Baked Chicken Croquettes with Buttermilk White Sauce

To download a copy of the recipe for Baked Chicken Croquettes with Buttermilk White Sauce, click HERE.

A healthier version of a diner classic, this chicken croquette – a delicious blend of chicken, onion, celery, garlic and seasonings – is baked instead of fried, and crowned with an easy-to-make buttermilk sauce. (If you’ve never had a chicken croquette, think of a crab cake but made with chicken instead of crab, and you’ll have the basic idea.)

Chicken croquettes are meant to be simple to make. Although cooking the chicken is included in this recipe, if you have left-over chicken or even a store-bought rotisserie chicken, that can be used instead. Once you get the general method for making croquettes, there no reason even to limit yourself to chicken.

Some Cook’s Notes before we begin:

• Croquettes can be formed into many shapes: balls, elongated sausage-shape, even cones (formed by using a funnel as a mold). In this recipe I’ve made my croquettes into flat, thick ovals. There’s a reason for this. Growing up in the 60’s and 70’s, I ate many a dinner of the frozen chicken croquettes Weaver made at that time. Since those were made in a flat, thick oval shape, that’s how I’ve been conditioned to visualize a chicken croquette. By all means, make yours whatever shape pleases you.

• Although chicken croquettes are normally fried, the ones we’re making are “oven-fried,” or breaded and baked in a way that’s meant to remind the eater of fried. The breading mixture I like best for this uses crushed corn flakes for the breading. Panko works almost as well. I recommend avoiding regular bread crumbs, which are fine for normally breaded items but don’t give oven-fried food the texture you’re looking for.

• Many chicken croquette recipes call for putting the chicken through a food processor. I prefer the mouth-feel of biting into a piece of chicken, so in this recipe we'll cut it into small chunks.

• As part of the buttermilk white sauce, we’ll be making a roux. You might notice, however, that the 1-to-1 flour-to-fat ratio normally used for a roux is changed here to a ½ -to-1 ratio. This is because the buttermilk we’ll be using has its own thickness and texture to begin with, so we need to adjust the thickening properties of the roux we use.

A special note, too, about the number of servings we’ll be making. This recipe makes about 14 good-sized croquettes. How many portions is that? Let’s put it this way: when I served this at home, my wife’s portion was one croquette, and mine was two. With that in mind, you make the call for your family or guests. If it turns out 14 is too many, just reduce all the ingredients in proportion to each other. Note, however, that the cooked croquettes freeze very well, so making some extras may turn out to be a good idea after all.

Here’s what you’ll need:

For the chicken seasoning mix: 2 tsp dried parsley; 1 tsp dried oregano; 1 tsp dried tarragon; 1 tsp dried thyme; 1 tsp dried rosemary; 1 tsp celery salt; 1 tsp ground ginger; ¼  tsp white pepper; ½  tsp dried sage.

For the baked chicken: 6 Tbsp butter substitute; 2 lbs. boneless chicken breast (or two lbs. of pre-cooked chicken)

For the croquette mixture: 1-1/2 cups fat free, low sodium chicken broth; 1-1/2 cups skim milk; 8 Tbsp butter substitute, divided;  2 medium stalks of celery, fine diced; 1 medium onion, fine diced;  4 garlic cloves, minced; 1 cup AP flour; 1 egg substitute egg

For the breading station: 1-1/2 cups reduced-fat buttermilk; 3 cups crushed corn flakes; 1-1/2 Tbsp garlic powder; 1-1/2 teaspoon kosher salt; ½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper; 3/4 tsp paprika; cooking spray

For the buttermilk white sauce: 2-1/2 Tbsp butter substitute; 4-1/2 Tbsp all-purpose flour; 1-1/2 cup reduced-fat buttermilk; 1-1/2 tsp dried parsley; ½ tsp dried dill; ¾  tsp kosher salt; ¼ tsp garlic powder; ¼ tsp fresh ground black pepper

To make the seasoning you’ll use for the chicken and the croquette mixture:

Combine the Chicken Seasoning Mix ingredients and set aside till needed.

Next, prepare the chicken. (If you’re using left-overs or other pre-cooked chicken, you can skip this step.)

Begin preheating the oven to 350 degrees.

Put butter substitute in a baking dish and place it in the oven to melt while the oven is pre-heating.

After the butter substitute has melted, remove the baking dish from the oven and stir 1 Tbsp of the seasoning mix into the liquid.

Rinse the chicken breasts and dry with paper towels. Place the breasts in the baking dish, coating each side with some of the butter mixture.

Bake for 30 – 40 minutes, turning the chicken breasts over half-way.

