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Potato Croquettes (Cups plain mashed potatoes)
2 cups plain mashed potatoes, 2 tablespoonfuls of cream, 1 teaspoonful of onion juice, 1 teaspoonful of salt, Grating of nutmeg, Yolks of two eggs, 1 tablespoonful of chopped pars- Piece of butter the size of a walley, nut, Dash of cayenne.
Beat the yolks, add the potatoes and then add all the other ingredients, mix, and turn into a small saucepan. Stir over the fire until the mixture leaves the sides of the pan. Take from the fire and when cool, form into small cylinders. Beat an egg without separating, add to it a tablespoonful of warm water. Dip the cylinders first in this and then into bread crumbs, and fry in smoking hot fat. Potato croquettes are the hardest of all croquettes to fry. If the covering cracks, allowing the potatoes to escape, the fat is not sufficiently hot or the covering has not been put on perfectly. See that the ends are thoroughly covered with both egg and bread crumbs. The quantity given will make twelve croquettes. Cold mashed potatoes may be used.
A straightforward panade-style croquette: enriched mashed potato dried over heat, chilled, breaded and deep-fried. The whole thing turns on the coating, and the original says so.
- Seal the endsThe original names two causes of cracking: fat not hot enough, or the covering imperfectly applied. Roll each cylinder so egg and crumbs cover every surface, including the ends. Chilling the breaded croquettes before frying helps the shell set.
- "Smoking hot fat"The original gives no temperature; in practice this points to roughly 375-390F. Much below 350F the crust absorbs fat and softens before it can set, which is the other cause of blowouts. Fry in small batches so the temperature does not crash.
- Butter the size of a walnutAbout 1 tablespoon, or 15 g.
- Onion juiceGrate an onion on a fine grater and press the pulp through a sieve, or squeeze it in a cloth. A teaspoon of grated onion pressed dry gives the flavour without wet pulp, which softens the mixture.
- Dry the mixture properly"Stir until the mixture leaves the sides of the pan" is the critical step, not a formality. Wet potato steams inside the crust and bursts it. Use a floury baking potato, and keep stirring over moderate heat until the mass pulls away in one lump.
- Egg washOne whole egg beaten with a tablespoon of warm water is a standard thin wash. Dried fine breadcrumbs, not fresh, give the firmest shell; panko works but reads coarser than the period intent.
- Yield and servingTwelve croquettes, enough for four as a side dish. Drain on paper and serve at once; they lose their crispness within a few minutes of sitting.
Croquettes reached English and American cookery from the French repertoire, and became widely popular in the nineteenth century; the name comes from croquer, to crunch. Potato versions suited a household with mashed potato left over, which the recipe acknowledges at the end: cold mashed potatoes may be used. The enrichment here with egg yolks, cream, nutmeg and cayenne is typical of turn-of-the-century American manuals, which leaned on French technique while keeping the seasoning restrained.