How to make a crunchy, creamier, shortest Spanish tapa

Stop and consider the miracle for a moment Béchamel sauce“This is the spine Mac and cheese and many other starting points Core cheese sauce; The creamy filling connects Croque Monsieur; the key to a properly richness Lasagna Alla Bolognese; and the velvety sauce that cuts the seafood shells and lobster– enrich the taste Puffy and the bridge between meat sauce and potato and eggplant MoussakaOr

And then in some way, the spells can be spilled into the cooled, small torpedoes or balls, fried and baked to make croquets or croquets as they are called in Spain – where they were perfected into one of the more iconic types of Tapa. And perhaps none of Croqueta's flavors may be better than the Spanish ham – Croquetas de Jamón.

The recipe itself is simple: make a béchamel with toasted onions and ham, cool, bread and bake. As always, the key to success leads to details.

Choose the ham smartly

It's called Croquetas de Jamon, but what ham are we talking about? Let's start with a rather safe statement: there is hardly any ham that would not taste good and cooked them. I can't think of a ham that wouldn't be delicious.

Usually, however, we are looking for a dry dried ham, and since this is a Spanish specialty, the ideal would be a Spanish ham. One of the famous opportunities is Jamón Serrano and the other is Jamón Iberico. Iberico Ham is usually the result of more expensive, pigs, special diet and longer aging time compared to Jamón Serrano. Iberico is generally sweeter and more nuts than salty serrano ham and undoubtedly makes completely delicious croquet, but has a higher price tag. Serrano Ham would be the everyday choice with Spanish ham, and that's great.

Nevertheless, you can really use any ham in a pinch. An Italian, dried ham, such as Prosciutto di Parma, is perfectly acceptable for Spanish ham, and even a variety of kitchens, such as French or American ham, even if they are a little drifting from the most traditional examples in Spain.

Find the ham/decoration if possible

Many Spanish recipes call ham bones or other remnants to Croquetas de Jamon, which are evaporated in milk to melt a deeper ham flavor. This is an optional step – thank you for all the minced ham in the recipe, there are plenty of ham in the croquet, even without infusion of ham. But if you find some ham decorations that are often sold at a discounted price in the deli counters and special grocery stores (always staying from larger ham where the meat is sliced), this is a nice touch.

Use the appropriate amount of flour

Before I started developing the recipe, I examined more recipes from reliable Spanish cooking experts to see what rates were used in croquetes and found about three to six tablespoons of flour in cups of milk. Then I cooked my first test bundle with the lowest end of the range – three tablespoons in a cup of milk because why don't I want the smallest, mostly velvety croquets?

When I kicked this stack of test, almost all croquetes broke into the oil when the extra liquid center cooked, steamed and exploded from the fried coating. Extra cooling time (and even frozen fried croquetes) can help prevent this, but after a few hours of cooling and freezing attempts, these croquetes still popped up in the oil. After that, I exploded my flour to the higher end of the range, approx. Five tablespoons of flour in cups of milk. The resulting mixture is thicker and less melted when it cooks, makes it more stable, but avoids the most important results of filling with flour.

Cool

Croquettes are easy to prepare and do not take a lot of active time, but you have to keep enough time for the necessary cooling sections. Short cutting can cause problems during baking, increasing the risk of blasting Croqueta.

The first cooling phase occurs when the Béchamel was completed. You need to adjust it to torpedoes or balls into bread and baking. Rush or omit a cool step can make the filling more difficult to make the filling into steady croquet shapes and can be a greater challenge with bread.

After the flour, then the egg, then the bread crumbs filled, the croquetes need to be cooled again before frying them. This cool phase ensures the setting coating setting, reducing the chances in the oil and helping to prevent tear. In addition, it provides more time to completely cool the filling, ensuring that the croquettes are as coldest and solid as possible before the oil is reached. (You can freeze them at this stage to get ready for a fried croquetta and wait for the mood to bake a crunchy little snack.)

After the croquetes were baked and golden brown, they were given them a few minutes to cool slightly, then served while still hot and creamy.

