Tapa recipe: Spanish Jamon Croquettes

Ingredients

• - 1/2 cup of chicken broth
• - 100 gr flour
• - 8 tbsp olive oil
• - 350 ml milk
• - 1/2 cup very finelyhand-minced Spanish Serrano jamon
• - dash of ground pepper
• - 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• - 2 eggs, lightly beaten with 2 teaspoons water
• - breadcrumbs for coating

Steps

Note that this recipe is for 6 croquetas de jamon, as an appetizer or tapa. Croquettes, of jamon, cheese, cod or chicken are a quite common in Spanish bars.

Heat the 8 Tbsp olive oil in a small pan on medium heat. Add the flour and cook for 3 minutes. Add the milk and the chicken broth gradually. Add nutmeg, salt and pepper. Cook over medium heat until the sauce is thickened and smooth. All these steps, stirring constantly.

Then, add the minced Serrano jamon. Continue to cook for 2-3 minutes on low heat, continuing to stir, and remove from heat.

Allow to cool for 10 minutes and refrigerate by 3 hours until mixture is cold. Scatter the breadcrumbs into a wide bowl. And beat the eggs with water in another one. Cover your hands in flour, then divide the mixture into 1-inch balls and set on a plate.

Pour the olive oil in a frying medium pan and heat it (really hot). Then dip the croquettes in the beaten egg and coat with crumbs by rolling in bowl. Place the croquettes in the hot oil and fry quickly, turning all the time. When golden (be sure not to overcook them), remove the croquettes and set them in a paper towel to absorb the excess oil.

The best ham or Jamon you can use for this recipe, because of its fantastic features, is the Ham from Teruel PDO by the EU authorities.

How to carve and slice a bone-in Spanish Jamon

A little guide with 6 easy steps to carve, cut, slice and serve a good bone-in SpanishJamon:

STEP 1 Use a medium size knife, pointy and very sharp. Fix the ham to the carving stand. In what way? With the hoof facing up and away from you.

STEP 2 We have to start carving the part called ‘maza’. Make a cut near the hoof (10 cm more or less), and remove the rid of a not very large area. Take care not to remove all fat, is a tasty part of the ham and, believe it or not, very healthy.

STEP 3 Now we change the knife for a long and very sharp one. There are special knives tocarve the Spanish Jamon. Carve from hoof to ‘punta’, clearing the skin and yellow layers of fat.

STEP 4 Cut and cut slices and when arrive to the hip bone, cut around it with the first type of knife. Turn ham over to cut the maza. Then, keep cutting slices in the same way, just as previously, and around the hip bone too.

STEP 5 Continuosly removing the rind, when there are no more slices left, trim the fat around the hip and star slicing this area. There is a darker meat below which has a rich flavour. This part is one of the best.

STEP 6 Serve freshly cut to keep the taste. Always at room temperature, never cold, you can serve it in a warm plate. 

But nothing better tah a short video:

And that’s all, just enjoy the most deliciousflavour from Spain!