Croquetas must be the ultimate bar snack, hot and crispy on the outside, warm, gooey and salty on the inside. I have been to a couple of tapas bars around Spain that specialise in Croquetas, including a great one in Valladolid where I got these tips on how to make them. These guys take their croquetas very seriously and make thousands of them each night. 1 Euro gets you two little balls of crunchy, salty magic to go with your wine.
They are fairly easy to make, but there are some tips to get a really good result:
- The best tip is to make the bechamel the night before and make it light. This gives you a light and gooey end result so you can eat heaps of them. I find this recipe to be spot on.
- cook the flavour (chorizo, mushrooms, jamon etc) in the butter/oil mix, otherwise they will taste like lumps of salty milk.
- Make sure the entire thing is covered in crumbs, any areas that aren't covered with go a bit nuts when they hit the oil.
- Make sure your flavour is cut up very fine. Unless, you want your mates to choke on it. In that case go ahead and leave it chunky.
- Practice makes perfect.
What you need:
- 1 cup of milk
- bay leaves
- Onion
- 40g butter
- A dash of olive oil
- 60g Chorizo (about 2/3)
- 35g Plain flour
- salt
- bread crumbs
- eggs
- frying oil
What to do:
Heat the milk in a saucepan with the bay leaves and onion. Just before it boils, take it off the heat and let it sit for 10 minutes, then remove the bay leaves and onion. Add the olive oil and butter to a frying pan and once melted add the flour. Mix until it forms a kind of runny paste. Gradually add the milk until you have a sauce. Spread the sauce on a plate and put it in the fridge for at least 3 hours, overnight is best.
The bechamel should be soft and pliable by the time you take it out of the fridge, so shape the sauce mixture with two table spoons, then roll in the egg and bread crumbs. Heat the frying oil and give them a quick fry until golden. Eat straight away.
Have you got your copy of “1080″ yet? I had a quick flick through at Dymocks and was a bit disappointed - only 2 prawn and one rabbit recipe. I have ordered from Amazon as the RRP price here is $AU69 vs Amazon $US26.37 plus $US9.98 postage.
I have an old version in Spanish, its very stained and messy. Perhaps I should get a new one? Its actually quite conservative, you get the good stuff from the old family cook books.
The cost of these type of books is just crazy here, Amazon is the way to go.
Yeah, looks conservative, but I should wait until my copy arrives to comment fully I guess.
The English editions are based on the formula used for the English edition of the Italian “Silver Spoon” and includes recipe/menus from contemporary Spanish Chefs, like the guy from Brindisa in London’s Borough Market.
What cook books do you recommend?
In English? I’ll assume so. The best basic book I have found is: Cooking in Spain by Janet Mendel. I think it is out of print at the moment, but amazon have used copies. It has all of the basics and is very handy on the cuts of meat, what to look out for in the market and history of most dishes.
For tapas I like Tapas:Las mejores tapas de los chefs Espanoles, by Fiona Dunlop. I have a copy in Spanish, but it is available in English too. I like this one because it has tapas from places like Cal Pep and the real stuff you eat at tapas bars. Also the photos are great.
Thanks for these - I’ll order while the US dollar sinks!
I’ve been using the Food of Spain & Portugal by Elizabeth Lambert Ortiz (who wrote well and made sure the recipes hung together) and a couple of books by Anna Macmiadhachain. The recipes sometimes need minor adjustment.
Otherwise, we have been deconstructing dishes served.
I just ask for the recipe when I’m at a restaurant. If it isn’t a signature dish or the like, people will generally share.
A word of warning. My copy of 1080 has arrived and it differs from the UK/AU version. No Metric measurements - cups pounds and ounces. The “guest” Chef section is also different I think with US rather than UK expatriate chefs.The Dunlop book looks very good - thanks.
Buggar, a bit pain full but not too bad. I’ve put in my order for xmas…
Had a look at the Movida book yesterday, looks very good with the kind of things that I like to cook. The issue is finding some of the produce, like pimentos de padron etc. You can get them but you have to know the secret handshake etc!
Yeah, and I purchased one for a friend as a Xmas present as well…
Can you get those football (AFL/Rugby) shaped, green skinned, yellow fleshed melons that go so well with jamon over here?
Movida menu looks good - I’ll have to try it when I’m down south of the border.
I haven’t seen them around. In Spain they are just called melons, so I haven’t been able to find their real name yet.
I get asked about them quite a lot tho!