When the chicken has finished baking, remove from the oven and let rest in the baking dish for about 10 minutes. After the chicken has rested, cut into small pieces and set aside till needed.

Prepare the croquette mixture as follows:

Combine the broth, milk and 1 Tbsp of the seasoning mix in a small saucepan over medium heat; turn off the heat when the mixture just begins to boil.

While the broth mixture is heating, melt 6 Tbsp of the butter substitute in a skillet. Add the celery and onions and cook over medium heat until just tender, then add the garlic and cook until the garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute.

Reduce the heat under the skillet to low. Gradually stir in the flour, mixing very well, and cook until a lightly browned roux forms (about three minutes). Add additional butter substitute (up to 2 Tbsp) if the mixture appears too dry.

Add the broth mixture and stir until thickened and smooth.

Taste to make sure the floury taste has been cooked out; if necessary, cook for another minute or two.

Transfer the mixture to a large bowl. Gently stir in the cooked chicken, and allow to cool fully. Once the mixture has cooled, stir in the egg substitute egg till combined. (Don’t try to short-cut letting the mixture cool; if it’s warm, it won’t hold its shape when you form the croquettes in the next step.)

To form and bread the croquettes:

Set up the breading station by setting the buttermilk in a bowl, and combining the crushed corn flakes, garlic powder, salt, pepper and paprika in a shallow dish. In the steps to follow, spoon out, shape, and bread one croquette at a time.

Spoon out enough of the croquette mixture to form a flat oval about 2-1/2” long x 2” wide x 1-1/4” thick. (Before forming the croquette, it’s helpful to compress it in your hands, similar to packing a snowball.)

Dip each croquette into the buttermilk, letting the excess drain, then into the breading mixture. Coat all sides. As each croquette is breaded, place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicon baking pad. Once all the croquettes are breaded, refrigerate for 1 – 2 hours.

When you're ready to bake the croquettes:

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Apply cooking spray to the top and sides of each croquette. After baking for ten minutes, turn each croquette over, spray the other side, and bake until golden (about another 8 – 10 minutes).

While the croquettes are baking, make the buttermilk white sauce as follows:

In a pan, melt the butter substitute.

Add the flour and stir to combine. Cook over a low heat for about 1 minute till a slightly browned roux forms.

Gradually add the buttermilk, stirring constantly, until a thickened sauce forms.

Add the dried parsley, dill, salt, garlic powder and black pepper, and stir till combined. Remove from the heat.

To serve:

Put one or two croquettes on each plate and top with some of the sauce, being careful not to over-sauce the croquettes. Serve with preferred side dishes.

To download a copy of the recipe for Baked Chicken Croquettes with Buttermilk White Sauce, click HERE.

And there you have it: classic diner food in the comfort of your own home.

Please come back next week for another great-tasting recipe! Till then, stay well, keep it about the food, and always remember to kiss the cook. ;-)

Sausage and Pepper Sauce with Breaded Turkey Cutlets

To download a copy of the recipe for Sausage and Pepper Sauce, click HERE. For the breaded turkey cutlets recipe, click HERE. 

What is Sausage and Pepper Sauce, and why are we using a sauce made with one meat as a topping for another meat? Good questions. Here are the answers.

Sausage and Pepper Sauce is a nice change from the usual tomato sauce. It’s a savory red sauce, but instead of being made from tomatoes, it’s made from freshly roasted red peppers that have been pureed, seasoned, and combined with browned sausage meat. (Some tomatoes are used, but the flavor of the sauce is really defined by the roasted red peppers and the sausage meat.) It’s simple to make, and ideal anywhere you’d usually use tomato sauce.

Why turkey cutlets? The idea of using meat as a condiment, either on vegetables or on other meats, is one that has been around a long time, and that has gained new traction in recent years after Chef Michael Symon began to champion it.) Sausage, with its deeply seasoned flavor, seems a natural choice to be used this way. Even if you put it on more traditional dishes like pasta, however, this is a sauce you will be very glad to have in your arsenal.

Some Cook’s Notes before we begin:

• This recipe makes more sauce than you’re likely to need for any one dinner. Homemade sauce is one of those things it’s just as easy to make more of than less, so make the extra and save it to use with another meal.

• I usually roast red peppers on the stove top. That’s fine for one, or perhaps two, peppers. In this case I roasted three peppers, so the stove top would have been cumbersome. As described in the recipe, in this case I used the oven broiler.

• In the photos, you’ll see the sauced cutlets served with rice and baked zucchini sticks. Needless to say, feel free to serve them with whatever sides you like.

