Smashed Purple Potato Crab Croquettes with Choron Sauce

Smashed Purple Potato Crab Croquettes
1/2 lb. purple/all blue potatoes - cooked and riced
1 1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cups cream
1 Tbs butter
2 Tbs olive oil
2 Tbs garlic puree
1/4 cup chopped red peppers
1/4 cup chopped yellow peppers
1/4 cup fresh chopped green onion
1 lb canned crab meat (about 2 cans)
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
2 tsp Lawry's seasoning salt
2 Tbs mustard
2 Tbs lemon juice
For breading:
bread crumbs
(I used Panko extra crispy)
flour
more Lawry's seasoning salt
egg - whisked

Mix all croquette ingredients together. In 3 small bowls prepare breading. One with the egg, one with the bread crumbs, one with the flour and Lawry's combined.
Take 1 Tbs sized balls of croquette mixture. Gently form a ball and roll the ball first in the flour/seasoning mix, then the egg and then the bread crumbs.
Place ball on a well grease baking sheet. Gently press ball down to form a 1/2 inch thick disc.
Continue with the rest of the croquette mixture.
Bake croquettes at 450F degrees for 10 mins or until browned.
Serve with Charon sauce - recipe below.

Charon Sauce

First step:

1 cup chopped, seeded,peeled tomatoes (I used 1/2 a can)

3 Tbs dried tarragon

2 Tbs. minced shallots or onion

1/3 cup vinegar

2 cups wine

2 Tbs parsley

Second step:

4 egg yolks

(I used the whites to dip the croquettes in)

2 tsp. lemon juice

1 Tbs water

1 Tbs mustard

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

2 sticks butter, melted and warm

Combine all the first step ingredients and simmer over med-high heat for 20 mins. Remove from heat and strain liquid. Discard tomato/onion/tarragon/ect and return strained liquid to the stove.

Continue cooking over med-high heat until mixture is reduced.

This is going to take a while.

Reduce liquid to a thick dark syrup - 3-4 Tbs.

Remove from heat and continue with second step.

Second step: Making Hollindaise Sauce. Reserve butter, but combine all other ingredients in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Whisk continuously until mixture is thick and pale yellow.

Remove from heat and continue whisking vigorously. Add butter in 4 batches. Continue to whisk. Add tomato mixture and continue whisking until combined.

Place sauce over a pot of warm water, off of the heat, and cover to keep warm. Stir occasionally until needed.

This is me. Waiting and waiting for the tomato mixture to reduce.

Anything Pie and Roasty Toasty Potatoes

Anything Pie

You should make this pie when:

You want to impress

Uninvited guests

Mother-in-law

You just got home from work

The cupboards are bare.

~

You can put whatever you want/have on hand into this pie.

But this is what I did...

I started with the same sauce that I used for the Salmon en croute

~

Some cream cheese, spinach, dried onions, dill, salt and pepper and a little cream.

Blended up.

I used the Secret Family Recipe for the crust.

1 cup flour

1/2 cup butter

1/4 cup filled with 1 egg and a little white wine

See Here again for more info.

Rolled out the dough.

It will make a top and bottom crust.

Roll it out really thin.

I used a greased round cake pan as my pie pan.

Leftover Roasty Toasty potatoes and 1 cup of frozen veggies.

Roasty Toasty potatoes are a double leftover.

I started with leftover baked potatoes - sliced them up and soaked them in 1 cup of fig infused vinegar.

Pre-heated the oven to 400 F.

After 15 mins I tossed the potatoes with savory, thyme, oregano, salt and pepper and a little olive oil.

Baked for 20 mins.

Added spinach sauce.

Covered with top crust and washed with egg wash.

Baked at 350 F for 20 mins.

Just until the crust was brown.

Daring Baker's November Challenge - Cannoli

The November 2009 Daring Bakers Challenge was chosen and hosted by Lisa Michele of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives. She chose the Italian Pastry, Cannolo (Cannoli is plural)........

Ta da!

Ok, I'm a few (24) hours late posting this challenge, but it really wasn't my fault!

It was the sun's fault.

Yes, the sun. If you have ever been to the north in the Fall/Winter you may have noticed a lack of something. Sun. Yes people, we invented SAD. The sun went on vacation to Florida for a week and then another week and...yeah, you get the idea.

I refused to do the challenge until I had natural light to photograph my cannoli! It was a great excuse!

Yesterday the sun came out.

Entonces - aqui estan!

If you want the recipe, please go to Lisa Michele's site.

We start with a dough.

An amazing dough!

It went together like a dream and felt like a Granny's bingo wings.

Of course, if your Granny makes cannoli she probably doesn't have bingo wings, 'cause cannoil take some WWF upper body strength.

Good.

Work up an appetite for those cannoli.

P.S. I used a nice riesling wine in this.

Rolling the dough out.
Use those muscles!
I tried to use a pasta maker loaned to me by my parents.
Stupid machine ate half my dough before I gave up using it.
I found taking a small piece and rolling it out super, super thin and then wrapping the piece around the cannolo form worked the best.



My cannoli forms.
Long story.
My part of the country is better known for leftsa, than for cannoli, so it was impossible to find cannoli forms.
Except.....my Mom went to the local hardware store and found these lengths of pipe for me!
Yay! Copper!
Very heavy.
Are real cannoli forms heavy?




Rolling dough around form.




Dough ready for frying.



Dough fresh from the fryer.

Cannoli with ricotta/lemon filling and cinnamon Red Hot pear sauce.

I canned the pear sauce* myself.

Fancy tea party, anyone?

My entry for the Royal Foodie Joust.

Cannoli with ginger/fennel/cinnamon pear sauce.



So, what did I think of this challenge?

It was a good one.

It expanded my cooking horizons.

I tried cannoli in a Little Italy bakery 2 years ago, but I wasn't too impressed.

Homemade cannoli are much better.

And my pear sauce is awesome. ;)

*Red Hot Pear Sauce

Remember 3 months ago when I asked you all what I should do with a ton of pears?

And you suggested pear sauce?

Ta da!

3 months later.... Recipe here

I decided to try out a savory cannoli idea. I used a slice of locally made smoked cheddar, pickled herring and a dollop of my own pear chutney. It was good.