Happy Anniversary to us! We got married one year ago and I made a dish to celebrate the occasion. Good food is very important to me and Chris (clearly) so it was something we were willing to spend a large part of our budget on for the wedding. Many of our friends told us that they had the best food ever at a wedding afterwards so we were pretty happy to hear everyone enjoyed themselves. Chris chose one hors d’oeuvre that he really wanted to serve – ham hock croquettes. They were so delicious that I decided to surprise Chris with my own version of these.
I was lucky enough to not have to cook the ham hock myself. That alone would be at least a four hour project. My local market sells smoke ham hocks that I was able to easily pick up and use for this recipe. If you’re looking for premade ham hocks, Whole Foods has them too. You may need to call and request it, but they can definitely get them for you. If you’re brave enough to cook the ham hocks yourself, it would really shave off some time if you have a pressure cooker or instant pot. I deep fried the croquettes but if you’re being health conscious, you could bake these or use an air fryer.
Ham Hock Croquettes
Ingredients
- 1 pound ham hock (skin off, deboned, 1/4 inch cubed)
- 1 1/2 pounds russet potatoes
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
- 1 medium onion, fine chopped
- Salt
- Pepper
- 4 eggs, beaten
- 2 pounds Panko bread crumbs
Directions
- Step 1 Peel and chop potatoes to about 1 inch pieces. Boil amp ot of water and add salt.
- Step 2 Add potatoes and cook over medium high until soft. Drain water and transfer potatoes to a large bowl.
- Step 3 Heat milk until warm and melt butter into it.
- Step 4 Add milk butter mixture to potatoes and mash.
- Step 5 Sautée onions and ham hocks until onions are browned.
- Step 6 Cool slightly, then add onions and ham hocks and cheese to potatoes and mix well.
- Step 7 Salt and pepper to taste.
- Step 8 Cool in refrigerator for at least an hour (a cooler potato will hold a better shape).
- Step 9 With a scooper (I like to use a small cookie scooper around 2” diameter) to scoop equal portions of the potato mixture.
- Step 10 Form balls and dip in egg and coat with Panko two times each (egg, Panko, egg, Panko).
- Step 11 Deep fry until golden brown.
You must be logged in to post a comment.