Sexy Cheese Sticks

Today I made Sexy Cheese Sticks

One of my favourite starters in the likes of TGI Fridays or Captain Americas are the mozzarella sticks. There's something so comforting about melted cheese coated in a crunchy lightly spiced crumb. It's almost like having some kind of abstract toasted cheese sandwich. When I first started making my own mozzarella sticks I was using mozzarella cheese and shaping it into the shape I was looking for then I started experimenting with different types of cheese, some would melt too much, some wouldn't melt at all and some weren't stringy, which is the most important feature of this dish, you want a good stringy cheese for visual effect as well the mouth feel. So I though what better cheese to use for a stringy effect than.... A cheese string.

In my eyes Cheese Strings are the perfect cheese to use for making cheese sticks, as they melt amazingly, are good and stringy and are already in the shape you want the cheese to be in. I use a number of different ingredients in the crumb for this dish as it really adds a depth of flavour as well as cutting through the taste of the cheese. The ingredients I use are Sea Salt and Black Pepper, Paprika, Garlic, Red Chili, Lime Zest and a small amount of my all time favourite Cajun Spice. The Chili and Paprika add a level of heat which really complement the heat of the melted cheese and the Lime Zest cuts through the heaviness of the cheese. The Garlic, Salt and Pepper add a delicious base for which the other ingredients build.

Ingredients:

(Makes 8) 

• 8 Cheese Strings
• 3 Slices of White Bread
• 1 Medium Red Chili 
• Zest of 1 Lime
• 2 Cloves of Garlic - Crushed
• 1 Large Egg
• 60g OO' Flour
• 1 Teaspoon Paprika
• 1 Teaspoon Cajun Spice
• Pinch of Salt and Black Pepper

Instructions: 

1.Blitz the three slices of bread in a food processor to make the breadcrumbs, finely slice the Red Chili, Crush the Garlic Cloves and Zest the Lime and add into the the breadcrumbs. Season with Salt and Pepper.

2. Unwrap the Cheese Strings and lay out ready to crumb.

3. Set up your crumbing station by putting out three dishes. In the first dish place the OO' Flour and a pinch of salt, in the second crack and whisk the Egg and in the third place the seasoned Flour.

4. Place a Cheese String into the seasoned Flour and toss till coated, then place into the beaten Egg mixture. 

5. Place the Cheese straight from the Egg mixture straight into the breadcrumb mixture and  coat fully. You can repeat the Flour, Egg, Breadcrumb process again if you want a slightly thicker crumb. I normally do the process twice. 

6. Repeat the Process to the rest of the Cheese Strings and set out on a plate ready to be fried. Heat a large pan of oil to a medium in which you can fry the Cheese Strings.

7. Fry each Cheese String for 3-6 minutes or until golden brown. Serve the Crispy, Stringy Cheese Sticks with a Salad of choice and Sweet Chili Sauce for dipping. Serve while still warm.

"No Strings attached"