Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Potato Fillets
four potatoes making six croquettesIngredients
Directions
Make the potato fillet croquettes
Pare and slice the potatoes thin; cut them into small fillets about a quarter of an inch square, as long as the potato will admit.
Keep the fillets in cold water until needed.
Drop the fillets into boiling lard.
When nearly done, take them out with a skimmer and drain.
Boil the lard again, drop the potatoes back in, and fry until done; this operation causes the fillets to swell up and puff.
Make the mashed potato croquettes
Wash, peel, and put four large potatoes in cold water with a pinch of salt, and set them over a brisk fire.
When they are done, pour off all the water and mash them.
Take another saucepan, and put in it ten tablespoonfuls of milk and a lump of butter half the size of an egg; put it over a brisk fire.
As soon as the milk comes to a boil, pour the potatoes into it, and stir them very fast with a wooden spoon.
When thoroughly mixed, take them from the fire and put them on a dish.
Take a tablespoonful and roll it in a clean towel, making it oval in shape.
Dip it in a well-beaten egg, and then in bread crumbs, and drop it in hot drippings or lard.
Proceed in this manner until all the potato is used, four potatoes making six croquettes.
Fry them a light brown all over, turning them gently as may be necessary.
When they are done, lay them on brown paper or a hair sieve, to drain off all fat; then serve on a napkin.
Make the potato ball croquettes
Take two cups of cold mashed potatoes, season with a pinch of salt, pepper, and a tablespoonful of butter.
Beat up the whites of two eggs, and work all together thoroughly.
Make the mixture into small balls slightly flattened.
Dip them in the beaten yolks of the eggs, then roll either in flour or cracker crumbs.
Fry the same as fish-balls.
Cut the potatoes with a vegetable cutter into small balls about the size of a marble.
Put them into a stewpan with plenty of butter and a good sprinkling of salt.
Keep the saucepan covered, and shake occasionally until they are quite done, which will be in about an hour.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 6 of 7 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Potato | 1 medium (173g) baked | 161 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Water | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Milk + potatotop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,611 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
-
Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,456 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Potatoes
- Provide the starchy body of the croquettes, which holds their shape when mashed and fried.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and softness to the mashed potato, keeping the mixture smooth and pliable.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a softer, more tender interior texture.
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture and, as a beaten coating, help bread crumbs stick and brown during frying.
The step that matters
Stir the potatoes into the boiling milk quickly. Stirring briskly while the milk is boiling distributes the butter and liquid evenly through the starch before the mash cools. Slow mixing can leave lumps and uneven moisture, making the croquettes crumbly or wet.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, butter, egg, pepper):
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Potatothe original
- Asparagusfits about as well
- Chivefits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, butter, egg, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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