Chicken Croquettes and Potato & Leek Braise

*Post by Angela.

Yesterday morning, I looked into my fridge, realized the contents were reaching critical mass, and decided I wanted to clean it all out without wasting anything.  And the food gods must have been smiling down at me, because I just happened to have almost all the ingredients I needed to make the potato and leek recipe I'd been eyeing in All About Braising, a cookbook I got as a birthday present from one of my best friends.  At the same time, I still had a ton of leftover chicken from our little Sunday night feast, and I was sort of sick of chicken sandwiches.  So I did a little Googling and came up with this recipe for chicken croquettes.  I LOVED the potatos and leeks, so subtly flavorful and tender.  Mark's favorite part of the meal was the chicken croquettes - the chicken was already delicious to begin with, and I punched up the original recipe with some red pepper flakes.  And everything tastes better fried.  While a litttle work intensive and time consuming, this was a great and tasty way to clean out the fridge.

 

List of ingredients for the potato and leek braise:

• 3 medium leeks (about 1 1/2 lbs with the dark green tops cut off)
• 1 1/2 lbs Yukon gold potatoes
• 1 1/2 tsp chopped fresh thyme
• Pinch of ground nutmeg
• Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 1/4 cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock or mock chicken broth for a vegetarian dish)
• 2 tbsp butter, cut into small pieces
• 1/3 cup heavy cream

First I preheated the oven to 325 degrees, and put the chicken stock on the stove to simmer.  I trimmed the root ends and dark green parts of the leeks, then quartered them lengthwise and sliced them into 3/4 inch pieces.  I rinsed the leeks in cold water twice to get rid of the grit, then drained them.

I also peeled the potatos and cut them into 3/4 inch chunks.  I buttered a casserole, put the leeks and potatoes in, sprinkled them with the thyme and nutmeg, and generously seasoned them with salt and pepper.  Then I tossed it all together to make sure the seasoning and herbs were thoroughly distributed.  I took the hot broth off the stove and poured it over the leeks and potatoes, then dotted the top with the pieces of butter. 

I covered the casserole tightly with foil and put it in the oven.  I took it out after 45 minutes, removed the foil and stirred the leeks and potatoes.  Since there was barely any liquid in the pan, I covered it again with the foil and put it back into the oven for another 35 minutes, until the leeks and potatoes were completely tender (if there is a lot of liquid left, go ahead and leave the foil off).  To finish the dish, I took it out, uncovered it, and increased the oven temp to 425.  I stirred the leeks and potatoes again, and poured the cream over them.  I put the dish back in the oven and baked another 30 minutes (until the top was browned and bubbly and cream was mostly absorbed).

List of ingredients for the chicken croquettes:

• A day old mini baguette
• 1/4 cup olive oil, plus more for drizzling
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 6 tbsp butter
• 3 cups cooked, finely chopped chicken
• 1 tbsp fresh chopped parsley
• coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 2-3 eggs, lightly beaten

First I had to make the bread crumbs.  I preheated the oven to about 200 degrees.  Then I tore the mini baguette into small pieces and ran them through my food processor until I had...well, crumbs.  I spread them out on a baking pan, drizzled a little olive oil, and seasoned them with salt and pepper.  I then put the pan in the oven, and after about 20 minutes, turned the oven down to the "warm" setting - I didn't want to toast them, just dry them out.  I took them out after about an hour.  To cut down on time, you could also just use store-bought bread crumbs, but I had a leftover mini-loaf from my Saturday night Girls' Night/Wine and Fancy Cheese Night I wanted to use up - I told you, I was cleaning house!

Next, I melted 2 tbsp butter in a pan and sauteed the onions until soft, about 10 minutes.  I set them aside to let them cool. 

 

Once the onions had cooled, I combined them in a large bowl with 1 1/2 cups of the bread crumbs, the finely chopped chicken, and parsley.  I seasoned with a little salt and pepper, threw in the red pepper flakes, then mixed in the eggs.  Start with 2 eggs, and if the mixture still won't hold together, add in a third.  I formed the mixture into small, thin patties, making sure to pack them pretty tightly so they didn't fall apart in the oil. 

I heated 1/8 cup olive oil with 4 tbsp butter in a pan, then fried the patties until golden brown, about 3-4 minutes a side.

So good.  I'm so excited about the way the braising turned out - I can't wait to try the rest of the recipes in the book.  And I know exactly what I'm going to do with my chicken leftovers from now on.

Comments

[Evan]

those croquettes look crispy and delicious

[Angela]

Evan-
Thanks, they turned out MUCH better than I thought they would - I'm typically kind of horrible at frying these types of things (i.e. things that can fall apart). The recipe makes A LOT of croquettes - we've been eating them for two days now.