Croquettes Recipe

1 cup (10 fl ozs) beef stock or leftover gravy

from the roast (or hot water with a Maggi

bouillon tablet)

1 small, peeled onion

1 small whole tomato

1 bay leaf

1 oz butter (or margarine or cooking fat or

dripping)

One and a half ozs flour

A dash of black pepper

Half a teaspoon of salt

Curry powder to taste (I use about a heaped

teaspoonful)

1 fat peg of garlic, crushed

1 teaspoon minced fresh parsley

(or ? teaspoonful dried)

Soft breadcrumbs

1 egg, beaten with a little milk

Oil for frying

Method

Using a small pan, simmer the onion, tomato and bay leaf in the stock for 10-15 minutes. Strain the liquid; discard the onion, tomato and bay leaf.

In another, larger pan melt the fat, add the flour with the garlic, curry powder, parsley, salt and pepper to make a roux (a fairly stiff paste), stirring constantly for about 1-2 minutes. Add the simmered, strained stock slowly, stirring all the time. Bring the mixture to the boil and stir until the sauce begins to thicken.

Allow it to cool slightly, add the cooked, minced meat and spread this croquette mixture on a plate, cover with plastic wrap to stop it drying, and chill in the ‘fridge for one and a half hours.

Next shape the mixture into croquettes (rolls or cork or sausage shapes or into tiny meatballs). Roll each croquette in breadcrumbs; dip in beaten egg (or egg and milk) then roll in the breadcrumbs again.

Heat some oil in a frying pan and fry the croquettes, turning every so often until the breadcrumbs are crisp and golden-brown.

Makes 12 regular sized croquettes. Allow three croquettes per person; serve with coleslaw or salad, and hops.

It’s difficult to say how many people this recipe will feed, it depends on how hungry your family is and what you serve with the croquettes.

As a snack or as meatballs this mixture will go much further. Served on toothpicks as a cocktail savoury with a tangy tomato sauce dip it’ll go a long, long way.

But that’s not the end of the croquette story.

You can use cooked, flaked fish instead of meat – in which case you use fish stock or a

chicken bouillon tablet rather than beef or lamb – or even pork. You can make the croquette mixture go even further to feed even more by adding left-over creamed potatoes, left-over creamed ground provisions or left-over boiled rice to the croquette mixture - you could even experiment with making a vegetarian croquette.

You can vary the seasonings to suit your own taste, adding more curry powder – or none at all. What’s more, you can freeze the croquettes. Wrap each one in wax paper (to stop them sticking together) and pack them in an air-tight plastic container, label and freeze – they’ll keep for up to two months.

To cook frozen croquettes, defrost as many as you intend cooking (the rest will keep well in the plastic container) and deep fry.