Russian Kromeskys is a traditional British recipe, based on Charles Elmé Francatelli's recipe of 1861, for a classic starter of bacon squares stuffed with meat or fish croquet preparation that are battered and deep fried before serving. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Russian Kromeskys.
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This is a classic recipe for a Victorian version of Russian Kromeskys that's derived from the chef, Charles Elmé Francatelli's 1861 volume, The Cook's Guide and Housekeeper's & Butler's Assistant. Below you will find both the recipe in its original form and a modern redaction.
Original Recipe
No. 351.—RUSSIAN KROMESKYS.
Parboil half a pound of fat bacon for twenty minutes, and when quite cold, cut it in to very thin shavings an inch and a half square, and use these to envelop as many ordinary-sized cork-shaped croquets, No. 315, as may be required for the occasion ; and set them on a dish in a cold place until it is time to serve them: the kromeskys are then to be separately dipped in batter, No. 288, and fried in clean hot lard ; and when done crisp are to be drained on a wire sieve covered with paper, dished up with fried parsley and served immediately. Note.—Kromeskys are made with all kinds of croquet preparations, whether of meat, fish or shell-fish.
Bring a pan of water to a boil, add the bacon and parboil for 20 minutes. Drain and cook then cut into thin pieces about 12mm square.
Prepare the meat croquets according to the recipe then shape into small cork shapes and wrap each one in one of the square of bacon. Set with the seam side down on a plate an chill in the refrigerator until needed.
When ready to cook, heat oil in your deep fryer to 180°C then prepare the batter. Dip each kromesky in the batter, drop into the hot oil and fry until crisp and well browned. Drain on kitchen paper, garnish with fried parsley and serve hot.
