Vegetable Cutlets

A croquette in cutlet shape: cooked vegetables bound in a stiff white sauce, chilled, crumbed and deep-fried. The recipe assumes a cook who already knows croquette technique, so the two things it leaves out are the two things that decide whether it works.

• Chill it hardThe mixture must be cooled until genuinely firm before shaping; the recipe's "when cool" means cold and stiff enough to hold a shape. Warm or soft mixture will burst in the fat and the cutlet will disintegrate.
• How thick is "thick"A thick white sauce here means roughly 3 tablespoons butter and 3 tablespoons flour to 1 cup milk, cooked out until it pulls away from the pan. Ordinary pouring béchamel will not bind a pint of vegetable.
• "Add egg, bread"This is the standard breading: dip each shaped cutlet in beaten egg thinned with a spoonful of water, then in fine dry crumbs. A second coat of egg and crumbs is worth the trouble for deep frying.
• Fat temperatureThe recipe gives none; about 375°F is the usual heat for croquettes. The filling is already cooked, so you are only browning the crust — two to three minutes, turning once. Cooler fat soaks in; hotter fat colours before the centre warms.
• Drain the vegetablesCauliflower and asparagus hold a surprising amount of water. Pat them dry before folding into the sauce or the mixture will never set firm.
• PimolasAn old trade name for pimiento-stuffed green olives. Sliced stuffed olives from any supermarket are the same thing.
• Paper frillsCutlet frills were paper cuffs slipped over the narrow end of a chop to imitate the bone. Purely decorative and optional; the shape is a nod to a lamb cutlet.
• YieldA pint of vegetables with a cup of sauce gives about eight cutlets — four servings as a light main course with the peas, six as a first course.