Four times a year, Jo Momma would serve up melt- in- your- mouth chicken, also known as chicken croquettes.  That’s because there were 4 of us kids and for our birthday she would let us pick out our birthday dish… and you could pretty much put money on the fact that each of us would pick chicken croquettes.  This is a perfect dish for a special occasion or when you have company over.

These things are seriously amazing.  Think of an oozy-gooey chicken casserole, rolled up, breaded and fried.  Okay, that’s not the best description, but it’s the only thing I can think of.   She thinks she got this recipe from an old Betty Crocker cookbook more than 2 decades ago.  Thanks, Betty!

Chicken Croquettes

Serves 4

Hands on time: 20 minutes

Total time: a little more than an hour for cooling

Ingredients:

3 T. butter

1/4 c. all purpose flour

1/2 c. milk

1/2 c. chicken broth

1 T. fresh parsley (I didn’t use this…and it was fine)

1 tsp. lemon juice

1 tsp. grated onion

1/4 tsp. salt

dash of : paprika, nutmeg and pepper

1 and 1/2 cups of cooked and finely diced chicken

3/4 c. breadcrumbs (I use italian)

1 egg, beaten

2 T. water

Oil to pan fry ( I used Olive)

Directions:

Melt 3 tablespoons butter, blend in 1/4 cup all purpose flour.  Add 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 cup chicken broth.  Cook and stir until mixture thickens and bubbles.  Cook and stir about 1 minute.  Add 1 tablespoon snipped parsley, 1 teaspoon lemon juice, 1 teaspoon grated onion, 1/4 teaspoon salt and a dash of : paprika, nutmeg and pepper.  Let cool.  Add 1 and 1/2 cups finely diced cooked chicken and more salt to taste.  Put mixture in the refrigerator and chill completely.  Shape mixture into 8 balls, roll in 3/4 cup fine crumbs , lightly shape balls into cones.  Dip into mixture of 1 beaten egg and 2 tablespoons water, roll in crumbs again.  Fry in a deep pan with oil until lightly brown, about 3 minutes on each side.  Top with garlic salt.