New recipe to prepare croquettes

Some time ago I posted here a recipe to prepare croquettes, but I got a much better one from another portuguese friend and excellent cook. First experience didn´t go that well only because I couldn´t shape the croquettes properly. Now I know that the trick is in using more flour and in letting the meat set for at least 24h in the fridge.

I didn´t count them, but with 1 kg of meat I would say I got at least 80 croquettes. These were served at Lucas´ baby shower and were a success.

Ingredients:

I used the thermomix to prepare the croquettes, so everything is in grams.

1 kg of minced beef

chouriço (just enough to add some flavour)

1 onion

2 cloves of garlic

2 carrots

150gr of tomato (you can use canned tomato)

Olive oil

For the bechamel sauce:

350 gr of water (use the water from the meat)

250 gr of milk

200 gr of flour

50 gr of butter

salt, black pepper & nutmeg

Preparation

1 - In a blender, chop the onion, garlic, tomato and carrots and pour it into a pan with the olive oil. Let it cook for a few minutes.

2 - Add the minced meat and the chouriço and cook everything for about 15 minutes.

3 - Drain the water from the meat and mince it for a few seconds in the blender. Put it aside and keep the water.

4 - Start preparing the bechamel by mixing 350gr of the water (I had to add extra normal water to get the 350gr) with 250 gr of milk. Add the flour, butter and seasoning and cook everything until you get a tick cream.

5 - Then mix the bechamel sauce with the meat until you get an homogeneous paste and let it stay in the fridge for about 24h, can be more. 

6 - After the long wait it´s time to shape the croquettes, dip them into a beaten egg and roll them on  breadcrumbs. Keep the croquettes in the freezer and whenever you want just take them out and deep fry them. Better not fry them right away.

Enjoy!

OH Boy!

Yesterday it was my little pumpkin´s Baby Shower and a perfect excuse to gather the ladies before his arrival, due in 6 weeks. It was the very first baby shower I´ve organized or have ever been too, so I was bit clueless on what to do. But with the help of great friends and amazing tips from Pinterest, the special occasion turned out to be perfect! The idea was not to have tons of food but to create a beautiful, sweet and bluish table to celebrate Lucas arrival.

The stars of this literally sweet occasion were the delicious cupcakes and cookies prepared by a good friend. So beautiful to the eyes and so delicious in the mouth... I wish I could have tried them, but due the gestational diabetes I haven´t :( Better safe than sorry.

Not edible but a "must have" at a baby shower - the diapers cake. It was a present from another good friend that I´ll put to a good use as soon as Lucas is here.

Me myself have prepared some of the usual and delicious dishes that an event organized by this Portuguese here can´t go without, such as "croquetes" (I followed a new recipe that will have to share!), meat bread or rice pudding. Also tried to make a new chocolate dessert (that actually started out to be something else that didn´t work out) and marshmallows dipped in chocolate sauce. Other friends were kind enough to bring over chocolate brownies and more savoury treats - I´m afraid I didn´t take pictures of those!

It was a very special gathering and I was so happy to have so many friends over. Thank you all for the help, pampering and nice conversation!