WELLS, Maine — We all have our favorite food truck to follow, and the food coming out of these small but efficient kitchens is amazing. Lately, food trucks are not only busy, but they are the fastest growing sector in the hospitality industry. Food Trucks have stepped up during the pandemic to be able to 'do their thing' and feed customers outside with plenty of social distancing.
We asked local food truck chefs to prepare their specialties for us - and Calvin Karparis did just that - from Congdon's Street Kitchen. That's one of the food trucks you might find at Congdon's After Dark, in Wells Beach, where food trucks rotate through serving up a variety of cuisines. Calvin prepared Potato Croquettes, and here is his recipe.
INGREDIENTS
For Potato Puree:
4 Russet Potatoes (about a 2 lbs)
1 lb Unsalted Butter
Salt to taste
(Additional Seasonings to taste - garlic powder, any flavor you desire)
For Breading:
2 Cups All Purpose Flour
6 Eggs Beaten
2 Cups Panko or Bread Crumbs
Method of Preparation:
Boil potatoes with skin on, whole, starting them in cold water. Make sure they are fully submerged. Bring water to heavy simmer. Cook for about 40 minutes. To tell if your potatoes are done, a knife should go through the potato with no resistance. Remove skin from potatoes.
Mash potatoes - Calvin used a potato ricer. Don't overwork the potatoes so they will be smooth. Add potatoes to melted butter to make puree. Fold butter and potatoes together.
Put potato puree in to a piping bag. and create logs of potato puree on a cookie sheet. Calvin lined the cookie sheet with parchment paper. Freeze, then cut frozen logs in to the lengths you want. Calvin used a sharp tool to cut the potato logs in to two inch lengths.
For the breading station -- put flour in to a bowl, in a second bowl make an egg wash, and put your bread crumbs or panko in to the third bowl. You can add herbs to the panko/bread crumbs for more flavor. Cover your potato filling with the flour, submerge fully in the egg wash, and then put them straight into the panko/bread crumbs. Once you have done this with all of your croquettes, you are ready to fry them. Fry them in oil at about 350 degrees, this can be done with oil in a pot at your house -- if you don't have a fry-o-later! Cook croquettes until the breading is nice and crispy. Enjoy!