Bitterballen / Kroketten, a very Dutch snack

This super Dutch bar snack is a delight for all. Surely not a healthy option, but sooooo good! You will find the bitterballen in most bars in the Netherlands and they make a great snack with a beer around five o'clock. The kroket is mostly eaten as lunch, on a soft bread roll. You will find them in fast food restaurants as well or in the also very Dutch "muur" (wall): some fast food restaurants have a heated wall with little windows you can open after putting some money in it. For both goes: don't forget the mustard!

So go ahead and wow your friends with this fantastic snack next time you throw a dinner party (and hire someone to deep-fry them for you a-la-minute...).

Makes about 20 kroketten or 60 bitterballen.

Filling:

- 50 g butter

- 50 g flour

- 1 cup of milk

- 1 small onion, finely chopped

- 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped

- 250 g (left over) cooked meat (chicken/veal/fillet of beef), finely chopped/shredded

- 1 handful of parsley, finely chopped

- 1 tsp nutmeg

- pepper and salt

- oil for deep frying

- mustard

for the coating:

- 1 cup flour, on a plate

- 2 eggs, lightly beaten with a splash of milk, on a plate

- 2 cups bread crumbs, on a plate

Melt butter in a saucepan.

Add onion and garlic and saute for 2 minutes, without browning.

Add flour and stir well for 2 minutes.

Add milk and keep on stirring until you end up with a smooth thick doughy sauce.

Add the meat and parsley and season with nutmeg, pepper and salt.

Let it cool down and put the mixture covered in the fridge for a couple of hours.

Form the mixture into 12 cm not too thick logs (kroketten) or into small ping pong sized balls (bitterballen).

(if they have "melted" a bit, put them in the freezer for about an hour, until they are firm again).

Roll each kroket or bitterbal through some flour first, then through the eggs and then trough the breadcrumbs. (Tip: to avoid extreme mess, do it in batches: start with rolling about ten of them in flour, then move over to the eggs and finish with the breadcrumbs).

Put them on a plate and cool them in the fridge or a couple of hours or in the freezer for an hour (or freeze them until you need them).

Heat frying oil in a heavy based pan to 180 °C and deep-fry the bitterballen in batches of eight or ten for about 4 minutes, kroketten in batches of six for about 6 minutes. Test the first one and be sure the centre is hot! (If you deep-fry frozen kroketten or bitterballen it will take a few minutes longer).

Serve the bitterballen with mustard (I prefer Dijon) and the kroketten on a white roll with mustard.

For a pescatarian version: take chopped prawns instead of meat, lemon zest and lemon juice in stead of nutmeg and add some dill! You could even make vegetarian ones with mushrooms.