Sweetbread Croquets is a traditional British recipe, (based on a Victorian original by Charles Elmé Francatelli) for a classic starter of sweetbreads that are prepared and bound with white sauce and egg yolks that's shaped into corks, breaded and deep fried before serving. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Sweetbread Croquets.
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This is a classic recipe for croquets made from sweetbreads, based on a suggestion made in Francatelli's recipes for oyster croquets.
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Ingredients:
300g fresh lambs' or calves' sweetbreads (thymus glands)
2 tbsp binding consistency white sauce
3 egg yolks
freshly-grated nutmeg, to taste
cayenne pepper, to taste
1 tsp anchovy essence
300g breadcrumbs
1 egg, beaten
oil for deep frying
Method:
Place the sweetbreads in a large bowl, cover with water and set aside to soak for 4 hours, changing the water several times. Drain the sweetbreads, transfer to a pan then cover with fresh water and lemon juice and bring to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes then drain, transfer to a bowl of cold water and set aside until cold and firm. Remove the black veins and the skin then strip off any stringy unwanted tissues.
Press the sweetbreads well between absorbent paper to flatten and dry then chop very finely and set aside.
Melt the 2 tbsp butter in a pan and when foaming use to lightly fry the onion and mushrooms for about 3 minutes before adding the prepared sweetbreads. Fry for 2 minutes longer then drain of the excess butter before removing from the pan and chopping finely.
In pan, combine the chopped sweetbreads, white sauce, egg yolks, nutmeg, cayenne pepper and anchovy essence. Place over low heat and cook gently, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the eggs have set.
Pour the mixture onto a baking dish and spread out to about 2.5cm thick then set aside until the mixture has cooled and set. Now divide into portions the size of walnuts and roll these in breadcrumbs so that you can shape them as desired (typically corks, pears or balls).
Dip the shaped croquettes in beaten egg then coat with breadcrumbs. Heat oil in a deep fryer to 180°C and add the croquettes. Deep fry until lightly golden in colour then drain on kitchen paper and serve hot, garnished with fried parsley.
