Sauerkraut Croquettes

 This is actually a WWII rationing recipe that was originally hailed as a possible meatless meal. I found that it doesn't really work as a meal for us, but it makes a good side dish.  And it uses up left overs, which is always welcome!

I adapted the original recipe for the croquettes.  For one, it calls for sauerkraut, but all I have is home made sauerkraut, which isn't...well mushy and water logged the way the store bought stuff is, so I ended up having to use two eggs instead of one and the croquettes still come out a bit dry to my husband and I.  But, serve this alongside some pork and some apple sauce?  Match made in heaven!

The second thing I adapted is that it called for the croquettes to be coated in corn flakes and deep fat fried.  Well, I didn't want to yank out the old cooking oil just yet this week as fried chicken isn't on the menu for a few more days and with the corn flakes...I don't have any.  So, I improvised, breaded with some bread crumbs and baked the suckers.  It worked just fine :).

Sauerkraut Croquettes

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup corn flake crumbs (or 3 broken taco shells, crushed)
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• 1 1/2 cups sauerkraut, drained 
• 1 cup leftover rice
• 1 egg (if mixture is dry or won't stick together when mixing use two eggs)
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/8 tsp. black pepper
• 1/3 cup bread crumbs (for breading)

Procedure:

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2.  Mix all ingredients, with the exception of the 1/3 cup bread crumbs in a bowl and mix together well.  Form into eight croquettes and coat in remaining bread crumbs.  Place on a greased baking sheet and then coat top of the croquettes with cooking spray (if you don't have cooking spray, drizzle lightly with oil). 

3.  Bake at 400 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes or until croquettes are lightly golden and are hot in the middle.

Serve alongside pork with some applesauce.