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Beef Croquettes

Beef croquettes are small, breaded rolls of roast beef and oysters fried until golden.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Beef Croquettes

Why it works: Bread and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Beef Croquettes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. In a bowl, combine the chopped beef, chopped oysters, soaked bread crumbs, mustard, pepper, salt, gravy, melted butter, and beaten egg.

  2. Mix well and shape the mixture into rolls.

Coat and fry

  1. Dip each roll in the beaten egg, then coat with cracker crumbs.

  2. Fry the croquettes in hot oil until golden brown.

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. Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  2. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Mustard + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,430 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,971 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Bread + milktop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,466 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Chopped cold roast beef
Forms the bulk of the croquette and gives it its meaty flavor and body.
Bread crumbs
Soaked in milk, they absorb moisture and help bind the mixture so it holds its shape.
Beaten egg
Binds the mixture together and, as a coating, helps the crumbs adhere.
Gravy
Adds moisture and savory flavor to the mixture.
Butter
Adds fat, contributing richness and softness to the interior.

The step that matters

Fry the croquettes in hot oil until golden brown. The oil must be hot enough to brown the crumb coating quickly. If it is too cool, the croquettes absorb oil and turn greasy before the crust sets, and the interior can stay soft and fall apart.

Swap the mustard

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, oyster, bread, milk, pepper, butter, egg):

  1. Potatofits better
  2. Asparagusfits better
  3. Capsicumfits better
  4. Mustardthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, oyster, bread, milk, pepper, butter, 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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