Traditional cod croquettes, from the Marchioness of Parabere

The Marquise de Parabere says, in her well-known book Culinary Encyclopedia, the Complete Kitchen , that croquettes are a delicacy that is generally appreciated by everyone. How right! And today we bring you his recipe to make homemade, traditional, authentic and most tasty cod croquettes.

One of the advantages of croquettes is that meat, poultry and fish remains from other preparations can be used, thus becoming an eminently useful recipe. But personally, the cod ones, I highly recommend using quality. You will notice it in the result of the taste of the croquettes, without a doubt.

Let's go with her recipe, I hope you find it as practical as she is: the amounts are not exact, because the croquettes are something that really go to the eye and will depend on the size of the pieces of meat or fish that you have in front of you to make more or less. .

In any case, practice makes perfect, and in very few croquettes you will be a master of this delicacy. Because of complicated, this economic recipe, has nothing.

To form the croquettes, discover the croquette tongs , or if you make croquettes in quantity or on a regular basis, you have to see the Millecroquettes

Ingredients

(Amounts are not indicated, as they are made in bulk)

• A fat piece of cod
• Oil
• Onion
• A garlic clove
• Salt and pepper
• Milk
• 2 yolks
• Breadcrumbs and beaten egg for coating

Preparation

1. Put the cod to desalt in a bowl with warm water. Dry with a clean cloth, squeezing with your hands to extract the water well.
2. In a frying pan, add oil and add a little onion and a clove of garlic, finely chopped. Before they brown, add the cod and fry well, turning it constantly so it doesn't burn.
3. Add chopped parsley and a little flour (about a spoon, depending on how much cod you put in).
4. Cook the flour a bit, stirring constantly, and add milk, so that everything is well impregnated (and there is extra liquid...).
5. Add salt and pepper at the same time and leave on the heat to reduce and everything is well combined and dense. Remove from the heat and let it cool down a bit.
6. Add 2 egg yolks (more if you have made a large quantity) and return to the heat. Cook one minute.
7. To know that the dough is ready, you must see that when mixing it falls into flakes (the dough separates into pieces, it does not fall all at once). If this does not happen, it is because it still needs to be reduced more and you will have to keep it on the fire for a few more minutes.
8. When the dough is ready (it falls into flakes), remove it from the heat, transfer the dough to a bowl and let it cool.
9. When the dough is cold, form the croquettes. Utensils such as the croquette tongs will be of great help, or if you make croquettes in quantity or on a regular basis, you have to know the Millecroquettes or the De Buyer gun .
10. Once the croquettes are formed, pass them in the breadcrumbs, then in the beaten egg and again in the breadcrumbs, and fry them in the fryer with a basket in plenty of very hot oil.
11. To maintain their shape, use a slotted spoon to remove them (you will easily deform them with a pair of tweezers), so you can also drain them well of oil.

WMF fine mesh skimmer and fryer basket De Buyer

Grades

• It is ideal to fry in an iron frying pan or iron fryer, because iron gets very hot, and it will help you achieve the high temperature that you require in the oil (and it is a 100% natural frying pan, free of non-stick coatings that do not mind the fire is recommended to the maximum).
• A fryer with a basket will help you remove and drain the croquettes without any manipulation, thus preventing them from deforming and keeping them beautiful. You can see the iron fryers here , but if you don't have any, we recommend that you don't use tongs, because you'll easily squeeze the croquettes: use a slotted spoon, with which you can gently pick them up to remove them from the oil and drain them easily too. You will see the skimmers at the end of this section .
• The book The Complete Encyclopedia of the Marquesa de Parabere is a jewel that deserves its name and all the adjectives it has earned. It is one of those few cookbooks considered gastronomic "bibles", I strongly invite you to see it here .