{"id":7599,"date":"2006-01-09T19:14:42","date_gmt":"2006-01-09T18:14:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/coquinaria.nl\/?p=7599"},"modified":"2019-12-22T09:57:34","modified_gmt":"2019-12-22T08:57:34","slug":"dutch-kroket","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coquinaria.nl\/en\/dutch-kroket\/","title":{"rendered":"Real Dutch kroket and bitterbal"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\"MyThe picture shows my daughter and some of her friends at her birthday party many years ago (in 2002). As part of the festivities they were preparing their own meal, the standard birthday fare for a lot of Dutch children in the past: kroketten<\/em>, French fries and apple sauce, but everything made from scratch. They loved making the\u00a0kroketten<\/em>, especially breading them. They were literally ‘playing with their food’.<\/p>\n

They did not realize that they were making something special. However much we Dutch love the\u00a0kroket<\/em>, it is now fast becoming an endangered foodstuff. A\u00a0kroket<\/em>\u00a0may be served hot, but it isn’t hot anymore to prepare one in one’s own kitchen. And even its status as junk food is now threatened: other foodstuff as shoarma<\/em> and pizza<\/em> are taking its place.<\/p>\n

Maybe this recipe gives the\u00a0kroket<\/em>\u00a0a chance to return to the dinner table in all its original glory.<\/p>\n

Before the Second World War it was fashionable to serve kroketten, or\u00a0\"Krokettencroquettes<\/em>\u00a0as the French say, during dinner as a first course. It was also a useful recipe because leftover meat or fish could be used as stuffing. The picture shows how kroketten were served in 1936: on a plate, in a napkin, garnished with parsley.<\/p>\n

\"AnThe Bitterbal<\/em>, a small Kroket<\/em><\/h3>\n

The name\u00a0bitterbal<\/em>, literally ‘bitter ball’, does not indicate that it tastes bitter, but that they were originally meant to be served with a\u00a0bittertje<\/em>\u00a0(a small glass of Dutch\u00a0jenever<\/a><\/em>, not quite the same as gin).
\nBitterballen<\/em>\u00a0are still served in bars to accompany alcoholic beverages (like Spanish tapa), or served as finger food at stand-up receptions. To me, the sight of a formally dressed person trying to eat elegantly a still too hot\u00a0bitterbal<\/em>\u00a0whilst holding a glass of champagne is as Dutch as someone letting a herring slide down his or her throat at a fish stall at the market. On this page<\/a> is a recipe for a rich bitterbal from leftover oxtail meat and mushrooms.<\/p>\n

Kroketten – How to make them<\/h2>\n

First you prepare a ragout<\/em>. This ragout can be varied upon in many ways. Not only can the main ingredient be different (meat, fish, shrimp, vegetables), but of course the herbs and spices, the used liquid (stock, wine, milk, even plain water), and added ingredients (fried onions, bacon or mushrooms) can be changed too. Then the\u00a0kroket<\/em>\u00a0is breaded and deepfried.
\nBecause I use meat that was used in making stock, here is a link to the page with\u00a0the basics on stock-making<\/a>.
\nFor 15 to 20 kroketten<\/em> or 30 to 50 bitterballen<\/em><\/span>; preparation in advance<\/em>\u00a030 minutes + refrigerating<\/span><\/span>; preparation<\/em>\u00a015 minutes<\/span><\/span>.<\/p>\n

\"The600 gr (1\u00bc pound) cooked meat from making stock\u00a0(chicken, beef)
\nTo make the roux<\/em>
\n1 onion, chopped
\n60 gr (4 Tbsp)\u00a0butter<\/span>
\n60 gr (\u00bd cup)\u00a0flour<\/span>
\n5 dl (2 cups)\u00a0stock<\/span>
\npepper, salt, mace, nutmeg, thyme to taste
\nFor the breading<\/em>
\nflour<\/span>
\neggs or egg whites, stirred
\npaneermeel<\/span> of fijn verkruimelde beschuit<\/p>\n

Preparation in advance<\/h3>\n

Chop the meat very finely.
\nMake a roux<\/a>\u00a0with butter, flour and stock, but start with sauteing the onion. When the sauce is ready, add meat and spices. Let the ragout cool completely. Keep the ragout refrigerated until use, or freeze it.<\/p>\n

