Potato Croquettes - How Dare Ye Crumble!
Damaeus
I've seen call for egg just on the outside, not the inside, too. I
thought egg would be necessary as a binder to keep them from falling
apart. Yet I recall trying that with mashed potatoes and some egg, but
they fell apart, anyway. I wanted to deep fry them, but as they floated
around in the oil, they just disintegrated into nothing.
What do you think?
Damaeus
--
"Reefer makes darkies think they're as good as white men."
-Harry Anslinger (1929), Federal Bureau of Narcotics
Nancy2
I think you'd be better off making reg'lar potato pancakes (a little
added flour, a beaten egg, some diced onion & spices, etc.) and then
dropping spoonsful of that mixture into the fryer. They be kinda like
hush puppies, only made out of potato....
N.
sf
<nancy-...@uiowa.edu> wrote:
> On Mar 24, 2:44 pm, Damaeus <no-m...@damaeus.earthlink.invalid> wrote:
> > I'm going to try making potato croquettes today, but many of the recipes
> > I've seen call for egg just on the outside, not the inside, too. I
> > thought egg would be necessary as a binder to keep them from falling
> > apart. Yet I recall trying that with mashed potatoes and some egg, but
> > they fell apart, anyway. I wanted to deep fry them, but as they floated
> > around in the oil, they just disintegrated into nothing.
> >
> > What do you think?
``````````````````````
>
> I think you'd be better off making reg'lar potato pancakes (a little
> added flour, a beaten egg, some diced onion & spices, etc.) and then
> dropping spoonsful of that mixture into the fryer. They be kinda like
> hush puppies, only made out of potato....
>
After that last discussion, I just took regular leftover mashed
potatoes (didn't add an egg) and made pancakes out of them. They were
wonderful! Getting back to croquettes, I don't see why bread crumbs
wouldn't stick to them without egg. Don't "play" with them while they
are browning or the crumbs will fall off.
--
Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get.
Sky
>
> I'm going to try making potato croquettes today, but many of the recipes
> I've seen call for egg just on the outside, not the inside, too. I
> thought egg would be necessary as a binder to keep them from falling
> apart. Yet I recall trying that with mashed potatoes and some egg, but
> they fell apart, anyway. I wanted to deep fry them, but as they floated
> around in the oil, they just disintegrated into nothing.
>
> What do you think?
Only once have I ever made potato croquettes --- they're rather labor
intensive, eh!! One of the tricks I did not try - and should've perhaps
- was to let the formed and ready-to-cook/fry croquettes rest/cool in
the fridge for a half-hour or so before cooking them. I don't know for
sure if this trick helps to keep the croquettes from falling apart (?).
Here's a recipe for Potato Croquettes in the April 2010 "Everyday Food"
- or is that "Food Everday"? - on page 120 that may or may not be
helpful ;)
2 cups mashed potatoes
2 tsp fresh parsley, chopped
1 cup AP flour
1 large egg, whisked
1 TBS water
1.5 cups fresh bread crumbs
S & P to taste
Mix mashed potatoes with parsley and season with S&P. Form mashed
potato mixture into croquette log shapes about 0.75" x 2" and set
aside. In one bowl, whisk egg and water. Put flour in another bowl and
season with S&P. In a third container, put the bread crumbs. Roll the
croquettes in the flour and shake off excess flour, thoroughly roll in
the egg wash, then coat with bread crumbs. Repeat for each croquette
[Here's where resting the croquettes in the fridge for a half-hour or so
might help?]. Heat 1.5" of vegetable oil in a heavy pan and fry
croquettes in batches, turning as needed until brown all over, about 2
minutes each batch. Drain on paper towels. Recipe makes about 15
croquettes.
HTH and have fun.
Sky
--
Ultra Ultimate Kitchen Rule - Use the Timer!
Ultimate Kitchen Rule -- Cook's Choice!!
