Cheese & Mushroom Croquettes

 Tasty little spanish-style croquettes filled with a mouth-watering soft cheese sauce

Ingredients:

• 800ml milk
• ½ onion (not chopped)
• 5 cloves
• ½ tsp black peppercorns
• 2 bay leaves
• 50g mushrooms, finely chopped
• 150g cheese (gruyere or something similar)
• 100g butter
• 150g plain flour
• 3 eggs
• 250g fine breadcrumbs (blend breadsticks if you cannot find this)
• olive oil for shallow frying

Instructions:
1.  Boil the milk, onion, cloves, peppercorns and bay leaves in a saucepan for 15 minutes.
2. Strain to remove all bits (onion, cloves etc.) and return only liquid to pan. Add mushrooms and boil for further 5 minutes.
3. In a separate saucepan melt the butter over a low heat. Stir in the flour and cook briefly for 30 seconds.
4. Remove the pan from the heat and add the milk and mushrooms bit by bit, stirring continuously to avoid clumping.
5. Add the cheese and return to the heat until the sauce thickens (if it hasn’t already) and boils. Taste and season with salt as desired (usually around ½ tsp).
6. Turn off heat, and pour or scoop onto a baking tray/dish to cool completely.
7. To make the croquettes, shape 1 teaspoon of cold mix into an oval, scooping from one to another until well-shaped. Then gently dip into the egg and then the breadcrumbs. (You can keep half the mixture in fridge till the next day if you run out of time!). Refrigerate for 1 hour.
8. Heat about 1cm of oil in a frying pan and fry croquettes in batches of 5/6. Keep rolling over until golden brown on all sides and take out onto a plate with kitchen towel, keeping warm in a low oven if necessary.
9. Serve cold or warm as a main meal (serves 4) or tapas dish.

TIP: They are also tasty when mushrooms are replaced with ham.