Chicken Croquettes with Gravy

I grew up in the Northeast section of Philadelphia, home of The Dining Car, a landmark diner restaurant that was once featured on Guy Fieri's "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives." The Dining Car was the place to go after dance recitals, proms, for a late night bite, or for a fabulous Sunday breakfast. I was in Philadelphia last winter and we decided to stop in for breakfast - it was just as I had remembered, complete with the line out the door! This is one popular place.

One of their famous dishes is Chef Larry's Chicken Croquettes. I loved eating chicken croquettes as a kid, especially the chicken gravy, but hadn't had them in years. So last week I decided to use Chef Larry's recipe. The recipe below is the original, (a few changes noted in italics) however I halved everything and we still had about 12 nice-sized croquettes.

Croquette Ingredients

• 1 c milk (I only had skim milk so I used light cream)
• 1 c fresh chicken stock (I used canned)
• 1/4 tsp white pepper
• 2 tsp freshly chopped parsley leaves
• Salt
• 1/4 lb butter
• 1 stalk celery, minced
• Added: 1/2 onion, minced
• 1 c all purpose flour
• 1 1/4 lbs chicken meat, cooked and ground in a food processor (I used breast meat only)
• Salad oil or liquid shortening for frying (I used olive oil, about 1 inch deep in a pan)

Breading Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 2 c milk
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 3 c all purpose flour or cracker meal (I used flour)
• 3 c bread crumbs

Chicken Gravy Ingredients

• 3 tbsp butter
• 2 c chicken stock (I used canned broth)
• 3 tbsp all purpose flour
• 2 tsp chopped fresh parsley
• Pinch white pepper and salt

Directions

• Making the croquettes (refer to the croquetted ingredients): In a heavy pot, heat the milk and stock on the stove and add the white pepper, parsley, and salt. In a separate pot, melt the butter and add the celery and onions. Stir in the flour and cook for 3 minutes. Pour in the hot milk/stock mixture and stir until thickened and smooth. Fold in the chicken and allow to cool.
• Breading the croquettes (refer to the breading ingredients): Shape 3 oz portions of the croquette batter into the shape of a cone (I just did balls..cones were too hard!) and place on a tray lined with wax paper. Set out three bowls/breading dishes. In the first, make an egg wash with the egg, milk, and salt. The second bowl is flour, the third is breadcrumbs. Dip the croquettes into the egg wash, then flour, then egg wash again, then breadcrumbs.
• Cooking the croquettes: Fry the croquettes in oil heated to 350 degrees until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes. Since I used only 1 inch of oil, I fried them on one side at a time rather than deep frying them, so it was about 2 minutes per side. Drain well and blot on paper towels. Suggested serving: over mashed potatoes. I served them with egg noodles instead.
• Cooking the gravy (I started the gravy when the chicken mixture was cooling; refer to the gravy ingredients): Melt the butter in a 1 or 2 qt saucepan. Stir in the flour. Pour in the stock and whisk until smooth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and cook for 20 minutes, whisking occasionally. Add the parsley, white pepper, and salt to taste.

I loved everything about this meal - it was the ultimate old-fashioned home cooked meal. Chicken croquettes with gravy, egg noodles tossed with butter, and roasted cauliflower with garlic. The preparation was a bit time consuming, but once I had everything out and measured, it was easy to pull everything together. And yes, it was well worth the time and effort.