These are super easy and super fast and not your everyday laborious breaded croquettes. Two kitchen utensils are essential, one is a microwave and the other is a food processor. You can mash the potatoes by hand, though this takes a little more effort if you cook the potatoes in the microwave. [The texture will be different from your ordinarily cooked potatoes.] Once again, if you have no microwave, steam the potatoes and do not let them soak up any water. The best potatoes for this dish are the russet types or baking potatoes, because of their high starch content. Most croquette recipes call for cooking the potatoes in their jackets. Russets are very hard to cook in their jackets. The Yukon gold or the red potato varieties cook up nicely in their jackets, but because they contain less starch, they are more apt to fall apart when you fry the croquettes. Start out in medium hot oil with only a few croquettes. Then as they start to get a little color, add more. At a certain point, you may have to increase the heat or decrease it as needed. Avoid dropping the croquettes into very hot oil, because they will burn before you can turn them over. At the same time, maintain a solid frying temperature. If the temperature is too low, the croquettes will soak up oil.
POTATO CROQUETTES
4 cups of peeled and thinly sliced russet potatoes
1/4 cup water
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/8 cup diced onions
1 garlic, minced
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
salt and pepper to taste
1 egg
1/4 cup flour
Oil for frying
• Peel and thinly slice the potatoes.
• Place in a shallow bowl and add 1/4 cup of water.
• Cover with a microwavable plastic dome and place in the microwave for 5 minutes.
• Meanwhile, place 1 Tbsp olive oil in a fry pan and sauté the onions and garlic until soft.
• Drain the tiny amount of water that remains and pat dry the potatoes with paper towels.
• Place the potatoes in a mixing bowl.
• Add the onion mixture, the fresh parsley, 1 egg, and 1/4 cup flour.
• Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.
• Combine the ingredients.
• With damp hands, shape the croquettes.
• Heat up the oil on medium heat. Avoid high temperatures because the croquettes will burn before you have a chance to turn them over.
• Start frying 4-6 croquettes, gently turning them over with a fork so they can brown evenly. Once the first croquettes start to have a little color, add a few more and increase or decrease the temperature as needed. Try to maintain the frying temperature.
• With a slotted spoon scoop out the finished croquettes and transfer to a paper towel lined dish and serve. Yield: 16