This recipe makes one quart of sauce (about twice what you’ll need), and four breaded cutlets.

First, we’ll marinate our cutlets.

To make the marinade, combine 2 Tbsp white wine vinegar; ¼ tsp salt; ¼ tsp fresh ground black pepper; and 1 Tbsp fresh thyme in a bowl. Whisk in 2 Tbsp of olive oil. Place four turkey cutlets in a sealable plastic bag and pour in the marinade. Let the cutlets marinate in the refrigerator for 2-4 hours, turning occasionally.

When the cutlets are almost finished marinating, begin making the sauce. First, we’ll roast our red peppers. Set the oven on broil, and prepare the peppers as follows.

Remove the tops, bottoms and cores from three red bell peppers. CCut into quarters; remove any remaining seeds; and trim away the ribs.

Place the peppers, skin side up, on a baking sheet lined with foil and sprayed with cooking spray.

Broil for several minutes until the skins of the peppers are blackened. (Be sure to keep an eye on them. You’re looking to blacken the skin, not cremate your peppers!)

Remove the baking sheet from the oven, Wrap the blackened peppers in the foil and set aside while the peppers steam and gradually cool a bit.

When the peppers are cool enough to handle, peel away and discard the blackened skins.

Cut the pepper flesh into pieces and set aside.

Next, we’ll cook the sausage.

Remove one pound of sausage meat from the casings.

In a non-stick pan, cook the sausage till well browned, breaking any large pieces up into small pieces as it cooks. Set the cooked sausage aside.

Now it’s time to cook the remaining sauce ingredients.

Add a little olive oil to the sausage pan. Add 1 medium chopped onion and cook until translucent.

 

Add ¼ tsp red pepper flakes; 2 chopped garlic cloves; ½ cup chopped fresh basil; ½ Tbsp chopped fresh oregano; 1 tsp chopped fresh mint; and 15 ounce can diced tomatoes. Cook for another two minutes.

Add 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar; 1 tsp salt; 1 tsp fresh ground black pepper, and the chopped roasted red peppers.

In a blender or food processor, or in a bowl using an immersion blender, puree the pepper mixture.

Add the cooked sausage to the pureed pepper mixture, stir to combine, and set aside till needed.

To make the turkey cutlets:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Shake the excess marinade from the cutlets. Bread the cutlets by dredging in all-purpose flour, dipping in 2 egg-substitute eggs, and coating with seasoned panko breadcrumbs.

Place the cutlets on a baking sheet lined with parchment or foil lightly sprayed with cooking spray. Bake until cooked through and golden brown, about 15-20 minutes.

To plate:

Place the turkey cutlets and your side dishes on the plate. Top the cutlet with sauce, remembering not to over-sauce the turkey. Serve hot, pausing only long enough to accept compliments from your family and guests!

To download a copy of the recipe for Sausage and Pepper Sauce, click HERE. For the breaded turkey cutlets recipe, click HERE.

All that’s left is to decide what you’ll put the extra sauce on for another special dinner soon!

Looking forward to seeing you here again next week for another tasty, home-style recipe! Till then, stay well, keep it about the food, and always remember to kiss the cook. ;-)

Oven-Fried Brined Chicken Breast Rolled with Asparagus, Peppers and Four-Herb Pesto

To download a copy of this recipe for Oven-Fried Brined Chicken Breast Rolled with Asparagus, Peppers and Four-Herb Pesto, click HERE!

At a recent luncheon, one of the items served was a thin chicken breast rolled around asparagus and cut into pieces about 1” thick. Three or four made a serving. It was a good combination, and ample inspiration for today’s recipe: Oven-Fried Brined Chicken Breast Rolled with Asparagus, Peppers and Four-Herb Pesto. There are several ways in which this version takes the chicken breast in a somewhat different direction: the chicken breast is brined for added moisture and flavor; pesto is added to the inside of the roll, and red pepper is added to the asparagus; and the chicken breast is oven-fried instead of just baked.


Served on top of noodles with lemon and fresh chopped parsley (as in the photo above), or with rice, this is a great, fresh meal!


Some Cook’s Notes before we begin:

• Use any pesto you like: purchased, your favorite recipe, or the four-herb pesto described below.

• If you choose to make fresh pesto, as with so many cold-mix items, the flavor improves if you let it for a while or, even better, overnight.

• The pesto portion of this recipe makes about 1-1/2 cups of pesto, which is far more than you’ll need to make the chicken. Put the remainder in a couple of sealed containers and refrigerate or freeze. Pesto is good to have around; you’ll think of something to do with it.

