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Potato Croquettes (Cups hot riced potatoes)
2 cups hot riced potatoes 2 tablespoons butter 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon pepper 1/4 teaspoon celery salt Few grains cayenne Few drops onion juice Yolk 1 egg 1 teaspoon finely chopped parsley Mix ingredients in order given, and beat thoroughly. Shape, dip in crumbs, egg, and crumbs again, fry one minute in deep fat, and drain on brown paper. Croquettes are shaped in a variety of forms. The most common way is to first form a smooth ball by rolling one rounding tablespoon of mixture between hands. Then roll on a board until of desired length, and flatten ends.
A straightforward potato croquette, and the whole thing hinges on the mixture being dry and stiff enough to hold its shape in hot fat.
- Fat temperatureThe recipe gives no temperature, only "fry one minute in deep fat." That short a fry assumes fat at frying heat; cookbooks of the period judged it by a bread cube browning in about forty seconds, in the region of 385-390F. Cooler fat means the crumb coat soaks and the croquette splits.
- Riced potatoesUse baking potatoes, boiled or baked and pressed through a ricer or food mill while hot. A food processor turns them gluey and the croquettes will not hold. Let the steam escape for a minute before mixing.
- Onion juiceAn old shortcut for onion flavour without pieces: grate a peeled onion on a fine grater and use the liquid, or press a few drops from grated onion in a cloth. The recipe calls for a few drops.
- The egg for dippingThe recipe lists one yolk in the mixture; the egg used for breading is separate. Beat a whole egg with a tablespoon of water so it coats thinly and evenly.
- Chill before fryingNot in the original, but shape the croquettes and refrigerate them 30 minutes after the final crumbing. Cold, firm croquettes are far less likely to burst in the fat.
- DrainingBrown paper means grocery-bag paper, used as a grease blotter. Paper towels or a rack over a sheet pan do the same job; a rack keeps the crust crisper.
- YieldTwo cups of potato at a rounding tablespoon each gives roughly twenty croquettes.