Chicken Croquettes

This is, hands down, my children's, and all their friend's, favorite recipe. You can imagine how many times it has been requested ever since I mentioned I was going to do a cooking blog. It is also one of my bridge table's favorite lunch. They are rich enough to stand alone next to a nice green salad, so don't waste your time making anything else. Yes, they take time, and it takes two days to complete the process, but they are well worth it, freeze beautifully and delight everyone, including children. If you have a captive audience eager to eat your croquettes, they will volunteer to help you shape and bread them, which is the nasty part of the deal. But keep and eye on your little (and big) helpers, because as they get tired and bored, they end up shaping them like torpedoes! The original recipe is my aunt Martha's, who forgot it was her recipe until she tasted them here a few weeks ago.


1 small chicken (use white and dark meat)*
3 TB butter
1 medium onion, chopped
1 small bunch of fresh parsley, chopped
Dash Worcestershire Sauce
Juice from 1/2 lemon
2 cans evaporated milk
10-12 TB flour
Salt & Pepper
3 eggs beaten
breadcrumbs
Vegetable oil

Day 1

Remove the meat from the chicken and cut up in small pieces. If you make the croquettes from yesterday's roast chicken and only ate one leg and some of one of the breast's, you will have enough meat for this recipe. Otherwise, you can buy a small roast chicken.

In a skillet, melt the butter and cook the onions until translucent. Add the parsley and cook for 1 minute. Remove from the heat. In a blender, add the chicken, the 2 cans of milk and the flour. Do this in batches, 1/2 the chicken, 1 can of milk, and half the flour. Blend until thickened and smooth. Add to the skillet with the onions. Repeat with the other half. With a wooden spoon blend the two batches into the onions and parsley. Add the lemon juice, the Worcestershire Sauce, and salt and pepper and continue to stir in medium or medium low heat. Be careful, if you see that it starts to stick to the bottom, lower the heat. You are going to stir for about 15- 20 minutes, stopping and starting again until it begins to separate from the edges and starts to bubble. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool. Once it is cooled, stick in the refrigerator until tomorrow, and I mean tomorrow! Mix needs to rest and cool in the refrigerator at least overnight so it will harden.

Day 2

Set up a breading station consisting of 1 bowl for the eggs, and 1 bowl for the breadcrumbs. Beat the eggs in one bowl, place about one cup of breadcrumbs in the other. Take one big soup spoonful of the dough and using your pretty little hands, shape into croquettes, pass through breadcrumbs, then the eggs and breadcrumbs again. Set aside in a cold plate. Repeat until all are shaped. I place the ones I am going to eat that night at least an hour in the refrigerator before I fry them. The rest are frozen and will yield at least two or three more meals. Freeze them in tin foil paper, in one long row, side by side. I usually make packets of eight and a couple of packets of 4 for an impromptum snack or lunch. Wrap tight.

Frying

Place about an inch of vegetable oil in a skillet and fry on all sides until golden brown. Drain in a paper towel. If they are frozen, fry straight from the freezer, but lower the heat to make sure they completely cook inside. Otherwise you will end up with beautiful croquettes on the outside but cold inside.

I hope you enjoy them as much as my family has for the last 40 years!

Ham Croquettes
Substitute 1 lbs. ham for the chicken