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Potato Croquettes
Mix two cups hot mashed potato, two tablespoons butter, one teaspoon salt, one fourth teaspoon paprika, few grains of cayenne and celery salt, two teaspoons chopped parsley, few drops onion juice. Beat well; add two egg yolks; form into croquettes; dip in flour, egg, and crumbs; fry in deep fat; drain on brown paper and serve.
These croquettes may be formed into the shape of a ball, then shaped like a cup, and filled with any creamed mixture; cover the top of cup with mashed potato. Dip in crumbs, egg and crumbs, fry in deep fat. These are known as Surprise Croquettes.
A dry, stiff potato mixture is the whole game here; anything loose will burst in the fat. The recipe assumes you already have hot mashed potato on hand and a kettle of frying fat at the ready.
- Start with dry potatoUse baking potatoes, boiled or baked, riced or put through a food mill while hot, with no milk or cream added. Waxy potatoes and any added liquid give a slack mixture that splits open in the fryer.
- Chill before shapingThe original moves straight from beating to forming, but the mixture handles far better after 30 to 60 minutes in the refrigerator. Cold croquettes hold their shape and absorb less fat.
- Onion juiceA period ingredient made by grating a raw onion and pressing out the liquid, or by scraping the cut face with a spoon. The recipe asks only for a few drops; grated onion pulp will work but adds moisture.
- Fat temperatureThe recipe says only "deep fat" and gives no number; modern practice for croquettes is around 375F. Much below that the crust soaks; much above it the coating colors before the inside is hot. Fry in small batches so the temperature does not drop.
- Two breading ordersThe plain croquettes go flour, egg, crumbs. The surprise version is crumbs, egg, crumbs. The recipe gives no reason for the difference; a first layer of crumbs would give the egg a drier surface to grip on a filled shell.
- DrainingBrown paper was the standard drain of the period. A wire rack set over a sheet pan keeps the underside crisp; paper towels are fine but the croquettes will steam where they touch.
- Creamed filling for Surprise CroquettesAny thick creamed mixture, chicken, sweetbreads, mushrooms, or peas in a stiff bechamel, and it must be cold and firm before it goes in. A runny filling will find its way out.
- YieldTwo cups of potato gives about eight croquettes, enough for four as an entree course in the period sense or a side for four to six.
Croquettes were a reliable entrée of the American cookbook era around 1900, when a formal dinner called for a small hot made dish between the fish and the roast; they let a cook turn leftovers into something that looked composed. The word is French, from croquer, to crunch, and the dish belongs to the French professional repertoire that American domestic-science teachers adapted for household use. Lowney's, published by the Walter M. Lowney chocolate company, is best remembered for its confectionery, but it carried a full range of savory chapters as well. The "Surprise Croquette" is not a fried shell hollowed out afterwards: the potato is shaped into a cup, filled, and closed over with more potato before it is breaded and fried.