Cream Croquettes -----> Chicken Pot Pie

I tried to make cream croquettes.  I tried to make cream croquettes knowing that I had never made them before, and I had to find a way to make them gluten free, dairy free, and soy free.  I don't know why this idea popped into my head.  I just thought that I could do it.  Well.  I tried.  And I learned something.  I need a better source of fat so that my mixture will actually firm up when chilled.  But let's see what I did and try to learn from my mistakes, okay?

Cream Croquettes
1 whole chicken, roasted
2 onions, chopped fine
2 tablespoons garlic
1 teaspoon cumin
Salt and pepper to taste
Fake white sauce, recipe below
Cornstarch
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups crunched up rice cereal


For "White Sauce"
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons GF flour
3 cups chicken broth

Roast your chicken, then pull apart and shred all of the meat.  Make up your fake white sauce by heating the oil in a small pot, then adding the flour and let cook on medium until not grainy anymore.  Add chicken broth slowly, letting thicken.  You want the mixture to be about the consistency of a thick mustard.  Pull off burner and set to the side.  Saute your onions in some olive oil, then add your garlic and spices.  Mix together chicken, onion mixture, and white sauce.  Pour into 9x12 pan, put into freezer and let sit until fully cooled.  When cooled, you are ready to start making your croquettes.  Heat a pan filled with about 1 inch of oil on medium.  Take a handful of mixture and form into a log.  Roll this in the cornstarch, then the eggs, then finally through the rice cereal before you place into the hot oil.  Let cook for about 4-5 minutes on each side, then drain on paper towels and serve with Tonkatsu sauce or chicken gravy.

Careful, if you follow this recipe you need to make sure your mixture is frozen so that it doesn't fall apart on you when you are shaping.  Otherwise you just end up with a huge mess that isn't worth your time.  That's what happened to me.  So, I made about a quarter of my mixture into croquettes so that everyone could have some dinner, and I threw the rest of it into a pot pie!  Well.  Kinda.

Fake Chicken Pot Pie
Leftover Croquette mixture
1 cup peas/carrots
1 cup corn
Easy oil pie crust

Pie Crust
2 cups GF flour
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup oil
1/4 cup soy milk

Make up pie crust by mixing everything together with a fork until blended.  Press into the bottom and up the sides of a 9x12 pan.  Mix together vegetables and chicken croquette mixture, and pour into the crust.  Bake at 375 for 45 minutes to an hour, depending on how thick your mixture is.  Tastes much better the second day, after the crust has soaked up all the juices from the filling!!  Cover with gravy, if you like.