This is a request from warlord1981nlsaying I should do some junk food from outside of the country. I said, great idea! So researching more about croquettes you can really do whatever you want with them providing it is primarily potato based. Since I love potato skins and loaded potato stuff, I decided to put my own spin on these and they were delicious! Thanks for the suggestion and Enjoy!
Clean your potatoes first. Then place them in a big pot of boiling water for 20 minutes or until fork tender. After 20 minutes mine were still a little tough, but they continued to cook and it was all good after!
Drain potatoes and place back into big pot with 2 Tbsp Butter and mash up while adding in Cream Cheese, Reduced Fat Sour Cream & Half & Half
Set up 2 shallow pans, one with Flour and the other with Seasoned Breadcrumbs. I seasoned my flour just out of good habit with garlic, cayenne, paprika, salt & pepper. It is not necessary due to the breadcrumbs, but psychologically it helps me sleep at night.
Beat 2-3 eggs in a bowl. Now you have your breading station setup for when we need to bread.
Bake a tray of bacon. At least 7 slices for this amount of potato we're mashing. Bake @ 425°F [218°C] for 11 minutes depending on thickness. Mine were not thick so 11 minutes is actually spot on. Once finished, dice up fine.
Once the potato mixture has cooled down a bit, add in ½ Cup of shredded cheddar cheese, some fresh chives, diced bacon and mix thoroughly.
Shape them into ovals about the size of an egg on some parchment paper on a tray of some sort and then once you are done place them in the freezer to firm up. This mixture should make about 42 of these. This will take a long time to do.
Toss the oval shaped potato ball things first into the flour mixture. This will act as a nice undercoat. Then dip it in the egg wash and finally the breadcrumbs. Repeat this until all oval shaped potato ball things are fully coated. Don't worry if the breadcrumbs don't stick completely, they will still taste and look great!
I deep fried in batches of 5. Any more and it might compromise the deep frying oils temperature. Peanut oil is ideal, I used vegetable and the oil must be at 365°F [185°C] for frying.
Plate with a dish of sour cream and chives for dipping and my girlfriend went a little crazy here garnishing it with more cheese and bacon, but hey, presentation is everything isn't it?
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