Burger with oven baked sweet potato croquettes

I was reading The Experimental Cook's latest post on archar when it hit on me that, in a few years time, we will soon be two old folks at home too (^_^!)

In fact, we are already living like two old folks, especially on a weekday during school terms. Whenever my better half is at home for lunch, I will put in some extra 'effort' to prepare a decent but quick meal...just like this burger, made with store bought wholemeal buns ;p
The extra work went into making some baked croquettes which I had meant to serve as a side for dinner that evening.

I have been making croquettes following Just One Cookbook's baked croquettes after we got hooked with the delicious croquettes we had during our holidays in Kyushu, Japan (be it from supermarkets or those from local shops made with horse meat!). The homemade baked croquettes are a much healthier option and easier for me since I don't do deep frying. The recipe calls for pan frying the panko or breadcrumbs with some oil before using. This ensures that the breadcrumbs will be nicely browned. I have tried toasting the panko with and without oil, both seem to yield similar results when I made croquettes. However, for making baked tonkatsu I would always pan fry with oil so that the dish would be as close to the deep fried version as possible.

I had meant to try making some pumpkin croquettes but since I had sweet potatoes lying around, I thought it would be better to clear them first. The sweet potato croquettes turned out to be very good too and they are certainly much healthier than meat patties.

We do eat like old folks nowadays, there were no fries to go along with the burger, just a cup of low sugar low fat 3-in-1 coffee, and some left over lettuces and tomatoes ;)



Oven Baked Sweet Potato Croquettes

Ingredients
(makes 6 ~ 8)

3 medium size sweet potatoes(about 400g), peel and cut into chunks
1 medium size onion, finely chopped
200g ground beef or pork
freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cooking oil
4 tablespoons plain flour
1 large egg, beaten
1.5 cups (about 85g) panko (breadcrumbs)


Method:

• Pan fry breadcrumbs over medium-low heat until golden brown (Note: keep stirring to ensure the breadcrumbs is evenly browned and to prevent it from getting burned). Set aside to cool.
• Place sweet potatoes in a pot and fill it with enough water to cover the sweet potatoes. Boil for about 15mins or until fork tender. Drain and transfer the sweet potatoes to a large bowl. Mash the sweet potatoes while they are still hot. 
• Heat oil in a frying pan and sauté the onion until soft. 
• Add the ground pork and stir fry until meat is cooked. Season with freshly ground black pepper and salt. Remove from the heat and mix it with the mashed sweet potatoes.
• While the mixture is still warm, shape into ½ inch thick oval patties. Leave to rest in the refrigerator for 15-30 minutes.
• Coat each patty with flour (dust off any excess flour).
• Then coat the patties with egg and then the prepared breadcrumbs.
• Place on baking tray lined with parchment paper and bake in preheated oven at 200degC for about 10mins until golden.

Recipe source: adapted from Just One Cookbook