Tuna-Cheese Potato Croquettes

My first attempt to do this recipe was way back College of year 2002 when we joined our school’s Trade fair. We were instructed by our Management professor to think of things or food to sell on the said trade fair and our group come up with the idea of selling street food. During the trade fair, Potato Croquettes was one of our best seller and professors keep on asking for the recipe. Since then, I always include this recipe whenever there is an occasion or just for a simple snack time since it is easy to cook and a best finger food. 

Potato Croquettes are mashed potato formed into balls, rolled into bread crumbs then deep fried. It is best mixed with tuna, ham or cheese and partnered with aioli sauce or just plain ketchup-mayo. It is a really good side dish, snack and appetizer that you will surely enjoy. 


Here’s how to make tasty Tuna-Cheese Potato Croquettes.


Ingredients


6 pcs           Medium-sized potatoes
1 can           Tuna in oil or brine (drained)
1 teaspoon    Salt
½ teaspoon Ground Pepper
¼ cup Diced Cheese (depending on the number of croquettes)
1 pc            raw egg beaten
½ cup all purpose flour
1 cup          bread crumbs
1 tablespoon garlic crushed
1 tablespoon onion 

Peeled potatoes

Ingredients

Diced cheese for filling

For the dipping aioli sauce


½ cup Mayonnaise
2 tablespoon Ketchup
1 clove Crushed garlic


Procedure


1. Peel the potatoes and cut in half. Boil in water until tender and mash in a large bowl.
2. Sauté the canned tuna with garlic and onion.

 Sautéing the tuna with garlic & onion

3. Put in cooked tuna in the bowl of mashed potatoes and season it with salt and pepper. You may want to add more salt and pepper it all depends on your taste. Mix thoroughly. 

Mixing up the tuna and mashed potato

4. Prepare the breading mixture of Flour, egg and breadcrumbs in 3 separate plates.

Breading ingredients Flour-Egg-Bread Crumbs

5. Scoop a mixture of mashed potatoes, put in the cheese in the middle just like a filling and form it into balls.
6. Roll each ball into flour, dip in the beaten egg then roll it over breadcrumbs. 

Rolled tuna-cheese potato croquettes in bread crumbs

7. Heat cooking oil in the pan. It’s either you pan fry or deep fry the croquettes but much better and cook evenly when deep fried.
8. Fry in medium heat until it turns golden brown.
9. Damp it into paper towel to absorb excess oil.
10. Serve it with your favorite condiment. Either a simple mayo-ketchup mixture or an aioli sauce.
11. Share and enjoy!

 Mayo-Ketchup Aioli Sauce

Magdagdag ng caption

Sweetest Recipe of good memories

Since it is Mother’s day, I want to pay tribute to my loving Mom by posting about her cooking and her signature dish. I still remember those days that my mother always cooked something for merienda (snack) mostly Bicol’s finest like Laing, biko (Sweetened sticky rice), nilagang kamoteng kahoy na may niyog (Boiled cassava with grated coconut), and sinaing na malagkit, (Cooked sticky rice). One recipe that I always go back is her Ginataang bilu-bilo, and every time she hands me a bowl I always set aside the kamote (sweet potato) and cassava because I find it bland and so hard to eat. Now that I’m a grown up and started to have passion in cooking, I created my own version of this Ginataan recipe with ingredients that I love without leftover, lol.  And this I want to share with you. Here’s my own version of my Mom’s recipe.




Glutinous rice balls in coconut milk with coconut strips. 
(Ginataang bilu-bilo with buko)

Ingredients:


8 to 12 pieces Saging Saba or “plantains” (sliced into small pieces)
1 cup Sago small (tapioca pearl)
¼ cup Shredded Langka (Jackfruit)
¼ kilo Giniling na bigas (glutinous rice formed into small balls)
¾ cup Shredded Coconut meat (1 whole coconut)
2 ½ cup Coconut milk
1 cup brown sugar (depends on your preferred sweetness)
2 cups water (depends on the consistency you want)

Procedure:


1. Put coconut milk on a pot, bring to a boil then simmer.
2. Add 2 cups of water and 1 cup of sugar then stir.
3. Put the sliced plantains, stir  then let it simmer for 2 minutes
4. Add on the glutinous rice balls then simmer for about 7 minutes.
5. Put in the jackfruit and coconut meat and cook it for 2 minutes.
6. Turn off heat then put in the tapioca pearl. 
7. Transfer it to a serving plate then serve it hot or cold.
8. Enjoy!

Through cooking, I can recall over and over the sweetest recipe of good memories my mother and I shared in the four corners of our home. Food that my mother used to cook are the sweetest memories of my childhood. My Nanay’s absence is not reason at all to forget all the lesson and insight she imparts to us because beautiful memories always remain.  I love you Nanay, you are simply the best! Happy Mother’s day and we love you a bunch! Happy Mother's day to all wonderful Moms in the world! 

Exploding like Dynamite: Chili Cheese Sticks

As we all know cheese sticks are our favorite snack both kids and kids at heart. Cheese sticks are elongated cheese wrapped in lumpia wrapper and deep fried. Mostly, it is served as an appetizer to restaurants matched with mayo-ketchup or mustard. Last week I discovered this kind of cheese stick but with a twist, on a cable channel’s cooking show, introducing Chili Cheese Sticks. Cheese sticks wrapped in Green Finger Chilies then wrapped in Lumpia wrapper & deep fried. It looks so yummy and zesty so I decided to create some with my own aioli-ketchup sauce. So here’s how:

Ingredients:

7 pcs.                                   Green Finger Chili

1 pc.                                    Beaten Egg

1 cup                                    bread crumbs or flour seasoned with salt &  

                                            pepper

7 pcs.                                   Lumpia wrapper

1 & ½ (sulit pack)                  block cheddar cheese

1/8 cup                                water for sealing

1 cup                                    Oil for deep frying or pan frying

Aioli sauce:

3 spoonful                            mayonnaise

1 spoonful                            ketchup

1 clove                                 garlic slice into bits

Procedure:

1.       Wash the Finger Chillies.

2.       Using a rubber or plastic hand gloves (to avoid the heat of chilies on your skin), slice the chili vertically from top to the tip, leaving enough space from the head. Then another slice horizontally at the top but not in full cut, enough space to remove the seeds. 

 

3.       Scrape the seeds. If you want milder chilies, remove the vein that line inside the flesh. 

4.       Stuffed the chilies with cheese. 

5.       Dip the stuffed chilies on beaten egg  (I used flat bowl so I can coat the chilies evenly)

6.       Lay flat the stuffed chili on Lumpia wrapper folding one end then roll it over keeping the head on one end. Seal the wide end with small amount of water.

7.       Dip again the wrap in the beaten egg and coat evenly.

8.       Dip the wrap on seasoned bread crumbs.

9.       Heat the oil for frying. You can choose if you want it pan fried or deep fried

10.   Fry the wrap until golden brown.

11.   Set aside and dab it to tissue paper to absorb excess oil.

12.   For the Aioli sauce. Mixed in a bowl, mayonnaise, ketchup and bits of garlic. Season it with salt & pepper.

13.   Serve and enjoy. Happy eating!

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