Ham and Cheese Croquettes

It was 93 degrees in my kitchen at 1 pm today. I don't know how I survived to write this. It was 91 degrees in my kitchen when I made Martha Stewart's Serrano Ham and Manchego Cheese croquettes. Well, let me be honest. I did use Serrano ham (sweet Serrano ham), but I used Swiss cheese because when I went to the supermarket to purchase the Manchego it would have cost me approximately $10 for the small amount I needed for the recipe.

You can pick up croquettes almost anywhere here in Miami. They can be found to be made from ham, cheese, chicken, and I have even seen them made from spinach. But if you eat them on the street and compare them to these you will taste the difference. Martha Stewart's recipe is absolutely fabulous and very simple. I was reading her website and saw a video where she prepared them with Antonio Banderas. He is so charming and easy on the eyes so I stopped to see what he did on the show and this just took me in.

The ingredients are items I keep around the house like onion, milk, flour, salt and pepper. I only went out to pick up the Serrano ham and the cheese (Swiss worked great).

This is the link:
http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/croquettes-with-serrano-ham-and-manchego-cheese?video_id=0

Please make these, you won't be sorry. I know they are fried and everybody is the frying police and lard police, but the recipe only yields approximately 15 croquettes so invite people over. You can even play with the recipe, substitute cream cheese for the ham, or chicken or even any cooked meat you have on hand. Add spices and herbs.