Pantry Eating Idea

I've got this challenge on my mind. There's a lot of careful consideration going in to my grocery-shopping-list for this week - there are some good meat sales that will allow me to stock up, a bunch of coupon inserts and online, and I've got my new cookbooks. But wouldn't you know it - a recipe that I tried out last night, that was delicious, and was made with ingredients I typically always have in the house was one I found by watching a random episode of Good Eats - it was about tuna, and to my surprise, Alton used tuna in a pouch!

I adore Alton Brown - we have 2 of his books (including the "Early Years" awesome!), DVDs and I love his style. However, most of his recipes tend to intimidate me - I don't have the confidence yet for some meats or fish or I don't have the ingredients on hand. And there have been things I've tried that just haven't worked out. But. Tuna in a pouch? I can do that. Go figure though, we were out of tuna so we picked some up at our Walmart run, along with eggs (another pantry staple that was wiped out with New Year's Day breakfast - we had company over - 4 adults, 3 kids, egg sandwiches for all means running through a dozen real quick.) Anyway, I would totally have this again and it was quite easy.

Tuna Croquettes
Ingredients

* 1 (7-ounce) pouch albacore tuna, drained well and shredded by hand
* 2 green onions, chopped fine
* 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
* 2 large eggs, beaten
* 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
* 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
* 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* 3/4 cup panko bread crumbs, divided
* Olive oil, for sauteing

Directions

Place the tuna, onions, mustard, eggs, lemon juice, salt, pepper and 1/4 cup of the bread crumbs into a medium mixing bowl and stir to combine.** Divide the mixture into 8 rounds and set aside on a parchment lined half sheet pan. Allow to rest for 15 minutes. Place the remaining bread crumbs into a pie plate. One at a time, coat each round in the panko on all sides.

Heat enough olive oil to cover the bottom of a 12-inch saute pan over medium heat until shimmering.*** Add the croquettes and cook 2 to 3 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Remove to a cooling rack set over a half sheet pan lined with paper towels. Allow to cool for 2 to 3 minutes before serving.

**I added more panko crumbs to the mix because it looked runny to me. I added them until it looked like it would hold together, totally eyeballed it.
***I'm not sure what shimmering olive oil looks like - I put in quite a bit of oil and let it heat up. Take it from me - olive oil can start a fire - I poured water into the pan when all the cooking was down and the croquettes were out of the pan and some splashed on the the stovetop - WHOOSH! Flames! They died off quickly, but learn from me - don't splash that oil, it's hot! And firey!


Lorelai was also cooking from the panty for Jackson, so to speak. She used what she had on hand to whip up some eggs and mac and cheese. More incentive for me to work on my crochet to make her some food / accessories. Smart girl.