Potato and Celery Root Croquettes

These are so fricken good! I love the flavor of celery root – definitely underrated. The croquettes may take you a few tries, since the mass is a moist and sticky, which can make the dredging difficult if you’re a novice. But it is so worth it! Plus when the dredging goes south, the still taste great, just look a little funny. 

INGREDIENTS makes 6-8 croquettes

1 lbs celery root (about 1/2 large or 1 small), peeled

1 lbs potatoes, peeled

4 egg yolks plus 1 whole egg

salt or Vegeta, and pepper to taste

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

1 cup flour, and more as needed

1 cup bread crumbs, and more as needed

canola oil for frying

INSTRUCTIONS

• 1 lbs celery root (about 1/2 large or 1 small), peeled
• 1 lbs potatoes, peeled

1. Boil water, in 2 medium pans, adding 1 Tbs salt to each pan. Cut the peeled celery root in half. Boil the celery root in one pan and the potatoes in the other, until tender when pierced with a fork. About 20 min for the potato and 25 min for the celery root. Drain and let cool until cool enough to handle. Grade the potatoes and celery on a coarse box grater into a large bowl

• 4 egg yolks
• salt or Vegeta and pepper to taste
• 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg 

2. Mix the grated potato and celery with 4 egg yolks, and ground nutmeg. Taste the mixture, add salt or Vegeta to taste. Add pepper to taste. 

• 1 egg
• 1 cup flour, and more as needed
• 1 cup bread crumbs, and more as needed
• potato mixture
• canola oil for frying 

3. Set up a dredging station, with one plate of flour, followed by 1 plate with a whisked egg, and a last plate of bread crumbs. Coat a large frying pan about 1/8 – 1/4 inch with canola oil and heat to medium high. For 1/3 – 1/2 cup of the potato mixture into a cylinder. Roll to cover in the flour, then roll to cover in the whisked egg, then roll to cover in the bread crumbs. Place gently into the hot pan and sear on each side for about 3 min, until golden brown. Remove from pan and place on a paper towel lined plate. Repeat with remaining potato mixture. You should be able to fit 3 – 4 croquettes in the pan at a time. You may need to change out the oil half way through if there are too many burned bread crumbs in it. 

4. Serve alone with a yogurt dill sauce or instead of mashed potatoes for any hearty meat dish.