Cooking croquettes

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Part of Woman's Home Journal

Title: Cooking croquettes
Language: English
Year: 1938
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Fulltext: '28 WOMAN’S HOME JOURNAL Manila, January, 1938 Cooking CROQUETTES CAre Easy To Make; The Secret Is Told On This Page Croquettes when properly made, are golden brown and crisp on the outside and creamy and well seasoned inside. They can be formed into any shape and made from any kind of food. Croquettes may be served, with a sauce, as a main course at luncheon, or as an accompaniment to a meat course at dinner. A cook who has an active imagination, a sensitive understanding of flavor and . a tender, light touch of the fingers can make croquettes of real delicacy from simple foods: macaroni and cheese served with tomato sauce; hard-cooked eggs and olives with mushroom stems; rice croquettes with jelly, to mention only a few. Because croquettes are made from cooked foods, this dish is a “made” one. Croquettes are made by binding cooked food materials together with a thick, well-seasoned white sauce that has been thoroughly cooked. If the mixture is spread out on a platter and put in the refrigerator or in a cool place, a soft mixture that is easily handled will be the result, and the croquettes will be tender and creamy, not stiff and pasty when served. The most fastidious cooks use only white crumbs for croquettes so they will not become too brown in cooking. In this case no crust of the bread is used in making the crumbs, and the drier the crumbs are the better. The crumbs must be fine. Crumb, egg and crumb again before frying to form a nice brown coating to keep the inside moist. Add a tablespoon of water for each egg used and beat the eggs only until the yolks and the white are blended. In order to have croquettes always of the same size, measure the material for each one. An easy way is to round one tablespoonful off with another spoon of the same size, pressing the edges of the spoons together to cut away any extra mixture, then shape the pieces in any way you may favor. One of the best ways of shaping a croquette is to pat or roll it into shape on the fingers of one hand, with those of the other, handling the soft material lightly. An easy way to make a nicely shaped cone is to roll first into cylindrical shape on the W WATSONAL EXTRACTS finger and then toss onto a board and swing one end around in an arc, using the other as a pivot. This should be done very quickly. Remember to crumb and egg to help round out the shape. An ice-cream scoop is often very helpful in fitting irregular pieces into shape, as when making macaroni-and-cheese croquettes, or ones of eggs, lobster and so forth. One of the advantages of croquettes is that they can be made up and shaped for frying, even to putting them in the wire basket, quite a little time before they are to be used, but they must be fried the last minute and served piping hot. A frying basket that just fits in the kettle is a great convenience in frying croquettes. A number of croquettes may be fried at the some time, thus insuring uniformity in color. When fried in a basket, they also hold their shape better as they are “handled” less. If the fat is of the correct temperature for frying and the croquettes are properly egged and crumbed, they absorb very little fat during the frying. They should always be drained, however, on several sheets of paper towelling on a cake cooler. Now for some recipes. QUICK CHICKEN CROQUETTES 3 tablespoons quickcooking tapioca 1 cup milk or part milk and part stock Yz teaspoon salt A pinch of pepper 2 tablespoons chopped pimiento 1% cups cookedchicken, chopped fine Currant jelly Add tapioca to milk in the upper part of a double boiller. Bring to scalding point and continue to cook for 5 minutes longer, stirring constantly. Add. pepper, salt, pimiento and chicken and mix well. Chill. Shape into nests. Coat with egg and crumbs and fry. Fill centers with jelly. CHEESE CROQUETTES 2 tablespoons fat 4 tablespoons flour % cup milk 2 egg yolks 1 % cups mild cheese, cut into small pieces Yz teaspoon paprika % teaspoon mustard Salt and pepper Make a thick white sauce of the fat, flour and milk. Add the egg yolks, slightly beaten, paprika and mustard. