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Chicken Croquettes

A fried chicken patty coated in breadcrumbs, made with a creamy chicken mixture.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 14 ingredients
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Why it works: Lemon and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,037 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Chicken Croquettes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the filling

  1. In a bowl, combine the chicken, lemon juice, parsley, salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper.

  2. In a saucepan, scald the cream and melt the butter over medium heat until bubbling.

  3. Add the flour to the butter and stir until well mixed.

  4. Gradually add the hot cream, stirring until the mixture is smooth and resembles a drop batter.

  5. Add the seasoning and mix with the chicken while hot.

  6. If desired, stir in the beaten eggs just before removing from heat.

  7. Spread the mixture on a shallow platter and let it cool completely.

Shape and fry

  1. Once cool, shape the mixture into croquettes, rolling them in fine bread crumbs.

  2. Dip the croquettes in beaten eggs, then roll them in crumbs again.

  3. Fry the croquettes until golden brown and serve.

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.

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. Lemon + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,037 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  2. Parsley + celerytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,810 recipes

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

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

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

  4. Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together27,047 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  5. Lemon + celerytop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,467 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

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

What each ingredient does

Chicken
Forms the bulk of the croquette, giving it substance and savory flavor.
Flour
Thickens the butter and cream into a paste that holds the chicken together when cooled.
Butter
Adds richness and fat, helping the flour mixture stay tender and flavorful.
Cream
Adds moisture and richness, producing a smooth binding base for the chicken.
Eggs
Bind the coating and help bread crumbs adhere for an even golden crust.

The step that matters

Let the mixture cool completely before shaping. A warm, soft mixture cannot hold its shape and may split or fall apart in the frying oil. Cooling firms the starch-thickened binder so the croquettes keep their form.

Swap the celery

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, lemon, parsley, pepper, cream, butter, flour):

  1. Thymefits better
  2. Tarragonfits better
  3. Marjoramfits about as well
  4. Celerythe original

Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, lemon, parsley, pepper, cream, butter, flour. 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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