Vacation cooking is one of my favorite things in the world, particularly on a girl trip. That’s what I’m enjoying right now and fortunately no one minds me planning the next meal before we finish the one we’re eating. If I were traveling with my guys we would have had spaghetti, pot roast and barbeque by now. Not that there’s anything wrong with those choices, but on this trip the menus are for the ladies. We’ve sampled roasted cauliflower, stuffed artichokes with lemon sauce, white peaches and crème anglaise, beets with a balsamic reduction, oh – and barbeque potato chips, because it is a vacation. But last night we decided to break out of our herbivore cycle with a yummy, marvelous, meaty dish.
In recent travels out west, my son convinced me to have lunch at his favorite Cuban bakery. The sandwiches made with homemade Cuban bread were all he had promised, the pastries were as delicious as they were pretty, but I lost my heart to these marvelous little fried potato croquettes stuffed with a spicy meat filling. My son and I have already experimented with the recipe and I knew that was what I wanted to cook for my friends. I have to confess that it’s handy to have a house full of sous chefs willing to tackle any assignment because it was fun to recreate this dish for with friends who like to cook. When I make these potato croquettes again – and I definitely will – I’ll make them ahead of time and just leave the croquettes in the fridge until it’s time for frying. ‘Do ahead dishes’ are always convenient for entertaining since you have time to clean up your kitchen, clean up yourself, and then pretend like cooking is really practically effortless for you. This recipe is perfect for that; it’s basically 4 steps:
Boil some potatoes and mash them up with a little salt and milk.
Cook ground beef or turkey with onions, peppers, garlic and herbs. You can play with the ingredients to create exactly what you want.
Stuff the meat in the potatoes and roll them in flour and bread crumbs which I promise is not hard.
At this point put the croquettes in the fridge and walk away until you’re ready for the 4th step – fry those puppies!
We all agreed that the combination of crispy coating, creamy potatoes and spicy meat was just heavenly and just like those famous potato chips – no one could eat just one. Try this recipe – it’s not just for vacation!
Stuffed Potato Croquettes (or in Spanish Papas Rellenas)
Ingredients
2 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
¼ c milk
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup flour
1 cup Panko or dry bread crumbs
1 tsp olive oil
½ lb ground sirloin
½ onion, finely diced
1 bell pepper (any color or a combo), finely diced
2 cloves garlic, finely diced
½ tsp each: paprika, cumin, oregano, salt, and pepper
½ lime, juiced
1 tsp Worcestershire
Canola oil for frying
Directions
Boil potatoes until tender when pierced with a fork.
Drain, mash with milk and salt. Set aside to cool.
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.
Brown the sirloin, breaking it up as it cooks.
Add diced vegetables and continue to cook until softened.
Add seasoning and cook for 5 more minutes. Remove from heat and cool.
Scoop out about a golf ball size of potato mixture and form into a ball.
Make an indention in the potato mixture and stuff with ground meat mixture.
Repeat the process using remaining potato and meat mixture. (I made 13)
Put flour and bread crumbs on 2 plates.
Beat eggs together in a shallow bowl.
Dip potato balls in egg mixture, flour, egg mixture again, and then bread crumbs to coat thoroughly.
Place on a tray covered with waxed paper.
Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to five hours.
Heat canola oil in a fryer, a deep pot, or Dutch oven to 350 degrees.
Fry croquettes, 3 or 4 at a time until golden brown and crispy about 3 to 5 minutes.
Place cooked croquettes in a 200 degree oven while the remaining croquettes are frying.
Serve, enjoy and accept all compliments!
