Chile Daily Must Pay Readers for Exploding Churros

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) -- Chile's Supreme Court has ordered a newspaper to pay $125,000 to 13 people who suffered burns while trying out a published recipe for churros, a popular Latin American snack of dough fried in hot oil.

The publisher of La Tercera must pay individual damages to 11 women and two men ranging from as little as $279 to $48,000 for one woman whose burns were particularly severe.

The high court's ruling was announced Monday, seven years after the readers burned themselves while trying out the recipe.

Judges determined that the newspaper failed to fully test it before publication, and that if readers followed the recipe exactly, the churros had a good chance of exploding once the oil reached the suggested temperature. Grupo Copesa, which publishes the paper, said it will abide by the ruling.

Days after the recipe was published in the paper's "Woman" magazine in 2004, hospitals around the country began treating women for burns suffered when the dough boiling in oil suddenly shot out of kitchen pots."

Now I'm curious to know what the recipe said to do. All I can think is somehow there was an outside crust that sealed up moisture inside and pressure built up while it was cooking in the hot oil.

Makes me want to deep fry something. My grandma used to make croquettes and I was remembering them today. This recipe is from the Food Network's "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives" show. It is lower calorie than the one in The Joy of Cooking, which calls for heavy cream to give the croquette mixture body.

Chicken Croquettes

Croquettes:

1 cup milk
1 cup fresh chicken stock (canned broth may be substituted)
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
2 teaspoons freshly chopped parsley leaves
Salt, to taste (only if using fresh chicken stock)
1/4 pound butter
1 stalk celery, minced
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/4 pounds chicken meat, cooked and ground in food processor

Breading:
2 eggs
2 cups milk
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 cups all-purpose flour or cracker meal
3 cups bread crumbs
Chicken Gravy:

3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups hot chicken stock
2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
Pinch white pepper and salt

Salad oil or liquid shortening, for frying
Mashed potatoes, for serving

Croquette Batter:

In a heavy pot, heat the milk and stock on the stove and then add white pepper, fresh parsley and salt, if needed. In a separate heavy pot melt the butter and add the minced celery. Stir in the flour and cook for 3 minutes. Pour in the hot milk and stock and stir until thickened and smooth. Fold in the chicken meat and allow to cool.

Breading Croquettes:

Shape 3 ounce portions of croquette batter in the shape of a cone and place on a tray lined with waxed paper. Next make an egg wash from the eggs, milk and salt. Dip the croquettes in the egg wash then into flour and let stand a few minutes. Finish breading by dipping the croquettes back into the egg wash and then rolling in bread crumbs. Let them sit on a rack while you make the gravy.

Gravy:
Melt the butter, stir in the flour and cook 2 minutes. Slowly stir in the chicken stock and cook until thickened. Add the parsley and season to taste. Cooked green peas are good in this.

Fry the croquettes in deep fat at 350 degrees until very brown and heated through.

We may not make these, but it's fun to think about. If you do make them, and they start to puff up excessively while in the hot oil, stand back.