Galician pork croquettes

How to prepare some Galician pork croquettes .

This  Galician-style appetizer recipe , with the remains of a piece of lacón that I had from the Galician stew this weekend. At home we usually take advantage of part of the meat from the stew (whether Galician or Madrid) or the pork with turnip tops to make some great homemade croquettes.

In Galicia I have already encountered this type of filling in several restaurants, in some they even add turnip greens. It is still a delicious use recipe, perfect to accompany a very cool wine or beer. And little by little it is spreading outside Galicia, you can already taste them in some tapas bars in Madrid. And of course, with this recipe, in your home.

Any type of croquette, if it is homemade better, is a delicious snack made in most cases, with leftovers. We could say that she is the queen of leftovers, a queen of luxury. Talking about the croquettes recipe is like talking about the potato omelette recipe  . It is not in any case, unique and universal, it is clear that this is my recipe, the one from home that my mother taught me.

A balanced croquette with a soft béchamel sauce for a smooth dough, a little salt rising on the shoulder, very tasty … I only add one more and I hope you like them.

Preparation of the base of the lacón croquettes

1. Chop the onion very small. The objective is that it is almost not noticeable when biting, although if you like croquettes with stumbles. The best thing is that you leave the pieces of pork, not onion. Do not grind the pork, cut it by hand very fine, so they will be much richer. We reserve.
2. In a large frying pan, put the heaped tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Add the onion and put it to cook over very low heat.
3. Next we add the chopped pork, almost chopped and sauté for a minute or two, until the ingredients are well integrated.
4. We continue with the low heat (3 or 4 of my induction) and add the flour to toast it, stirring without stopping so that it does not burn.
5. Immediately afterwards we pour, little by little, the milk without stopping stirring. We dissolve the corn starch with the broth and add it to the bechamel. If you do not want to add cooked broth, increase the amount of milk in the same proportion.
6. We continue stirring and add a pinch of nutmeg. I add a pinch and a half, because I really like this spice and a little salt to taste (be careful that the pork is already very salty).
7. When the dough comes off the sides of the pan, we transfer it to a large pan and let it cool down.
8. To make the dough look good, you have to be patient and stir for a long time. Until it peels off the edges as the bucket passes.
9. You can see in this video, even if it’s the ham croquettes, how we prepare the bechamel and how the pieces of lacón are.

Lacón croquettes batter

1. Once cold, cover the source with film and leave it in the fridge until the next day (approximately 24 hours). It is important that you do not put the film immediately. To prevent drops from heat and steam.
2. After 24 hours, we begin to shape the croquettes, this is perhaps my secret, the rest, so the dough will be more consistent when coated.
3. If you are in a hurry or are for the same day. You can use the freezer so that they cool quickly and are easier to handle.
4. We beat two eggs in a deep plate and put plenty of breadcrumbs on a smooth plate. We prepare the ingredients for the batter, the beaten eggs, the breadcrumbs and the flour in bowls.
5. We form the desired shape for the croquettes, at home we help ourselves with a spoon. To roll the croquettes by hand, it is best to spread them with a little oil so that the dough does not stick to us.
6. We take a portion of dough and give it the desired shape. Elongated or in the form of balls and we pass them, initially by breadcrumbs.
7. We dip each ball of croquette in the beaten egg and then, well drained. We coat them with breadcrumbs.

Frying and final presentation of the lacón croquettes

1. To get a very crispy outer crust I advise you to repeat the operation. We bathe each croquette again in egg and passing it a second time through the breadcrumbs.
2. Heat in a deep frying pan a good amount of soft oil for frying. Once hot we are frying the croquettes .
3. We have to take the precaution of bathing the croquettes with the oil on their upper face while they are frying. This will prevent them from opening and the filling comes out.
4. We reserve on an absorbent paper, and thus we will remove the excess oil.

A delicious snack, perfect for a little more passion in the croquetil world.