These may be made of any kind of cooked meat, fish, oysters, rice, hominy, and many kinds of vegetables, or from a mixture of several ingredients. When mixed with a thick white sauce (see page 278), which adds very much to the delicacy of meat or fish croquettes, less meat is required. The sauce is a stiff paste when cold, and being mixed with the meat or fish the croquettes may be handled and shaped perfectly, and when cooked will be soft and creamy inside.

How To Shape A Croquette

Croquettes may be shaped into rolls, or ovals, or like pears, with a bit of parsley or a clove in the end to represent the stem. Take a tablespoon-ful of the cold mixture, and shape into a smooth ball. If the mixture stick, wet the palms of the hands slightly. Give the ball a gentle, rolling pressure between the palms till slightly cylindrical; then roll it lightly in the crumbs, clasp it gently in the hand, and flatten one end on the board. Turn the hand over, and flatten the opposite end. Place the croquette on a broad knife, and roll it in beaten egg. With a spoon dip the egg over the croquette, drain *on the knife, and roll again in the crumbs. Fry in deep hot fat (see page 15). Drain on paper.

In rolling any kind of croquettes, if the mixture be too soft to be handled easily, stir in enough fine cracker dust to stiffen it, but never add any uncooked material like flour, nor the dried bread crumbs used in rolling, as those will make the croquettes too stiff.

Thick Cream Sauce (For Croquettes And Patties)

1 pint hot cream.

2 even tablespoonfuls butter.

4 heaping tablespoonfuls flour, or 2 heaping tablesp. cornstarch.

½ teaspoonful salt. ½ saltspoonful white pepper ½ teaspoonful celery salt. A few grains of cayenne.

Scald the cream. Melt the butter in a granite saucepan. When bubbling, add the dry cornstarch. Stir till well mixed. Add one third of the cream, and stir as it boils and thickens. Add more cream, and boil again. When perfectly smooth, add the remainder of the cream. The sauce should be very thick, almost like a drop batter. Add the seasoning, and mix it while hot with the meat or fish. For croquettes, one beaten egg may be added just as the sauce is taken from the fire; but the croquettes are whiter and more creamy without the egg. For patties, warm the meat or fish in the sauce, and use the egg or not as you please.

Chicken Croquettes

Half a pound of chicken chopped very fine, and seasoned with half a teaspoonful of salt, half a teaspoonful of celery salt, a quarter of a saltspoonful of cayenne pepper, one saltspoonful of white pepper, a few drops of onion juice, one teaspoonful of chopped parsley, and one teaspoonful of lemon juice. Make one pint of very thick cream sauce (see page 278). When thick, add one beaten egg, and mix the sauce with the chicken using only enough to make it as soft as can be handled. Spread on a shallow plate to cool. Shape into rolls. Roll in fine bread crumbs, then dip in beaten egg, then in crumbs again, and fry one minute in smoking hot fat. Drain, and serve with a thin cream sauce. Many prefer to cut the chicken into small dice. If this be done, use less of the sauce, or the croquettes will be difficult to shape. The white meat of chicken will absorb more sauce than the dark. Mushrooms, boiled rice, sweetbreads, calf's brains, or veal may be mixed with chicken. Cold roast chicken, chopped fine, may be mixed with the stuffing, moistened with the gravy, and shaped into croquettes.

Fig. 38. Chicken Croquettes.