Damaeus
Wed, 24 Mar 2010 15:39:55 -0500 the following:
> Only once have I ever made potato croquettes --- they're rather labor
> intensive, eh!! One of the tricks I did not try - and should've perhaps
> - was to let the formed and ready-to-cook/fry croquettes rest/cool in
> the fridge for a half-hour or so before cooking them. I don't know for
> sure if this trick helps to keep the croquettes from falling apart (?).
>
> Here's a recipe for Potato Croquettes in the April 2010 "Everyday Food"
> - or is that "Food Everday"? - on page 120 that may or may not be
> helpful ;)
>
> Drain on paper towels. Recipe makes about 15 croquettes.
Thanks. I've got mashed potatoes completely chilled in the fridge by now,
and this time I didn't add any cream or butter to them. I've got enough
to experiment with a few methods if what you posted above doesn't really
work well. In any kind of coating that's formed, it's going to have to be
strong enough to hold the mashed potato inside the shell. Hell, it seems
like to me that even partially freezing the mashed potato before coating
and frying it would allow the coating to get a head start at hardening to
seal in the potato, just like with mozzarella sticks. Of course, those
eventually leak if you fry them too long.
Janet Bostwick
"Damaeus" <no-...@damaeus.earthlink.invalid> wrote in message
news:5rblq51qph886504o...@4ax.com...
potatoes without adding anything else and using those mash for croquettes.
It worked very well, but I thought the croquettes were pretty tasteless. My
thinking is that how you make your original mash is pretty important. If
you like them with a "lot" of butter and cream so that they form a puddle on
the plate, they are going to be hard to work with. If you like a more
stand-up mash, it will be better. Put the egg and breadcrumbs in the potato
mixture along with whatever other flavorings you want. Add bread crumbs
until the mixture seems dryer. The above recipe seems about right. Set the
mixture aside to allow the breadcrumbs to soak up the moisture in the
potatoes. I used to form the potatoes in my hand and place them in a
skillet, but now I use an ice cream scoop to do this. The absolute trick is
to not attempt to turn the croquettes until a decent crust has formed. The
skillet should have a little more than a quarter inch of hot oil in it. The
stove heat should be at medium.
Janet
Damaeus
Thu, 25 Mar 2010 07:02:06 -0600 the following:
> Put the egg and breadcrumbs in the potato mixture along with whatever
> other flavorings you want. Add bread crumbs until the mixture seems
> dryer. The above recipe seems about right. Set the mixture aside to
> allow the breadcrumbs to soak up the moisture in the potatoes. I used
> to form the potatoes in my hand and place them in a skillet, but now I
> use an ice cream scoop to do this. The absolute trick is to not attempt
> to turn the croquettes until a decent crust has formed. The skillet
> should have a little more than a quarter inch of hot oil in it. The
> stove heat should be at medium.
Thanks for the story. I was thinking about mixing in some thyme, garlic,
cheese, salt and pepper into the potatoes. Then after frying and while
still sizzling hot, I'd drizzle about a teaspoon of butter over each one.
ViLco
> Thanks for the story. I was thinking about mixing in some thyme,
> garlic, cheese, salt and pepper into the potatoes. Then after frying
> and while still sizzling hot, I'd drizzle about a teaspoon of butter
> over each one.
Nutmeg makes a great difference, in croquettes. If you like nutmeg, just try
it.
--
Vilco
Don't think pink: drink ros�
Damaeus
Thu, 25 Mar 2010 07:02:06 -0600 the following:
> After our last discussion of this in this group, I tried making some mashed
> potatoes without adding anything else and using those mash for croquettes.
> It worked very well, but I thought the croquettes were pretty tasteless. My
> thinking is that how you make your original mash is pretty important. If
> you like them with a "lot" of butter and cream so that they form a puddle on
> the plate, they are going to be hard to work with. If you like a more
> stand-up mash, it will be better. Put the egg and breadcrumbs in the potato
> mixture along with whatever other flavorings you want. Add bread crumbs
> until the mixture seems dryer. The above recipe seems about right. Set the
> mixture aside to allow the breadcrumbs to soak up the moisture in the
> potatoes. I used to form the potatoes in my hand and place them in a
> skillet, but now I use an ice cream scoop to do this. The absolute trick is
> to not attempt to turn the croquettes until a decent crust has formed. The
> skillet should have a little more than a quarter inch of hot oil in it. The
> stove heat should be at medium.
