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Beef Croquettes

Beef croquettes are fried patties of minced beef mixed with mashed potato and herbs, coated in breadcrumbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Beef Croquettes

Why it works: Marjoram and thyme match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,225 recipes. Both carry terpineol, which smells pine, woody. The science ↓

Beef Croquettes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the mixture

  1. In a bowl, combine minced beef, mashed potato, marjoram, parsley, thyme, pepper, salt, and enough gravy to moisten.

  2. Mix in the beaten egg until well combined.

  3. Form the mixture into desired shapes.

Coat and fry

  1. Dip each croquette into beaten egg, then coat with breadcrumbs.

  2. Heat oil in a frying pan and fry the croquettes until golden brown.

  3. Serve hot.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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.

  1. Marjoram + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).

  2. Parsley + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  3. Marjoram + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,979 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  4. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  5. Marjoram + peppertop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,609 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Minced beef
Provides the main body and savoury flavour of the croquettes.
Potato
Adds moisture and softness, helping the mixture hold together while staying tender.
Egg
Binds the mixture so the croquettes hold their shape during frying.
Breadcrumbs
Form a crisp outer coating that browns when fried.

The step that matters

Frying the croquettes. The oil must be hot enough to brown the breadcrumb coating quickly. If the oil is too cool, the croquettes absorb excess fat and turn greasy, and the coating can fall off before it sets.

Swap the potato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, marjoram, parsley, thyme, pepper, egg):

  1. Carrotfits better
  2. Shallotfits better
  3. Leekfits about as well
  4. Potatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, marjoram, parsley, thyme, pepper, egg. 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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