• The chicken breast in this recipe is cut in half instead of into several 1” thick slices. There’s a reason for this: the breading (which the original I ate at the luncheon didn’t have) can start to fall off if the chicken is cut into smaller pieces. The breading itself is done with crushed cornflakes. When oven-frying, I've tried bread crumbs, panko, and various combinations of both, but I've just found that cornflakes give the best flavor and texture for the coating.

• The chicken breasts are brined for about an hour. While brining a whole chicken can take several hours, doing smaller amounts of individual parts takes a good bit less time.

This recipe makes six servings.



First we’ll make the pesto. (If you’re using your own pesto recipe, or are using purchased pesto, just skip this part.)

Rough chop 2 cups packed fresh basil; ½ cup fresh parsley; ½ cup fresh oregano; ¼ cup fresh mint; and 2 cloves garlic. Combine with /3 cup pine nuts, and the juice of ½ lemon in a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped.

While still pulsing the processor, drizzle in up to 1/3 cup of olive oil till the mixture is smooth and has the desired texture.

Transfer the mixture to a bowl, and stir in 1 cup of finely shredded parmesan, ½ tsp salt, and ¼ tsp fresh ground pepper. Refrigerate until ready to use.

To brine the chicken:

Dissolve 3 Tbsp kosher salt; 2 Tbsp granulated sugar; and 2 Tbsp brown sugar in 1 cup of boiling water.

Add the boiled solution to 3-1/2 cups of cold water. Stir to combine, and place in the refrigerator to chill completely.

Place 1-1/2 pounds of boneless chicken breast (3 breasts at about ½ pound each) in the brine and refrigerate for 60 to 90 minutes. While the chicken is brining, continue the preparations as described below.

To prepare the vegetables:

Place 9 to 12 toothpicks in a cup of water to begin soaking.

Trim the bottoms on 1 pound of asparagus, and slice two red bell peppers into strips about the same width as the asparagus.

Prepare an ice bath and begin boiling a pot of water. When the water is boiling, put in the asparagus and, after two minutes, put in the red pepper strips. Remove both after another minute. (In other words, you’re blanching the asparagus for three minutes and the pepper strips for one minute.)

Place both in the ice bath (“blanch and shock”) to stop the cooking while retaining color and texture. Drain and set aside.

To prepare the breading station:

Place 1 cup of all-purpose flour in a wide dish.

Combine 1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour; ½ tsp salt; ¼ tsp fresh ground black pepper; ¾ cup dry white wine (Chardonnay or similar); and 1 egg-substitute egg and mix till well-combined into a smooth batter. Place in a wide dish to the right of the flour.

Place 2 cups of crushed corn flakes in a wide dish to the right of the batter.

To prepare the chicken breast:

Butterfly one of the chicken breast and spread it out open. Spread some pesto over the chicken. (Don’t use too much; pesto has strong flavor, and a little goes a long way!) Lay some of the asparagus and pepper strips at one end of the chicken breast. (There should be enough asparagus and peppers left over to serve as a side dish as described below.)

Roll the chicken breast around the asparagus and peppers. Secure the roll with three or four of the soaked toothpicks.

To bread the rolled chicken breast:

Dredge the chicken in the flour to coat, shaking off the excess.

Roll the chicken in the batter to coat, shaking off the excess. Then roll the chicken in the corn flakes to coat, shaking off the excess.

Place the breaded chicken on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat the breading steps for the remaining chicken breasts. When all three breasts are breaded and on the baking sheet, place the baking sheet in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.

While the chicken breasts are in the refrigerator, begin preheating the oven to 400 degrees. Cut the remaining asparagus and peppers into 1” pieces.

To bake the chicken:

Spray the breaded chicken with cooking spray and place the baking sheet in the oven. Bake till the breasts are cooked through, about 30 minutes, turning the baking sheet half-way. When turning the tray, place a smaller try with the chopped asparagus and peppers into the oven to finish cooking.

When the chicken has finished baking, let rest on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, then cut each in half. (Each chicken breast should provide two servings.) Serve on top of noodles or rice, surrounded by the mixed chopped asparagus and peppers. REMEMBER TO REMOVE THE TOOTHPICKS BEFORE SERVING.

 To download a copy of this recipe for Oven-Fried Brined Chicken Breast Rolled with Asparagus, Peppers and Four-Herb Pesto, click HERE!

Hope you enjoy this fresh, delicious meal! And please be sure to visit again next week for another home-cooked, kitchen tested recipe. Till then, stay well, keep it about the food, and always remember to kiss the cook. ;-)