Ian Curley's delicious Croquettes

Ian Curley's delicious Croquettes

Crumbed Gruyere Cheese and Potato Croquettes With Saffron Rouille

325g      plain mashed potato (boiled in salted water,drained, then mashed)

185ml   water

65g       diced, butter

95g       plain flour, sifted  (1/2 cup extra for crumbing)

1           whole egg  (2 extra eggs for crumbing)

2            egg yolks

¼ tsp     cayenne pepper

½ tsp     smoked paprika

Pinch     ground nutmeg

¼ tsp      ground white pepper

½ tsp      salt (Olsen flaked salt is preferred)

100g      diced Swiss Gruyere cheese

2 tbs       chopped chives

1 ½ cups Panko breadcrumbs

Method:

Place: The water, butter, salt, pepper and the ground spices in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer, remove from heat and add all the flour in one go.

Stir quickly with a wooden spoon until you have a smooth mix.

Return the saucepan to the stove and quickly stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture leaves the sides of the pot, remove from heat and allow to cool slightly, around 5 minutes. Add the whole egg and stir til combined, then repeat with the yolks. Place this mixture into a medium sized mixing bowl, add remaining ingredients and stir together. Roll into golf ball sized balls set in the fridge, once firm, crumb your croquettes: first roll in the flour, then place in your beaten egg, next roll in the breadcrumbs. Shallow fry in a heavy based pot until golden, serve with saffron rouille and enjoy whilst hot!

Saffron Rouille

1 Medium sized potato, diced

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 pinch saffron

1 pinch salt

1 pinch ground white pepper

3 egg yolks

1 tbs Dijon mustard

1 tbs vinegar

½ lemon, juiced

500ml  good quality olive oil

Method:

Place diced potato in a small saucepan with the garlic and the saffron, barely cover the potato with water and bring to a simmer (This will happen quickly, so don't take your eyes off it)

Once the potatoes are soft and most of the liquid has disappeared, remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.

Place in a food processor with the vinegar, mustard and egg yolks, process until smooth. With the machine running, slowly drizzle the oil in until you have a thick, golden mayonnaise.

Remove from food processor and stir in lemon juice.