I just sat down from making the croquettes. Success!
I started with what looked like about two or three cups of mashed
potatoes, no cream or butter. I added one egg, about a teaspoon and a
half each of salt, dill weed, thyme, garlic powder, onion powder, about a
half teaspoon of pepper, one egg, and the crumbs from five slices of
bread. The first one I fried started crumbling. I added a second egg and
three more slices of bread. The mixture turned into a thick and sticky
mess that clung together like it had glue in it. I then made a quick
flour dredging for it with a little salt (I feel weird about the salt now
since that discussion about salt and sensitivity to it. But anyway, I
fried another and sure enough it stayed together.
After it was fried, I sampled it, and it was pretty good. Really smooth,
and very potato-ey, which was surprising considering how much bread I had
to put in it.
Then I tried one with a little butter drizzled over it. Even better.
Then I added about 3/4 cup of shredded mild cheddar cheese to the mixture
and fried another. That was even better.
Then I went back one more time and added about 3/4 cup of diced onion, and
fried the rest that way. The final version was the best of all.
I wish I knew exactly how much mashed potato I had But the hot sauce made
from a 30-oz can of whole tomatoes (pureed) will fill a storage bowl I
have to about 3/8" from the top, eyeballing my mashed potatoes, I'd say I
had 3.5 cups. I estimated maybe five servings out of that. I dunno.
Depends on what else we'd have with them. I made patties different sizes,
but I imagine you could make about ten if you want to form that many. Once
I get toward the end, I start getting bored so I make bigger patties to
get through it all. Heh.
Anyway, I entered the recipe in MasterCook:
* Exported from MasterCook *
Potato Croquettes
Recipe By :
Serving Size : 5 Preparation Time :0:20
Categories :
Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
3 1/2 cups potato -- cooked, mashed and well-chilled
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon dill weed
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon black pepper -- coarsely ground
2 each egg
8 slices white bread
3/4 cup cheddar cheese -- shredded
3/4 cup white onion -- finely diced
1 cup flour
peanut oil or some other frying oil
1/4 cup butter -- melted
Heat about 1/2 inch of oil in a frying skillet, and set the heat on
medium.
Combine in a mixing bowl all ingredients except the flour, butter and oil,
then beat with a stand mixer's paddle or hand mixer.
Scoop out enough of the mixture to form a patty about an inch thick and
about four inches in diameter. Make the patty, then place it in the
flour. Toss the flour over the patty and manipulate it until it's
completely covered.
Place the dredged patty into the hot oil. After a nice, brown ring
appears on the patty over the portion submerged in oil, flip it over.
Check it after a couple of minutes to see if both sides are the same
color, and remove when you've achieved the desired brownness.
Drain on a wire rack or paper towel.
Drizzle a little butter over the top of the fried potato croquettes and
enjoy.
Description:
"Cheesy fried potato puffs"
Yield:
"10 croquettes"
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 471 Calories; 18g Fat (35.2%
calories from fat); 15g Protein; 62g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 118mg
Cholesterol; 1085mg Sodium. Exchanges: 4 Grain(Starch); 1 Lean Meat; 1/2
Vegetable; 3 Fat.
Nutr. Assoc. : 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Janet Bostwick
"Damaeus" <no-...@damaeus.earthlink.invalid> wrote in message
for you. I'm guessing that I probably start with about as many potatoes as
you indicate. I finely (really finely) dice my onions or shred them on the
box grater and add to the original mix. I feel that the taste gets into the
potato mixture that way and the onion itself disappears into the mix (no raw
onion hunks) I use an ice cream scoop to measure and drop and that makes
seven same size balls of potato. I let them cook on one side until crusted
and then use two forks or a fork and spatula to tip the ball on it's side
and the ball is now pyramid shaped. After that side crusts really well, I
tip the pyramid onto the final side for crusting.
Janet