March 17 is St. Patrick’s Day, so here’s a traditional Irish recipe for your family to enjoy. These Reuben Croquettes are just about to go into the oven – once they’re baked, they’ll be brown and toasty-looking on the outside.

On the inside, they’re soft and spicy and definitely Irish. When you look at the ingredients, you’ll see why.

Ingredients:

(For the croquettes)

• 1/2 cup cooked white rice
• 1 can sauerkraut
• 1 can corned beef (not hash!)

• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
•  
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
• Dash salt
• Dash Craig’s Three Pepper Seasoning

(For the coating)

• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 cups fine dry bread crumbs (white or wheat. Or mix ’em.)

(For the dipping sauce)

• 1 cup Craig’s BBQ Sauce
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/8 cup mustard
• 4 teaspoons lemon juice

What to do:

Mix all the croquette ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Mix the coating ingredients together in a separate bowl.

Form the croquette mixture into small balls, or elongated balls, or whatever you want. Roll each croquette in the bread crumbs, then roll it in the egg-and-water mixture, then roll it in the bread crumbs again. Place each in a large baking pan, and let them dry for about ten minutes.

Place the large baking pan in a preheated 450° F oven and set your timer for ten minutes.

After ten minutes have passed, check to see if bread crumbs have begun to brown. If so, turn each croquette over with a spatula and set the oven timer for another ten minutes.

During the last ten minutes, make the dipping sauce by mixing together all of the sauce ingredients in a medium bowl.

When the timer goes off again, remove the croquettes from the oven and let them “set” for another ten minutes.

Serve them in a party dish with the sauce in the middle to make for a nice display.

Speaking of sauces, you can also set out all the Texas Pepper Jelly products that you have in the pantry for this recipe. The sauce recipe is delicious, but using individual pepper jellies, Rib Candy, etc, for these croquettes is also delicious!

Even people who say they don’t care for sauerkraut tend to like this dish. It’s a little bit complicated the first time you make it, but after that, it’s a cinch. Easy as pie.

Speaking of which, we’re having Spicy Texas Apple Pie for dessert.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! It’ll be here and gone before you know it, but really, any day in the year is a good day for our very Irish Reuben Croquettes!

If you’d rather deep-fry your croquettes, just put a few inches of canola oil in a large skillet and drop the croquettes in the oil when it gets hot. Let each croquette sizzle for about five minutes or when the crumbs start to brown and then flip each croquette over and repeat.

We like them baked best, but know several people who like them fried. Your call!