Based on a concept from a good friend and gourmet in Spain, this is a little development using my favourite Spanish morcilla, morcilla de Burgos. Croquetas [Croquettes] feature strongly on Spanish tapas menus so, if I can get over fretting about deep frying [what on earth does one do with the old oil?] I’ll give this a go.
I do love the Spanish morcilla; morcilla de Burgos in particular is noticeably less stodgy than any English equivalent, largely because it contains rice. The Scots, however, have a much finer offering in Stornoway Black Pudding, which seems moister, perhaps because it contains onion. In addition, Haggis contains pearl barley, not dissimilar to rice, which should lighten the whole affair.
So, here’s an idea: how about some Scottish Croquettes made by substituting the morcilla de Burgos for, say, a 50/50 mixture of Stornoway Black Pudding and Haggis? To keep the Saltire flying, you’d probably need to use a Scottish cheese such as Dunlop instead of Manchego, too.
Planning
| serves: | 4 |
| preparation time: | 30 mins |
| cooking time: | 30 mins |
Ingredients
- 400g cooked and cooled crushed potato
- 200g crumbled morcilla de Burgos
- 100g grated firm cheese (e.g. Manchego?)
- 80g plain flour
- 2 eggs
- 150g breadcrumbs
- Large pinch salt
- salt & pepper
- Vegetable oil for deep frying
Method
Place the potato, morcilla, cheese, half the flour (40g), one egg, salt and pepper into a large bowl. Combine the ingredients by hand until you have a firm mixture. Divide the mixture into 18-20 pieces and form into small rolls about 3ins/7cms long and 1in/2.5cms wide.
Take three bowls. Fill one with the remaining 40g of flour, a second with the remaining egg (lightly beaten), and the third with the breadcrumbs. Pass the croquettes through each of the coatings in turn, flour, egg, breadcrumbs coating thoroughly in each and then placing to one side for frying.
Heat the vegetable oil in a pan or deep fat fryer to 180°C. For preference, use a cooking thermometer, otherwise check the temperatire with a cube of bread, which should turn golden brown. Cook the croquetas in small batches, to avoid overcrowding the fryer and once they turn golden, remove from the oil and drain on kitchen paper.
When it’s cold, pour the used oil back into the bottle and then either reserve it for more deep frying or, depending what it’s been flavoured by, use it for general cooking.
If those don’t appeal, take it to the tip. They have a tank for used cooking oil (and a different one for engine oil 🙂 ).
I have stored it back in a bottle – I think I still have some fish oil from three years ago. The trouble is, I deep fry so infrequently.
Maybe I should check out the local tip again [so much easier to say than Household Waste Recycling Centre]. I don’t think I’ve seen a cooking oil point there, though. Spain had one. I’ve certainly seen one for engine oil, though.
I could start living on Chicken Kiev, I suppose. 😀
Just happened to read this and so thought of this comment.
Yin and yang: what’s the difference between a shallot and an onion? | Food | The Guardian – https://www.theguardian.com/food/2019/oct/20/yin-and-yang-whats-the-difference-between-a-shallot-and-an-onion
Towards the end of the article, she deep fries shallots, and says,
“Keep the oil separately in another jar and use it for salad dressings or as a finishing oil for absolutely anything and everything.”
Mind, she uses macadamia oil 🙂
I haven’t been to Rabans Lane for a while, but the oil tanks were over on the RH side as you drive in. Don’t know about College Road.
Thanks for that, Sreve.
For those that don’t know, Rabans Lane is where the Aylesbury Recycling Centre is located. I’ll take another look at my local equivalent.
Just FYI, I see that macadamia nut oil is a relatively whopping £16 for 16 fl. oz. That’s what I call luxury frying. 🙂
Update: I found some extra virgin macadamia nut oil at £6.50 for 250ml/8 fl.oz. Better! Maybe I should give it a try.