My Kitchen Rules South Africa

KAROO LAMB CROQUETTES METHOD

• Heat oil in a large frying pan. Sear the meat at a high temperature on all sides, and set aside.
• In the same pan, sauté the onions, celery, and carrots until translucent, add the garlic and cook for another 2mins.
• Add wine to the pan and allow the alcohol to cook away, approximately 5 minutes.
• Add the stock and turn down the heat to a simmer. Let it simmer for a further 5-10 minutes.
• Add the seared lamb leg chops to the pressure cooker, together with the cooked onion and wine mixture. Let it pressure cook for 1 ½ hours or until the meat is easy to pull apart.
• Once the meat is done, remove from the pressure cooker and shred the meat and set aside to use for the croquettes.

WHITE SAUCE FOR THE CROQUETTES

• Start by making the white sauce. Add the butter to a medium pot.  Let it start to melt, then add the chopped onion. Sweat the onion until translucent.  
• Add the flour and stir through with a wooden spoon to make sure the flour is incorporated with the butter. 
• Add the milk, 60 ml’s at a time and whisk together every time to make sure the milk is incorporated and to ensure that there are no lumps. Do this over a medium to low heat. Make sure that all the milk is absorbed before you add the next 60 ml of milk.
• When all the milk is added, keep on cooking the white sauce until the flour is cooked through.
• Let the white sauce cool down enough to be able to handle.

SHAPING AND FRYING THE CROQUETTES

• Heat the sunflower oil in a deep fryer to 180°C.
• Mix the shredded lamb meat into the white sauce.  The ratio you want to have to the mix is 3:1 (meat:white sauce).
• Add the salt and pepper to the cake flour and place in a bowl. Add the eggs in another bowl and the panko crumbs in another bowl.
• Line a baking tray with some baking paper or wax paper.
• Spoon 45 ml mixture into your hand and roll into a ball.
• Roll it into the seasoned flour, followed by the egg and lastly panko crumbs. Set aside on the baking tray to fry.
• When the oil has reached temperature, fry the croquettes in batches to not overfill the fryer. Fry until golden brown.
• Remove from the fryer and place on kitchen towel drain oil.
• Leave in an oven at 100°C to keep warm for service.

METHOD MINTED BÉARNAISE

• Finely chop 3 sprigs of mint leaves and blend with the egg yolks.
• Place the vinegar in a medium pot with the shallots, 6 mint sprigs and peppercorns and bring to the boil.  Turn down to a simmer and let it reduce to a third of the liquid.
• Place the egg mixture into a glass bowl over boiling water (double boiler). 
• Strain the vinegar mixture.
• Let the butter melt and cook it until it starts bubbling.
• Slowly add the vinegar mixture to the egg mixture over the double boiler, beating it constantly.
• Add the hot butter to the egg and vinegar mixture, little at a time.  Whisking it constantly, until all the butter is incorporated and the sauce starts to thicken.  Keep on whisking, while cooking over the double boiler, until it is the right thickness and completely emulsified.  To test, dip a teaspoon into the mixture and make a line on the back of the teaspoon.  If the sauce doesn’t come together, it is the right consistency. Adjust seasoning.

PARMESAN CRISPS METHOD

• Line a baking sheet with baking paper or a silicone pad.
• Grate the parmesan directly onto the baking paper or silicone pad.
• Spread out in a thin layer, making sure you leave big enough gaps between the spread of parmesan, so it doesn’t melt together.
• Season with Black Pepper
• Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180°C for 5 minutes or until it is golden brown and crisp. Remove and set aside until service.

TO SERVE

• Spoon 2 tablespoons minted béarnaise into the bowl, place 3 croquettes on top of the sauce, and top with the Parmesan crisp and a few microgreens or chopped mint.