Cooking method
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• 2 cup (473 ml) full milk

• Ham end or decoration (optional; see notes)

• 4 tablespoon (60 g) salted butter (See notes)

• 4 tablespoon (60 g) virgin extra olive oil

• 1/2 medium yellow onion (4 ounce; 113 g), finely minced

• 4 ounce (113 g) Spanish -dried hamsuch as Jamón Serrano, minced (see notes)

• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoon universal flour (80 g), plus 1 cup universal flour (for dredging), shared

• Kosher salt

• Pinch freshly grated nutmeg

• 2 large eggBe beaten

• 1 1/2 cup Panko Breadcrumbswith the bread (see notes)

• Other neutral vegetables oilfor baking

1. In a small frying pan, heat the milk with the ends of the ham with the ends/decoration (if you use), then hold, covered, just under cooking until ready for use.

2. In a 3 quarts pan or unusually reading oil with olive oil over medium heat until the butter melts. Add the onions and cook while stirring until very soft but not tan, approx. 8 minutes. In the meantime, remove and throw the ham from the milk (if you use it).

3. Stir in the minced Jamon, then the 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (80 g) flour until the flour is formed with a paste with the fat, the evenly coat all solid ingredients. Continue cooking while stirring until the smell of raw flour disappears, approx. For 1 minute. Whisk, add hot milk to a thin, constant flow or a couple of tablespoons, whisk thoroughly and put it in every corner of the pan to maintain the homogeneous texture. Continue until all the milk is added and thickened for the paste-like consistency of the mixture. Remove from heat and fill spicy croqueta filling with salt and nutmeg.

4. Scratches the filling into a small heat insulation baking dish, the eighth flat pan or other container that can hold the mixture in a steady layer. Cover with plastic and cool completely cooled and adjusted for at least 6 hours and overnight.

5. When you are ready to form the croquetes, set a rim baking sheet with the parchment. and set three wide, shallow bowls on a work surface. Fill the first bowl with the remaining 1 cup of flour, the second with the beaten eggs and the third with Panko. Wetting the hands, if necessary, to prevent attachment to the items and work in the items, the mixture is made roughly 2 -inch 1 -inch cylinders. Place them first in the flour, rolling until it is coated well, then shake the excess and move it to the egg. Carefully roll to cover the egg washing evenly and raise each croquet to allow excess eggs to descend and then switch to a pan. Carefully roll and press on Panko croquetas until completely covered. Place the fried croquettes in the prepared baking sheet and repeat with the remaining charge until all croquettes are fried (should be about 24). Cover with plastic, place in the refrigerator and cool for at least 2 and 24 hours.

6. When ready for baking, in a Dutch oven or in a wide container, heat at least 1 inch of oil at medium to high heat until 340 ° F (170 ° C) up to 340 ° F on an instant reading or fried thermometer. Set a wire holder into a rim baking sheet and enter the paper with towels. Working in items to avoid the crowd of oil, bake the croquettes until the golden brown for 2-3 minutes. Use the spiderkimmer to move the paper towels on the paper and then repeat with the remaining croquettes. Serve immediately.

Note

The end of the ham or the cut promotes the taste of deeper ham into the milk; You can often buy them from a good deli or special shop with a marinated meat counter, often discounted (as the ends often get into the trash). Find ends or decoration from dry dried ham such as Jamon Serrano or Italian prosciutto. It is fine if you can't find this ingredient, the recipe will continue to work and it will be great without it.

Combing butter and olive oil offers each flavor, but if necessary, only 8 tablespoons can use only one or the other.

If you can't find Spanish ham, the Italian Prosciutto Crudo will act as a substitute.

If you want a finer bread, you can safely push the Panko in a food processor to make it a finer bread crumbs. You can also use fine bread crumbs instead of Panko if necessary.

Special equipment

Small pan; 3 quarts pan or unusual; wide dish (for baking); instant reading or baking thermometer; Rimmed baking sheet with wire rack (if not, you can transfer the croquettes to a piece of paper on a plate)

Make-Head and Storage

The boiled filling is cooled and packaged in plastic for up to 3 days before turning into cylinders and bread.

The fried crochets can be cooled and covered for up to 2 days before baking. If necessary, you can freeze the fried crochets on the baking sheet lined with parchment and then move it to the zipper-closing bags. Frozen until it is ready for baking; You can bake them directly from frozen.