This is a great way to use up leftovers and these croquettes freeze well, so you can make them and save for a quick dinner down the road.

I typically serve croquettes with veloute sauce; it’s simple to make and only uses four ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp ground white pepper

Heat stock over medium heat. In a separate pan, melt butter and add pepper. Slowly add in flour, stirring for about 5 minutes until a roux is formed. Do not let the mixture get brown–you want the sauce to be a pale yellow color. Once the roux has cooked for 5 minutes, slowly whisk in the chicken stock, making sure that you don’t have lumps. Once the chicken stock is incorporated, cook for about 5 minutes until it can coat the back of a spoon. If it becomes too thick, add more stock.

Want to skip the sauce? Try sprinkling some ponzu sauce over the croquettes. Ponzu is a Japanese sauce with notes of citrus. No ponzu? Try using soy sauce!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground turkey (mixed light/dark meat will result in a moister croquette, but you can use all white meat if you prefer)
• 1 cup panko bread crumbs
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tsp milk
• 2/3 cup finely diced carrots
• 1/3 cup finely diced celery
• 2 tbs olive or vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 tsp each, salt and ground black pepper
• 2 tsp smoked paprika
• 3/4 tsp thyme
• 4 oz chicken stock
• 1 clove garlic, finely minced
• 1 tbs tomato paste
• 1 medium yellow onion, finely diced

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Add oil, onions, carrots and celery to a hot skillet; sweat the vegetables over a low heat until the onions become translucent (~4 minutes)
• Add salt, pepper, spices, garlic, stock, Worcestershire sauce and tomato paste; stir for 2-3 minutes to ensure that everything is uniformly mixed
• In a mixing bowl whisk one of the eggs; add the turkey and the vegetable mixture; mix thoroughly
• Form 3″ cones and put into the refrigerator for 20-30 minutes so that the croquettes set
• In a small bowl, beat egg and milk to make a wash
• On a small tray spread out breadcrumbs
• Dip each of the croquettes in the egg wash
• Roll each croquette in the breadcrumbs until coated; you can repeat this process if you want an extra crusty coating
• Place the croquettes on 3″ apart on a foil-lined cookie tray
• Bake for 25 minutes
• While the croquettes are in the oven, make the veloute sauce

Note: you can substitute ground chicken for the turkey if you prefer.