I really enjoy well made chicken croquettes. They are especially good with a warm/hot, seasoned sauce poured over them at serving time.
I have a related funny story to share. My wife Janet and I were sitting in a country style restaurant named Circle (as it was next to a traffic circle). I saw some people sitting part way across the room and one had a plate with two chicken croquettes. I hadn't eaten those in years, and I was hungry, so when the waitress took our order I put in a double order for me.
What a surprise I had when she served me eight chicken croquettes! It never occurred to me to ask her initially how many were provided in a single order, for I only saw two croquettes on the other diners plate, so I figured that was one order. My mistake! I chowed down and finished six of them, and they were delicious, but I had to take the remaining two home.
Think of chicken or turkey croquettes as comfort food, for they certainly qualify. They are simple to make and very tasty, and they can be served as a standalone light meal or snack due to the bread crumbs content, or they can be served with side dishes like French fries and steamed broccoli to make a full meal. Another nice consideration is that you know how much chicken you are getting when you make the croquettes, compared to what you might get in a restaurant.
Chicken croquettes are typically thought of as a tasty way to use leftover roast chicken. I believe the taste can be made so good that they deserve first place in the use of the raw chicken. In this instance I am referring to chicken thighs, not to a whole roast chicken. These chicken croquettes are excellent served with the warm/hot seasoned sauce. The taste and the texture are perfect.
Ingredients: (makes 12 croquettes/ 4 servings)
3 cups of finely chopped/diced, cooked chicken meat (from six roasted large chicken thighs)
2, 10.5 ounce cans of Campbell's® condensed cream of chicken soup, divided
1/2 cup of Italian-style dry bread crumbs (for inside the croquettes)
6 tablespoons of minced celery
4 tablespoons of minced onion
1 teaspoon of sea salt
1 teaspoon of Bells® poultry seasoning (for inside the croquettes)
1 extra large or jumbo egg (for making an egg wash for dipping before coating the croquettes with bread crumbs)
1 cup of Italian-style dry bread crumbs (for rolling/coating the croquettes)
1 cup of milk (for the seasoned sauce)
2 teaspoons of Bell's® poultry seasoning (for the seasoned sauce)
Directions:
Put six raw large chicken thighs on an aluminum foil covered baking sheet.
Bake the chicken thighs for 1 hour and 15 minutes in a 350 degrees F conventional oven, or, use 325 degrees F if you use a convection oven.
Remove the baking sheet from the oven and put the chicken thighs on a wood cutting board to cool for a few minutes.
Set aside 1/3 cup of rendered, liquid chicken fat from the baking sheet in a small bowl. Discard the rest of the liquid fat or use it some other way.
Process the chicken thighs ... peel off the crisp skins and save them for a later snack in a one quart Ziploc® freezer bag, then refrigerate them.
Cut the thigh meat for all six thighs away from the bone and from any other fat or gristle or veins or very dark meat, then cut it into 1/2" x 1/2" pieces and put them into a bowl. Discard the bones and other waste.
Measure out 3 (or a bit more) cups of the chicken pieces and put them into a two quart bowl. Use any remaining chicken pieces later for making foods like chicken salad. Put the extra chicken pieces into a one quart Ziploc® freezer bag, seal it and refrigerate them.
Combine the chopped chicken pieces with 2/3 of a can of the condensed cream of chicken soup, 1/3 cup of liquid chicken fat, 1/2 cup of Italian-style bread crumbs, the celery, onion, sea salt and 1 teaspoon of Bells® poultry seasoning in the two quart bowl and mix well.
Shape the mixture into 12 croquettes by hand and put them on a dinner plate, separated from each other. Each croquette will be roughly 1/3 cup in volume, so you might use a 1/3 cup measuring cup to fill and then dispense the mixture in making each croquette, which will make them nicely even in size. Chill the croquettes in the refrigerator for one to two hours. Chilling will make the croquettes more firm so they don't come apart later during egg wash dipping and coating with bread crumbs.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F with a rack/shelf in the middle. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and lightly spray it with Pam® (canola oil).
Make the egg wash by whisking the egg with 1 tablespoon of water in a small bowl. Put the one cup of Italian-style bread crumbs into a wide, shallow bowl or a pie plate.
Make an assembly line, left to right, starting with the plate of cold formed croquettes, the egg wash and then the bread crumbs, with the parchment paper covered baking sheet at the end.
Gently dip and roll each cold croquette in the egg wash, coating all surfaces, then put it into the bowl of bread crumbs and roll it around or temporarily cover it with bread crumbs, to coat it evenly.
Place the bread crumb coated croquette on the parchment paper covered baking sheet and repeat the egg wash dipping and crumb coating for the rest of the croquettes.
Generously spray (Pam®) on the croquettes. Do not soak them but you should be able to see the oil glisten on the surface of the bread crumbs.
Bake the croquettes for 15 to 20 minutes, until they are golden in color. Rotate the baking sheet 180 degrees after the first 10 minutes of baking.
Optional step: Set the oven to broil on high heat and broil the baked croquettes for 4 minutes if you want to make the surfaces nice and crunchy. I recommend doing this step for the texture results are very nice at eating time. Do be careful not to burn the tops of the croquettes, ergo keep an eye on them during broiling and if necessary stop the broiling (remove the baking sheet from the oven) before the tops turn dark in color.
Remove the croquettes from the oven and put them on a serving plate.
Use the 1 1/3 remaining cans of cream of chicken soup mixed/whisked in a one quart microwave safe bowl with one cup of milk and 2 teaspoons of Bells® poultry seasoning. Heat the sauce mixture in the microwave oven for three to four minutes, or until it is hot, then stir it well and serve it to your guests along with the croquettes, plus any other food items you have prepared, and a nice cold beverage like soda or iced tea.
Enjoy!