Walnuts are roasted until golden, cooled and then ground up as the basis for tasty croquettes. You can also use peanuts or a mixture of both.

Ingredients

• 2½ cups walnuts
• 25 grams butter
• 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 tblsp flour
• ½ tsp curry powder
• 1 cup milk or vegetable stock
• 2 cups fresh brown breadcrumbs
• grated rind of one orange
• 2 tblsp finely chopped chives
• salt and pepper
• clarified butter or oil for pan-frying

Red Currant Glaze

• ¼ cup red currant jelly
• ¼ cup port
• ½ cup orange juice

Method

1. Roast the walnuts in a 180ºC for 10 minutes until they are lightly toasted. Cool. Finely chop the walnuts in a food processor.
2. Heat the butter in a saucepan and add the onion and garlic and cook over a moderate heat for about 5 minutes until the onion is soft. Add the flour and curry powder cook a further minute, stirring constantly.
3. Stir in the milk or vegetable stock and stir continuously until the sauce is very thick. Remove from the heat and add the walnuts, half the breadcrumbs, orange rind and chopped chives. Season well with salt and pepper.
4. Take 8 large spoonfuls of the mixture and roll into croquettes. Roll each croquette in the remaining breadcrumbs. Refrigerate for about 1 hour until ready to cook
5. Pan fry the croquettes in a little clarified butter or oil until well browned and hot.
6. Heat the redcurrant jelly with the port and orange juice and simmer for about 2 minutes.
7. Serve the croquettes with the red currant glaze and winter vegetables, garnished with a little chopped parsley if wished.

Cooks Tips

- Make sure you use fresh walnuts for this dish. Old nuts can be rancid and leave a bitter taste in the mouth. The best place to keep nuts is the freezer. - Roasting the nuts increases their deep warm flavour.