Croquettes are a classic that always triumphs wherever they go, above fashion. However, its preparation is still a culinary challenge against which many amateur and professional cooks fail. This is not the case of chef Martín Berasategui who, after having prepared thousands throughout his long career, has the necessary authority to share his infallible tricks with those who embroider the homemade croquettes too.
We already know the keys of Karlos Arguiñano to prepare tasty chicken croquettes. However, enough is never known about this dish and Berasategui now shares with us those personal tips and tricks that the rest of us should keep in mind whenever we prepare any version of this traditional and popular appetizer, using his favorite recipe for ham croquettes as an example. and egg.
It is true that all the croquettes must meet the same requirements: that they be sweet and fluid on the inside, with a thin and crunchy crust on the outside, without cracks or oily. And they are made following the same steps. However, paying attention to its fetish recipe we can learn what to do to avoid mistakes more common.
We have learned these tricks in the program Robin Food, where the chef from San Sebastián cooked his croquettes with his inseparable friend David de Jorge:
Unlike what other chefs like Dani García do, who normally prepares the roux bechamel with the same weight of butter as flour, Berasategui prefers to start with a combination of the same weight of butter, extra virgin olive oil and chives finely chopped (75 g each). And, in addition, he cooks it all together, after melting the milk fat.
While this stir-fry is being made, one of the chef’s key tricks arrives: reduce slightly more than three liters of whole milk in a pot previously rinsed with cold water, so that it does not stick. This must be done over very low heat, allowing the milk to lose volume, little by little, without boiling and until it remains in about two liters of liquid. And so it is also kept warm to prepare the béchamel.
With the milk slowly reducing, another trick is to add the flour (same weight as the sum of the ingredients of the stir-fry, 225 g) always previously sieved, little by little and mixing constantly, lowering the heat to medium power, about four or five minutes so that the flour cooks well. And it is that one of the most common mistakes that spoil the taste of any croquette is the taste of raw flour.
The next advice is that you have to let that roux cool out of the fire while he finishes reducing the milk by two liters. Thus, lumps are avoided by adding ladles of recently boiled and reduced milk to the cold roux, always stirring with a metal whisk. Once incorporated, the “porridge” is returned to the heat to thicken a bit, always stirring.
Once we have the filling ready, he recommends taking the dough to cool in a rectangular baking dish covered with baking paper lightly greased with olive oil, well extended and always covered with well-adhered plastic film so that it does not form a crust. So let it cool for a few hours or overnight in the fridge.
To wrap the croquettes, Berasategui puts oil in a glass cup or bowl, he greases his palms and take a not very large portion of dough to hand ball spheres without sticking and without using flour.
Then, let them cool on a tray for two or three hours (at least) in the fridge before coating and cooking. For this, in addition, the cook he never puts them directly into the flour, but he passes his hands through it, shakes them giving two palms and then gently rounds the croquettes again. With this trick he manages to flour the croquettes very finely without excess.
Then he passes them by egg, drain the excess very well on a sieve or fine grid and coat them in breadcrumbs, which are also finely covered. And frying has no more mystery than using a tall container with plenty of olive oil very hot.
How to know the temperature? The last trick arrives: the tip of the bread crumb. When we see that the piece of bread is frying (with many bubbles), we remove it and we can add the croquettes, always in small quantities so as not to lower the temperature, helping us with the greased spatula in the same oil. The chef advises avoid the frying pan to fry, because they will be better on a deep surface. If we have a fryer, better.
In the event that we want to freeze them, we can do so once they have been passed through the breadcrumbs, but Berasategui does not recommend frying them directly from the freezer, but rather leaving them in the fridge for a few hours. And if the budget does not allow us to use Iberian ham, we can reduce the milk with a ham bone inside to give it more flavor.
Photos | Direct to the palate
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