Serves: Makes about 16-18
It’s really worth keeping some turkey aside to make these delicious little croquetas which are inspired by the favourite Spanish tapas dish. Of course at any other time of the year you can make these with chicken. Allow yourself enough time to cool the mixture –at least a couple of hours in total. As always, an electric deep-fryer makes light work of the frying but if you haven’t got one use a wide saucepan. You could also make these croquetas bite-size and serve them as an appetiser.
Ingredients
- 500ml whole milk
- 2 small echalion shallots, peeled and halved
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
- 70g butter
- 65g plain flour
- 225g cooked turkey, diced
- 75g serrano (or parma) ham, finely chopped
- 1 heaped tablespoon finely chopped sage
- To finish
- 3 tablespoons flour seasoned with salt and black pepper
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 125g panko breadcrumbs
- Oil for deep-frying
Method
- Put the milk, shallots, bay leaves and peppercorns in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Take off the heat and leave to infuse for 30 minutes. Pour the milk through a sieve and discard the solids.
- Melt the butter in a saucepan and stir in the flour. Cook for one minute. Gradually stir in the milk until you have a thick, smooth sauce. Cook, stirring the sauce, for 2-3 minutes. Take off the heat and leave to cool down for about 30 minutes. Stir in the turkey, ham and sage and season well with salt and ground black pepper. Shape the mixture into small croquettes (or bite-size pieces if you want to serve the croquetas as a canapé) and place on a baking tray lined with non-stick baking parchment. Chill for at least 1½ hours.
- Take three similar sized wide, shallow bowls and put the seasoned flour in one and the beaten eggs in another. Fill the third with the panko crumbs. Roll the croquetas in the flour, then egg and finally coat in panko crumbs. Repeat until you have coated all the croquetas. At this point you can chill them until you are ready to eat.
- Heat the oil to 180˚c. Deep-fry the croquetas for about 3-4 minutes until crisp and golden. Drain on kitchen paper and keep warm in a low oven (130˚c, mark ½) until you have fried all the croquetas.