\"ThreeKeep the ragout in the refrigerator until just before making the\u00a0kroketten<\/em>. Use your hands to form either sticks (about 10 by 3 cm\/4 by 1\u00bc inches) or balls (diametre 4 cm\/1\u00bd inches). Don’t make them too large, or they’ll have to be deep-fried too long. If necessary, return the formed\u00a0kroketten<\/em>\u00a0to the refrigerator.It is easier to bread them when they are cold.<\/p>\n

For the breading, take three soup plates, put flour in one, stirred eggs or egg whites in the the second, and bread crumbs in the third plate. One by one, cover the\u00a0kroketten<\/em>\u00a0with flour, then eggs, then bread crumbs. Mind that the\u00a0kroketten<\/em>\u00a0are covered all over, otherwise the ragout may leek out when you deep fry them. Return the\u00a0kroketten<\/em>\u00a0tio the refrigerator for thirty minutes.<\/p>\n

Preparation<\/h3>\n

Heat oil or whatever you use for deepfrying to 180 \u00b0C\/355 \u00b0F. Fry the\u00a0kroketten<\/em>\u00a0to a golden brown, about four minutes. Drain on paper towels.<\/p>\n

To serve<\/h3>\n

Serve them really hot. In the Netherlands they are eaten as snack or appetizer, or as the main course with french fries and apple sauce. Or serve them the old-fashioned way, as a first course.
\nThe classic accompaniment to\u00a0bitterballen<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0kroketten<\/em>\u00a0is mustard.\u00a0Recipe for medieval mustard<\/a><\/p>\n

Kroket – Variations<\/h2>\n

<\/a>There are countless possibilities. Just remember one thing:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Sauce + stuffing = ragout<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Ragout + breading = kroket<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    With this in mind you can make\u00a0kroketten<\/em>\u00a0of almost anything. But the ragout must be richly stuffed (for one decilitre of liquid use 110 gram stuffing), and thickened more then you would when making an ordinary ragout.<\/p>\n

    Meat\u00a0kroketten<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0– Use any soup meat (beef, chicken), but also veal or lamb, and lovely croquettes are made with sweetbread.<\/p>\n

    Cheese\u00a0kroketten<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0– Use milk in making the roux, cheese instead of meat, bring to taste with white pepper, nutmeg, parsley.<\/p>\n

    Fish\u00a0kroketten<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0– Use fish fumet, and herbs like dill or chives.<\/p>\n

    Game\u00a0kroketten<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0– For these you use a brown roux: Let the butter colour slightly before adding fl;our, keep the fire higher than when making a blond roux, saut\u00e9 the butter\/flour paste a little longer. Use more butter\/flour than for a blond roux, 70 gram each for a half litre. Use good (game) stock for the sauce. Additions you can come up with yourself.<\/p>\n

    Vegetable\u00a0kroketten<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0– Make a blond roux with milk or vegetable stock, add blanched vegetables like asparagus, broccoli, peas). You can add some cheese, herbs, parsley. Mushroom\u00a0kroketten<\/em>\u00a0are better with a ragout made with meat stock (or the liquid dried mushrooms have been steeped in).<\/p>\n

    Potato kroketten<\/em><\/strong> – These are also served in French cuisine. First the potatoes are boiled and mashed (use for every 100 gram potatoes 1 Tbsp butter and 1 egg yolk, with pepper, salt and nutmeg, and one beaten egg white for all the puree). The potato-stuffing can be varied by adding cheese, herbsd, garlic, onion or whatever is desired. Make small croquettes, bread them and deep-fry them.<\/p>\n

    The recipe to make Dutch kroketten<\/em><\/span>
    \n\u00a9 Author Christianne Muusers<\/span><\/small><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The picture shows my daughter and some of her friends at her birthday party many years ago (in 2002). As part of the festivities they were preparing their own meal, the standard birthday fare for a lot of Dutch children in the past: kroketten, French fries and apple sauce, but everything made from scratch. They…<\/p>\n

    Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7583,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[197,96,107,263,168,170,88],"tags":[364],"acf":[],"modified_by":"Christianne","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/coquinaria.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/kroketten2002kl.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coquinaria.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7599"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coquinaria.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coquinaria.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coquinaria.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coquinaria.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7599"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/coquinaria.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7599\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16767,"href":"https:\/\/coquinaria.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7599\/revisions\/16767"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coquinaria.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coquinaria.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coquinaria.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coquinaria.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}