Croquetas
I’d like to say that I use the term “obsession” loosely. But following recent trips to Madrid and Girona, I don’t think my friends would agree with that. I definitely consumed about 6 croquetas per day on average. Which I’m sure is fine, they’re a healthy snack, right? Yeah, so having looked up various recipes on my return, it turns out that isn’t quite the case – they’re basically just deep-fried béchamel sauce. But I’m cool with that. Everything in moderation is fine, and they really are delicious.
For my first attempt, I opted for ham and cheese, as these are the simplest and probably the most common. I also had some incredibly smelly cheese in the fridge that needed to be used, so this seemed like a sensible call. I don’t generally measure ingredients when making béchamel sauce, I just go on what it looks like/consistency, but I think the rough quantities are as follows.
Béchamel sauce:
30 g butter
40 g flour
200 ml milk
100 g cheese (a mixture of cheddar and gruyere or comté works well)
100 g smoked bacon lardons (fried and chopped finely)
Coating:
50 g plain flour
2 eggs
125 g dried breadcrumbs
Oil for deep frying (sunflower oil or olive oil is fine)
Recipe:
Melt the butter over a low heat, and then mix in the flour. Once boiling, very gradually mix in the milk, making sure you prevent the formation of any lumps. Once all the milk has been added, bring the mixture slowly to the boil, and then add in the cheese and chopped bacon, along with salt and pepper to season, and a little nutmeg. Cover with clingfilm, pressing right up to the surface of the sauce (this prevents a skin from forming). Allow the sauce to cool to room temperature, and then refrigerate until it has solidified a little. Roll into small croquettes, and then roll each of the croquetas first in flour, then in the eggs, and then in the breadcrumbs. Place on a baking tray and then either in the fridge or freezer for 30 minutes.
A couple of thoughts here… I actually froze the croquetas before rolling in the flour, egg and breadcrumbs as I didn’t want to cook them that day. Additionally, in retrospect, rather than rolling these out, it would probably have been easier and more effective to use a piping bag. Definitely something I’ll try next time.
In a deep fat frier/saucepan, heat the oil to ~180 °C (do not over heat as this will burn the croquetas). Place 2-3 of the croquetas in the oil at a time (carefully, with a slotted spoon) and fry for 3-4 minutes until golden brown. Remove from the oil and place on some kitchen towel to absorb any excess oil.
My preference is to serve with chilli jam or sriracha mayo, but this is of course down to personal preference – pretty much anything goes here! I want to try chicken ones next… Or maybe cod. Or both? Definitely both.
