and finally Allegra McEvedys recipe for Pea and Ham Croquetas: (Makes about 16 and takes about an hour start to finish.) For the roux: 40g butter 5 tbsp plain flour 250ml chicken stock 25g Parmesan, finely grated 130g jamon (Spanish ham, which is cured and dried. You can also use a British cooked ham but the flavour is much less intense so go for 150g ham and 180g peas),thick sliced and then cut into small dice 200g frozen peas, defrosted around 1 litre vegetable/sunflower/frying oil For the coating: 1 egg beaten with 2 tbsp water handful of seasoned flour 100g fine breadcrumbs Melt the butter in a thick-bottomed pan then add the flour and stir with a wooden spoon for a few minutes on a medium heat. Slowly pour in the chicken stock, whisking to get all the lumps out until it becomes a thick paste. Turn the heat off, mix in the Parmesan, ham pieces, and some seasoning (only pepper, and no salt if you’re using jamon as it’s much saltier than English ham) then spread the mixture thinly onto a small baking tray to cool it down (if you’re in a hurry you can put it outside or in the fridge until it’s cold and solid). Now set up your breadcrumbing station: one small baking tray with seasoned flour, a wide, shallow bowl with the beaten and watered egg, another tray for the breadcrumbs and a big plate at the end to put the done ones on. Blitz the peas in a food processor to break them up, squeeze any excess water out of them and stir well into the now cold gluey paste. Dampen the palms of your hands, pick up a couple of tablespoons of the paste and roll into thickish thumb-sized cylinders. Shape all thecroquetas first on the floured tray, making sure they are well covered with flour on all sides and both ends.If they are uncomfortably soft to work with them put the shaped croquetas into the fridge until firmer, then re-roll them in the flour once they come out.Then in four batches coat them completely with the egg mix, then roll in the breadcrumbs. Pour the oil in a wide saucepan to a depth of about 3-4cm, making sure that the level comes nowhere near the top of the pan so there’s room for it to bubble up. Fry the croquetas in 2-3 batches for 3–4 minutes or until golden brown and crispy. Sit them on some kitchen paper to soak up excess oil before tucking in. Irresistible.
Posted on: Sat, 05 Jul 2014 11:04:42 +0000
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