Croquetas de Cocido Madrileño

Croquetas de cocido madrileño belong to Madrid because they start with cocido madrileño, the city's great chickpea and meat stew. The next day, the beef, pork, chorizo, and morcilla are minced fine and folded into bechamel, so nothing good from the pot is wasted. That's what makes these croquetas what they are, not plain ham croquetas with a different name.

The method that decides them is the masa, the thick bechamel paste. Cook the flour properly in the fat, then add the milk little by little and stir until the mixture pulls from the pan in one heavy, glossy mass. If the masa is loose, the croquetas burst in the oil. If it's cooked right and chilled cold, siempre sale, si lo sigues.

If you don't have leftovers from a full cocido, no hace falta haber pisado España. Use tender cooked beef shank, a little cooked pork shoulder, Spanish chorizo, and morcilla if you can get it. Without morcilla, add a little more chorizo and know the filling will be less dark and earthy. That is a compromise, not a crime.

My Margin says the same thing beside every croqueta recipe: chill longer than you think. Hot hands, warm masa, thin coating, all of them make trouble. Cold paste, double crumbs, hot oil. Nadie nace sabiendo, but this one is very forgiving when you respect those three things.