fried cheese;

It’s getting to be fair time! The end of summer and the beginning of fall begins our season of fair visits. And fair visit is basically synonymous with eat-eat-eat-eat-eat-eat. Did I mention we eat? One of my favorites is fried cheese. Not just any old mozzarella sticks, but cubes of fried cheese that give you more cheese to breading ratio.

Despite my blog being named “best with chocolate”, I also love cheese. Like put it on everything, can never have too much cheese. And frying things can only make them better right? So this fried cheese is a perfect way to bring some fair food right into your kitchen! Ooey, gooey, salty, and cheesy, dipped in marinara sauce for that perfect bite.

If you’ve known me for a while, you might know that we love to go to fairs! Two fairs specifically, the Pennsylvania Bloomsburg Fair, and the Maryland Renaissance Faire. The Renaissance Faire is actually the inspiration for these fried cheese bites. My sister and I both went to (different) colleges in Pennsylvania. Bloomsburg was super close to my college, and my sister and a group of her friends went every year.

So usually we’d meet up, and sometimes I’d bring friends, sometimes just hang out with hers. But I’ve been adopted into her group of friends and it’s evolved into an annual tradition. We’ve passed 10+ years at this point! There was a flood one year that forced us to cancel, and one year where work got in the way of me joining. But other than that, it’s been a faithful gathering and super fun time to eat our weight in fair food.

The second fair we usually go to is local. The Maryland Renaissance Faire has a little less emphasis on the food (though it’s still a huge part of the experience) and more in the costume and alcohol department. We’ve even dressed up years past! And the raspberry and blueberry wines they serve…amazing. Like have to be careful because it’s a hot day and dehydration is a thing. But one of my staples is fried cheese. Like beeline for the booth, get it 3x that day staple.

What I love about the Renaissance fair’s fried cheese is that they’re cut into cubes. This seems to give it more cheese to breading ratio. Nothing against the breading, but I’m here for the cheese. What with COVID getting in the way of fair plans, I decided to take matters into my own hands. So we decided to make our own fair weekend! Lucky we have some bakers in the bunch so we had a great spread. So I took a stab at fried cheese. And I’m quite happy with the result!

There are two keys to this recipe. First, freeze the cheese. Second, get your oil hot. Cheese is temperamental. You want to find the sweet spot of cooked and gooey, but not let the gooey cheese seep out of the breading. The first time I attempted this without a cheesy stint in the freezer, I basically made piles of fried cheese completely separate from the breading. The cheese just kinda leaked out and the breading fried. Not exactly that ooey gooey stretch I was looking for.

The second tip is to get your oil hot. I don’t fry things often because it takes a lot of oil, and the smell pervades everything for days. But I make an exception for fried cheese! Plus it’s a special occasion for our makeshift fair! I mean fair food might as well be synonymous with fried food.

For making this at home, get your oil hot. It’s not required, but I highly recommend a thermometer to track the temperature. Adding cold cheese cubes to the oil will bring the temperature down. So with the fluctuations you want to keep an eye on the temp and let it climb back up in between batches. I’ve found that 375 is the sweet spot, but it’s not an exact science. I would keep your oil under 400, but you needn’t concern yourself with a couple degrees here or there. It’s really hard to keep a perfectly steady temperature on your burners at home.

secrets to success;

• Freeze your cheese cubes. After they’ve been dipped and breaded, make sure your cheese spends some time in the freezer. This will prevent the cheese from melting too quickly and coming loose from the breading.
• Get your oil hot! 375 is the ideal temperature, but when you’re dropping in cheese that’s been in the freezer, the temp will take a dip. So it takes a bit of a balance to fry in batches. You can make your life easier with a thermometer to measure the nuances.
• This recipe is quite easy to make gluten free! Using cornstarch as a coating instead of flour, and then an almond flour blend as the breading means that you can enjoy delicious fried cheese even if you have gluten sensitivities.

Interested in other classic fair food? Try these recipes:

• Brown sugar cinnamon ice cream is a delicious sweet treat for hot days.
• Fried food and carbs? Sign me up for these potato pancakes, another particular favorite staple of our fair visits.
• Wash down all your delicious fair food with this fall apple pie moonshine.