Croquettes are an institution here in Spain. You can get them almost at any restaurant or bar, you can find them in your freezer ailse in every supermarket, but homemade ones, two words. THEY ROCK!
Croquettes here are made from ham, chicken, spinach, there are infinate possibilities. Normally, families now buy them from delis, the market etc. But I can imagine mothers and grandmothers 20 years ago lovingly making them for their families. It is a long and arduous process, not because of the difficulty, but because it is extremely time consuming and repetitive. All the basic ingredients are right there, in your pantry, but the process in itself is painstakingly tedious. As I said, if you have alot of time, and want to try something different this year, I suggest you make the time, because once you try one of your homemade croquettes, you will be hooked. And, you can freeze them easily and have them on hand for your next party, dinner or whatever, and your guests are going to ooh and aaah after tasting them!
The main ingredient that makes the croquette so delicious and smooth is the bechamel sauce, or white sauce. This is the glue that holds the whole little package together. Since I also had gravy left over, I decided to use two parts gravy and one part milk to make the sauce. Let me tell you, it was like having a bite size plate of thanksgiving dinner! Sooo soo soo good. Really. Now, I am no expert on the actual process, and in theory, I think with some more practice, the shape could be alot better, but the taste was superb! So, I invite all of you to try it this year, and I promise you, you'll be really happy with your croquettes!
Recipe: Approx 30 croquettes
4 cups left over turkey, picked off the bone and shredded
4 Tbsp butter
4 Tbsp flour
2 cups gravy
1 cup milk
Salt and pepper, to taste
Pinch of nutmeg
3 eggs, beaten
Flour, for dredging
Breadcrumbs, for coating
Sunflower oil, for frying
Place your shredded turkey in a bowl, set aside. In a deep sauce pan, over very low heat (lowest setting on your cooktop) melt the butter. When it starts to bubble, add the flower and whisk until smooth, which is called a Roux. It should look something like this:
Keep whisking over very low heat, for about 10 minutes. If you don´t really want to spend so much time, you can cook it for 2-3 minutes or so, but cooking it for at least 10 minutes guarantees that the flour will be cooked through. It is imperative that you whisk constantly, making sure that it doesn´t change color, or burn. If you feel like it is cooking too fast, lift your saucepan off the fire and continue whisking, and place it back down. If it burns you WILL be able to taste it once the bechamel is done. Slowly pour in your gravy, then your milk, and whisk until it is completely mixed. Now switch to a wooden spoon and stir constantly until it becomes really thick, 15 minutes approx. Test the thickness by taking a spoonful and pour it back into the mixture, and drizzle zig zags. If the zig zags stay on top, then you know it´s done. Take off the heat, and add your salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste.
Mix the sauce into your turkey, a little at a time. You want enough to coat all the turkey, but not too much so that it is really liquidy. You want it to kind of have the consistency of really soft mashed potatoes, but it should be firm enough to handle. I put it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, so it would harden up a bit.
So.....on to the tedious bit. I suggest you grab a friend, a bottle of wine, and put on some great music. Cause this is going to take a while depending on how much turkey you have.
In one bowl, place your flour, then next to it, have your eggs, and then your bread crumbs, and then a bowl of water, so you can rinse your hands after each croquette, and an empty pan or tray, kind of like a factory line. The first bowl should be your turkey. Now, dust your hands with flour, and grab a bit of your turkey mix, and shape it into a little log, dredge it in the flour, shape it a bit more, dip it in the egg, and then roll around in the breadcrumbs. Place it on your empty tray, and rinse your hands. Repeat all of this until they are all done.
Now, don´t worry if they look lumpy, once you fry them, they will take on that "professional" shape, albeit they won´t look perfect. But you don´t want them to, cause they're homemade!
You can either deep fry them, or pan fry them. I think pan frying is probably healthier (if anything fried can be healthy) or if you really really really want to, bake them in the oven, but it just won´t be the same. If you pan fry, roll them over so they brown on all sides, even the ends. Place on a paper towel to drain. If you aren´t making them immediately, you can freeze them for up to a month.
Trust me, it will take time, but it is well worth it! Enjoy!
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