We’re on our way to Belgium today! Yippee! I love when we get the chance to get out of the house and actually SEE Europe. I’ll be kicking myself in the butt the rest of my life if we don’t see as much as we possibly can while living in Germany. I can just see it now. Everybody asking, “Where did you go while you were over there?” And me responding, “Ummm, Germany and…. France.” That’s pretty much the only other country we’ve been to since we moved here. And we have lived here almost 2 years now. It’s pathetic.
I could make a thousand excuses, but all it really boils down to is that we hate planning vacations. Oh, that and my 6-month old son doesn’t have his passport yet. That’s kind of prohibiting as well. Once we get that we’ll be able to do more because we can fly, rather than having to choose places within a reasonable driving distance. We’re making it our goal to go to England and Ireland before the weather starts getting cold again. So hopefully by October we can add two more countries to our list!
Speaking of our living in Germany… I made these mozzarella sticks for my brother and his German girlfriend. My brother LOVES mozzarella sticks. When we would eat out with our family as kids he would always beg my parents for them. He really did have to beg too since it was already pretty expensive taking a family of 5 out to eat. My parents really didn’t want to buy appetizers as well.
So I really want to make them for his girlfriend so she would know what they were all about when he talked about them. They don’t fry mozzarella here in Germany. But! They do fry camembert. And I LOVE it! They serve two 3-inch diamater rounds with this tiny cup of some berry jam. Maybe lingonberry? Doesn’t matter. It’s amazing. The coating is the same texture as mozzarella sticks, but without any of the Italian seasonings. I’m not sure how my brothers’ girlfriend feels about the fried camembert, but she wasn’t a fan of the mozzarella sticks. It was funny because she told me so gently that she didn’t like them, because she was afraid to hurt my feelings. Which she didn’t. I don’t expect her to like all American-cuisine. She is from a totally different culture after all.
My brother on the other hand gobbled these right up! Like I said, he looooves himself some good ol’ fried mozzarella.
Be careful freezing and frying these though! For some reason a couple of my cheese-sticks didn’t cook all the way through and were kind of cold instead of melty on the inside.
- 12 mozzarella string cheese-sticks (or a block of mozzarella cut into 4-by-1/2-inch sticks)
- 1½ cups panko-style breadcrumbs
- 4 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- Canola oil for frying
- In a shallow pie plate (or something similar), mix together breadcrumbs, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper.
- In a medium bowl, lightly beat the eggs with a fork.
- In a second pie plate, place the flour.
- BEGIN DREDGING: One at a time, dip cheese-sticks in flour. Shake off excess and dip the cheese into the eggs, then roll the cheese into the breadcrumbs. To make a thick breading, coat again with egg and breadcrumbs. Set aside on a rimmed baking sheet or plate. Freeze breadsticks, uncovered, until completely firm, at least 2 hours.
- FRY: Pour oil to a 2-inch depth in a large heavy-bottomed pot. Heat oil until it reaches a temperature of 350°F. A few at a time, fry the mozzarella sticks, being careful not to overburden the oil and cause the temperature to plummet. When done, cheese-sticks will be crispy and browned on the exterior, about 5 minutes. Drain on a double stack of paper towels. Allow temperature to return to 350°F between batches and fry remaining mozzarella.
- Serve while still warm!
adapted from Food.People.Want.
Tagged as:
appetizer,
cheese,
fried,
mozzarella,
Savory,
snack