How to make Croquetas

One of my favorite food discoveries since my time in Spain has been "Croquetas" - A fried tapas dish that can be filled with any meat or veggie of your choice.

Last week, Ciri taught me how to make them them and couldn't be happier. Not only was it fun to learn how to, but making them from scratch made eating them was so much better!

Here are the Ingredients:
Olive Oil, 1 small onion, Flour (9 cooking spoons), Mlik (lots), Butter (1/4 stick), Chopped/diced meat

First, Put the stove up very high, and pour some olive oil into a large pan. Next, get a grater and fine shave the onion into the olive oil over the stove. This takes some work as most of the onion gets stuck in the grater, but no worries.

Once the onion is all grated down, mix it around with the olive oil and add the butter and flour. After stirring that, put in lots of milk until its liquidy. (I know these aren't exact measurements, but the traditional recipes for these things don't include measuring tools.)

Now Stir stir stir. add milk. Stir some more. The consistency will be very liquid. Blend until it is smooth (no lumps). If you keep stirring enough, it will gradually become doughy.

Add in w/e meat you want (chicken, tuna, ham) and stir some more. She added in a "caldo de pollo" tablet for flavoring, so some sort of seasoning related to your meat would be good. It will now look like a pot of mashed potatoes.

Transfer the filling into from a pot into a dish and let it sit to settle and cool for ~2 hrs.

Now you make the crispy part! To prep, take 2 eggs, crack them in a bowl and stir. On a separate plate, pour out some breadcrumbs. Have a 3rd plate on hand for the finished ones.

 Take a spoon and scoop some of the filling mix into your hand. Roll the insides into little balls/logs with your hands. Place it in the bowl of egg and roll it around till its covered. Then, coat it in breadcrumbs and place on the clean plate. Do this for the whole dish of filling.

You can cook some and freeze the rest, as this makes quite a lot. To cook them, just think of a deep fryer. Set up a a pot/pan of olive oil filled enough to cover the croquetas, wait till its hot, drop in the croquetas and cook till golden brown and crispy.

Let cool and enjoy! These make a great party appetizer, or as a side for dinner. I also just like them as a quick snack.
(the ones pictured were with chicken, but they look the same regardless of your filling.)