And you can't see around the corner, and someone cuts your head off

[venta]

#2 in a highly intermittent series: Things You Can or Cannot Grind in a Meat Grinder

Cannelini beans and beetroot?

Yup, they work really well. Why was I doing such a thing? Well, ages ago I found a recipe on a JustBento forum post for beetroot and bean croquettes. And I made some by mashing up beetroot and beans with a fork, because I don't have a food processor, and it was bloody hard work. My review was that the croquettes were nice, but I couldn't be arsed to make them again.

There's not much to the recipe:

1. Food-process (or meat-grind, or mash with fork) some cooked beetroot and some cooked cannelini beans. I used one vacuum pack of Co-Op beetroot (about 3 beets) and a normal-sized tin of beans.
2. Mix in flour or breadcrumbs, to make a sensible consistency of goo that you can make into shapes.
3. Form into patties.
4. Coat each patty in
(a) flour
(b) beaten egg
(c) breadcrumbs.
5. Fry (deep or shallow, to taste). I think about half an inch of oil works well.

Nice hot or cold. Although the beetroot does make them quite sweet, so be warned if that's not your thing. I put a couple in my lunch today.

Do not, under any circumstances, miss out step 4(a). The first few croquettes were spectactularly messy, because as ever I read the recipe and then mostly ignored it, and managed to forget about the flour.

At stage 4(c) you can use regular breadcrumbs, or panko if you're feeling flash. Or if, like me, you feel quite flash but are intermittently disorganised you can do half and half because you'll run out of panko. At stage 2 I used soft breadcrumbs from the inside of a staleish white loaf, and for the non-flash half of stage 4(c) used the drier crumbs from the outside of the crust.

And by the way... if you ever, ever want to pretend that you are putting someone's head through a meat grinder, I advise you to use beetroot and beans. Actual meat coming through a meat grinder looks, well, tidy and homogenous and like minced meat. If you want horrific, oozing, gore-soaked minced body-part, go for the beetroot and beans.

I hasten to say that I never have put anyone's head through a meat grinder, but I imagine this is exactly what you'd want it to look like. It's certainly the single most gruesome thing I've ever achieved while cooking.

Comments

[lanfykins.livejournal.com]

My father likes making beetroot bread. He has been heard to mutter that it will be embarrassing if the police ever come round before he's cleaned up the kitchen...

I might try those croquettes. They sound fun.

[venta.livejournal.com]

I think they're worth a try.

I tend to freeze a load, and then dry-fry (or oven) them from frozen to crisp them up. They're never as good as freshly-cooked, of course, but they're still decent. And I approve of things which can be cooked from frozen with minimal effort.

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

Inbetween a fork and a grinder, do you have a potato masher? I've got a nice steel one which makes pretty short work of beans, although I haven't tried it on beetroot.
(It's also rather good for making mashed potato, which is not an uncommon thing in this house.)

[venta.livejournal.com]

My masher is plastic, and was the original plan for the processor-free bean puree, but wasn't equal to the job. It does OK on spuds, but nothing more resistant.

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

Mm, iswym. Mine is a bit like this: http://www.habitat.co.uk/oona%20potato%20masher/wc_fulfil_location_b//fcp-product/26567 and only cost a few quid, about a million times better than the plastic one I had before.

[lanfykins.livejournal.com]

I have a plastic one in that shape; it has been equal to most things over the past few years.

I think having the 'heel' available to deal with really undercooked potatoes helps :)

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

aka. for venting frustrations ;)

[venta.livejournal.com]

I guess you vegetarian types have to get your fun torturing vegetables instead :)

[venta.livejournal.com]

I don't really understand why all mashers don't have a big round bobble on the top. That one is better than some handle designs, though (like the one we had in Little Shop which seemed designed to try to gouge lumps out of your hand).

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

Maybe it was actually a hand-gouger rather than a potato-masher, and you were using it the wrong way up?

[huskyteer.livejournal.com]

Ooh, they sound good. I like beetroot but can never think of anything to do with it other than eat it. (Sainsburys do Taste The Difference Cocktail Beetroot with Juniper. I had never imagined such a thing, but they were tasty.)