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Potato Croquettes (Boil and mash fine six large)
Boil, and mash fine six large potatoes, one tablespoon of butter, twothirds of a cup of cream, whites of two eggs, beaten light, season with salt and pepper. Let the mixture cool a little, shape nicely, dip in egg, then in crumbs and fry in hot lard.
A plain, workable croquette formula that assumes more of the cook than it says. The mixture must be stiff and thoroughly cold before shaping, or the croquettes will burst in the fat.
- Dry the potatoesBoil them whole in their skins, or at least drain and return them to the dry pan over low heat for a minute to steam off moisture. A wet mash will not hold its shape no matter how carefully it is breaded. Riced or passed through a food mill is better than beaten, which turns potato gluey.
- Chill before shaping"Let the mixture cool a little" is the weak point. Spread it on a tray and refrigerate at least an hour until firm; warm croquettes come apart in the fryer.
- The cream measureTwo-thirds of a cup with six large potatoes gives a soft mash. Add it gradually and stop when the mixture will hold a shape on a spoon — potato varieties differ enormously in how much liquid they absorb.
- Egg whites onlyThe whites, beaten light, bind without the richness or colour of yolk. The recipe does not say at what stage or temperature they go in, only that the mixture is then left to cool a little. The leftover yolks may have been intended for the dipping egg later in the recipe.
- Breading"Dip in egg, then in crumbs" works better as flour, then beaten egg thinned with a spoon of water, then fine dry crumbs. Let the breaded croquettes rest in the refrigerator 20 minutes so the coating sets.
- Hot lardThe recipe gives no temperature. By modern deep-frying practice 'hot' means roughly 365-375F. Below that the croquettes soak fat; much above and the crumbs colour before the centre warms through. Any neutral frying fat substitutes for lard. Fry two or three minutes, until deep gold, in batches.
- YieldSix large potatoes make roughly 12 to 16 croquettes — four to six servings as a side dish.
Croquettes belong to the late nineteenth-century American table's enthusiasm for French kitchen technique adapted to domestic economy: the name comes from the French croquer, to crunch, and the form was a respectable way to serve leftovers as something composed rather than reheated. Community and household cookbooks around 1900 carry whole sections of them — chicken, veal, rice, salmon, hominy — because the method is a formula rather than a dish: a stiff, bound purée, shaped, crumbed and fried. The potato version is the plainest and the most enduring.