Fried. Cheese. Holy cow. One of the ultimate comfort foods, and also one of the most guilt inducing. My view is, moderation. And some days, fried cheese is just going to happen. When I was about 4 or 5, my parents used to take me to this Italian restaurant in Nashville called Lorenzo's. It is now a porno shop, (keep it classy, Nash-Vegas), but the memory of an appetizer created by the devil himself still haunts me. They had these famous fried cheese balls. They were made of the most spicy food I have ever eaten. I have no idea where it came from or what type of cheese it was, but when it was fried to golden perfection and gooey, it was divine. And painful. And you couldn't stop eating it. I bought some Cabot's Habanero cheese this week, thinking that it would be naughty to put on a sandwich...but it was a vicious lie. Too hot to even have on a cracker, and still strangely good, I remembered the devil's balls of cheese...(snicker)...and fried these suckers up. Bryan and I are basking in crispy, melty, spicy goodness. Consequences be damned. Make some of your own.
'Missing Lorenzo's' Spicy Fried Cheese
Ingredients
1 egg
1 tsp water
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup store bought breadcrumbs (I used unseasoned Progresso style)
1/2 block of Cabot Hot Habanero Cheddar cheese
Enough oil to fill a pan about 1/2 an inch deep (Hey, it ain't health food. It's a treat.)
Slice the cheese into 1/4-1/2 inch thick rectangles. Slice each rectangle diagonally to make 2 triangles. Beat the egg and water in a bowl. Put the flour on a plate. Put the breadcrumbs on another plate. Cover the bottom of a frying pan of some sort with oil about 1/4 inch deep, and turn it on med high and allow to get really hot. Put each triangle in the flour first, then shake off the excess. Next, dip it in the beaten egg, and finally, the breadcrumbs. Shake off the excess crumbs, and gently place those puppies in the preheated oil. I found it was best to get them all bread-crumbed and then start frying them. They fry up in a second, and by second, I mean about 10-20 seconds. Seriously. So get your tool for fishing them out in your hand before you even put them in the oil. Put them on some paper towels to drain, let cool for a minute, then serve to your grateful friends and loved ones, or eat them all by yourself and don't tell anyone. *^_^*
'Missing Lorenzo's' Spicy Fried Cheese
Ingredients
1 egg
1 tsp water
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup store bought breadcrumbs (I used unseasoned Progresso style)
1/2 block of Cabot Hot Habanero Cheddar cheese
Enough oil to fill a pan about 1/2 an inch deep (Hey, it ain't health food. It's a treat.)
Slice the cheese into 1/4-1/2 inch thick rectangles. Slice each rectangle diagonally to make 2 triangles. Beat the egg and water in a bowl. Put the flour on a plate. Put the breadcrumbs on another plate. Cover the bottom of a frying pan of some sort with oil about 1/4 inch deep, and turn it on med high and allow to get really hot. Put each triangle in the flour first, then shake off the excess. Next, dip it in the beaten egg, and finally, the breadcrumbs. Shake off the excess crumbs, and gently place those puppies in the preheated oil. I found it was best to get them all bread-crumbed and then start frying them. They fry up in a second, and by second, I mean about 10-20 seconds. Seriously. So get your tool for fishing them out in your hand before you even put them in the oil. Put them on some paper towels to drain, let cool for a minute, then serve to your grateful friends and loved ones, or eat them all by yourself and don't tell anyone. *^_^*
I am actually working on perfecting these and making them more like the 'Lorenzo' cheese balls, so I'll post any updates as soon as I get it straightened out. Until then, these little triangles should hold you over. :)
ReplyDeleteCheese brings from Old College Inn in Knoxville are pretty awesome, but they're made from wimpy pepper jack cheese.
ReplyDeleteWimps. :)
ReplyDelete