different recipes - for example, with smoked brisket, potatoes and eggs. The minced meat should be juicy and dense at the same time, so that the croquettes do not boil over during frying, but do not turn out dry. For piquancy, spices are added to the minced meat, and sometimes a salty or sweet filling is made, as when preparing zraz.
If you want to get beautiful balls, use an ice cream scoop, and a pastry syringe is suitable for forming neat cylinders. This way you can achieve the ideal shape of the croquettes, on the surface of which no cracks will appear during the frying process. The finished croquettes are rolled in breadcrumbs, flour or semolina, dipped in beaten eggs, and then breaded again. Fry the croquettes in a large amount of hot fat, turning them almost immediately to form a brown crust. Only after this can you safely fry the balls over medium heat until they are evenly browned. Place the finished croquettes on paper towels or napkins to remove excess oil.
Croquettes in national cuisines
It is interesting to travel around the world and try croquettes that are prepared in different countries. Czech croquettes are potato balls with butter, eggs and flour, and if you add nutmeg, you get Hungarian croquettes. In Mexico, this dish is made from potatoes and tuna, and Spanish croquettes are dough with bechamel sauce, filled with ham, seafood and jamon. Ukrainian potato kartoplyaniki are usually prepared with meat and mushroom filling, while Filipino fish croquettes are made with spices and herbs.
In Cuba, chicken, pork, and ham are added to the minced meat for croquettes, and flour is used instead of potatoes. Hindus love aloo tikki potato patties with meat, served with yogurt or spicy gravy, while the Japanese respect korokke - potato croquettes with vegetables, meat and fish. In American cuisine, croquettes stuffed with crab are popular, the Portuguese like to add sausage to this dish, and the conservative Dutch prefer only beef. Polish croquettes are the most original: they are usually a pancake filled with meat, mushrooms and sauerkraut, fried in oil. Interestingly, in the Netherlands, in fast food restaurants you can find croquettes with rice, noodles and boiled eggs, while Portuguese croquettes are prepared with pork or salted cod in white sauce.
Each national cuisine offers its own ideas for preparing this simple, hearty and nutritious dish, which will surely take root in your family. You can find interesting croquette recipes on our website, and be sure to share the results of your culinary experiments with us!
Delicacy of kings
The name of the dish has absolutely nothing to do with games such as croquet or cricket. The name of the dish translated from French means “crunch”. A popular Parisian culinary specialist at the beginning of the 19th century presented “Royal Croquettes” during a gala dinner to Alexander I (Emperor of Russia) and the English monarch.
The method of preparing “croquettes” came to the attention of Spanish cooks quite quickly. What can be learned from the notes of A. Dumas, made in 1846, when he traveled around the Iberian Peninsula. At this time, he was lucky enough to try an unusual dish, which was deep-fried potato balls.
Subsequently, the recipe for the dish underwent changes, and instead of potatoes they began to use bechamel sauce, and for the filling they used what was left in the refrigerator - seafood, chicken, etc. Thanks to their creamy-tender interior and crispy crust, “croquettes” have gained worldwide popularity. Cooks experimented with inventing various original recipes. Currently, it is a classic Spanish dish, served as tapas or a main course in any bar and restaurant.
