Irish Croquettes

My Slow-Cooked Sunday was a semi-traditional version of Corned Beef and Cabbage. I used lots of fresh produce from Salem’s Farmers Market including carrots, green cabbage, kohlrabi and watermelon radish. While flavorful, the slow cook took all the color out of these fabulous vegetables.

I didn't write up my recipe for corned beef and cabbage as my plan was to deconstruct the traditional St. Patty's Day dinner and come up with something different.

My family loves when I make croquettes, so why not add an Irish twist.  Traditionally, croquettes have potato and cheese, sometimes ham. Croquettes are a great way to use up leftovers; if you have any. Rarely do I have melt-in-your-mouth corned beef leftover, but usually end up with enough potatoes to use as the base in croquettes. This time I cooked potatoes, and parsnips, on the side. I prefer to start fresh with celery, carrots and shallots - I like a little bit of crunch in my croquette, not just mush; though you could strain potatoes and veggies from your corned beef liquid and mash this for your croquette base. You need to be sure you drain the liquid otherwise your croquettes won't hold together.

If you don't have enough of any of the needed ingredients, quickly boil potatoes, make a sauté of celery, carrot and shallot or buy corned beef from the deli. I served this with kohlrabi slaw.

What you need:

Croquettes:

• 2 shallots, finely chopped
• 1 carrot, finely chopped
• 1 celery stalk, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 3 c leftover mashed potatoes (or combo of potato, parsnip, kohlrabi, turnip, etc)
• 1 c shredded Boggy Meadow Farm Swiss cheese
• 1/2 c chopped cooked corned beef (a generous 1/2 cup)
• Freshly ground sea salt and pepper to taste

Coating:

• 2 lg eggs
• 1/8 c milk
• 1/4 c flour, seasoned with salt, and pepper, and
• 1 c mix of seasoned and panko bread crumbs

Sauce:

• 1 c yogurt (or sour cream)
• 2 tbs Dijon mustard
• 2 to 3 tsp wasabi paste
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• Freshly ground sea salt and pepper, to taste

What you do:

• Heat EVOO in sauté pan over med heat and add shallot, onion, celery and garlic.
• Cook until softened.
• In lg bowl combine mashed potatoes, shallot mixture, cheese and scallions.
• Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
• Using ice cream scoop, spoon potato mixture into smooth balls.
• Place flour in sm bowl.
• In another sm bowl add eggs and milk; whisk to mix well.
• In a third sm bowl add panko and breadcrumbs and mix.
• Roll croquette in flour, dip in egg and then roll in bread crumbs.
• Place on lined baking sheet and refrigerate for about 30 min.
• Heat oven to 425°.
• Bake for 20-25 min, until crispy and golden brown.
• Meanwhile, mix sauce ingredients in sm bowl.
• Serve croquettes drizzled with sauce.