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in the cheese. Spread on a plate to cool. Shape into 12 small balls or cones; coat with egg and crumbs and fry. SALMON CROQUETTES 2 tablespoons fat 4 tablespoons flour 1 cup milk Yz teaspoon salt Pepper Few grains of cayenne 2 cups cooked salmon 1 teaspoon lemon juice Make a very thick white sauce with the fat, flour and milk. Season with salt and pepper and cayenne; and the flaked salmon which has been Manila, January, 1938 WOMAN’S HOME JOURNAL 29 moistened with lemon juice. Cool the mixture. Shape into croquettes, coat with egg and crumbs and fry. Any cooked fish may be used instead of salmon. SURPRISE CROQUETTES 2 cups mashed or riced potatoes 1 tablespoon cream 2 tablespoons butter Salt and pepper % teaspoon paprika Yolk of 2 eggs Put freshly boiled potatoes through the ricer or mash until free from lumps. Add the butter, cream, well-beaten egg yolks, salt and pepper to taste and paprika. Beat with fork or wire whisk until light and fluffy. Let stand until cool, then shape in small nests. Into each hollow put a teaspoon of the “surprise” mixture and cover with more potato. The “surprise” may be a highly seasoned meat paste such as potted ham, minced tongue or deviled ham; creamed chicken, peas or mushrooms; or it may be simply well-seasoned grated cheese. LIMA BEAN CROQUETTES 1 % cups lima beans, canned or dried % cup bread crumbs 2 eggs 3 tablespoons minced parsley Cream to moisten Chopped onion to taste Salt and pepper Drain the beans and mash or run through the foodchopper. Add the crumbs, seasonings and beaten egg yolks. Mix well and add enough milk to moisten. Form into croquettes, roll in the whites of the eggs which have been slightly beaten with a tablespoon of water, then roll in bread crumbs. Fry in deep, hot fat and drain on unglazed paper. Serve with tomato sauce. WOMAN ABROAD (Continued from paqe 19) the only doctor there fled in terror of his life—the Japanese had just bombed a refugee train killing three hunred peasants and wounding four hundred. Miss Wang fearlessly took charge of the situation. Finding herself the only person in the whole region with any medical training (she studied in a Christian Hospital), she very efficiently separated the dead and fatally wounded from those others whose lives might be saved by emergency operation. Using the surgeon’s scapel, she performed her thirty operations, after having administered first aid tretment to scores of the suffering. Chinese and foreigners who are hud in their praises of this valiant girl say that more than two hunThe Answer to Your Milk Problems Forget your worries about milk. No longer need you have trouble in getting or keeping fresh milk. For with KLIM in your home you can have milk just as deliciously fresh as milk right from the cow . . . milk with all the nutritive elements so vital to proper growth and good health of your children. KLIM is pure, rich whole milk; powdered. Only the water is removed; nothing is added. Made and packed by an exclusive method, KLIM stays fresh and sweet indefinitely . . . without refrigeration. Doctors everywhere recommend KLIM for infant feeding because they know that it is absolutely dependable . . . pure, safe, and uniform. Try KLIM today. If your dealer cannot supply you, send us his name and address Sales Agents: GETZ BROS. & CO. Soriano Bldg., Manila And Retains the Natural Flavor MILK THAT IS SAFE FOR CHILDREN!" dred persons owe their lives to her courage, cool-headed resourcefulness, and skill with the knife. When news of the bombing reached other hospitals, doctors, nurses, stretcher-bearers, hospital attendants and boy scouts were rushed to the scene of disaster. They arrived in time to find Miss Wang amputating a mangled leg. She finished the operation silently and, it seemed, with grim determination; then just as quietly she collapsed in the arms of a servant. They call her China’s Florence Nightingale. 1938 HUSBAND. . . (Continued from page 13) Every afternoon or early evening when a husband returns home, he is entitled not only to physical recuperation but to spiritual recuperation as well. Not only housekeeping efficiency but spiritual efficiency is in demand. Every wife needs to be checked whether or not she is a fountain for renewed strength not only for her husband’s physical but for his spiritual being as well. Faith, hope, courage, incentive should be renewed and strengthened in the husband daily if the wife is to live to her husband’s needs.