Makes 25 to 30 croquetas
Ingredients
1 small roasted chicken
1 medium-small onion
4 spoonfuls of olive oil
400 ml. of milk
80 gr. of flour
Salt, black pepper and nutmeg
2 or 3 eggs
Bread crumbs
Light olive or canola oil
Mince the chicken after removing bones and skin, I normally break the chicken in pieces and pass them through the food processor. Mince the onion (using the food processor). Heat the olive oil in a non-stick pan, and add the onion, season with black pepper and cook the onion until it becomes transparent and sweet. Add the flour and continue cooking for 3-4 minutes stirring with a spoon and taking care the mixture doesn't burn (a thick paste will form). Add the milk and stir with a beater to avoid the creation of lumps. Add salt and nutmeg to taste. When the mixture becomes creamy add the minced chicken, and continue stirring until the mixture is thickened and starts to separate from the edges of the pan. If the paste is well cooked there will be less opportunity for the croquetas to open when frying them. Spread the paste on a tray about one inch deep and let it cool down.
To shape the croquetas, make small balls with two spoons by filling half of the surface of one spoon with the paste and shaping it with the other. Soak the balls in beaten eggs and then cover evenly with bread crumbs. Fry in hot and abundant oil (preferably olive oil), until the balls become golden brown, turning them around to make the frying even. Let the croquetas rest on kitchen paper to drain the extra oil.
Suggestions and variations:
Add cooked or serrano ham to the chicken or cook diced pancetta with the onion, to intensify the flavour.
Replace the chicken with cod which has been previously lightly boiled or steamed, and with small shrimps cooking them with the onions.
Or make them with cheese instead of chicken, using a mixture of selected manchego, mozzarella or emmental, or mozzarella and parmesan.
In these last two cases use 250 ml of milk instead, to make sure the final paste is thick enough.
No comments:
Post a Comment