Mozzarella Sticks

I love mozzarella sticks.  Always have, probably always will.  I used to buy them in big bags at Costco, and they were good, but not great.  So, I decided to try making them myself.  SO worth it!

The light batter that I use is reminiscent of a cheese curd...if you have never had a fried cheese curd get yourself to Wisconsin as soon as possible.  Let me know if you need recommendations on where to find the best ones ;)


Mozzarella Sticks

Ingredients:
12 mozzarella cheese sticks, cut in half
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup bread crumbs, homemade or store bought
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
2 Tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:
Place the flour in one small bowl.

Place the beaten eggs in another small bowl.

Place the bread crumbs, salt, pepper, garlic powder and Parmesan cheese in a third bowl.  Mix these ingredients until combined.

One by one dip the cheese into the flour, tapping off any excess.  Next, move the cheese sticks to the eggs, coat completely and let the extra drip off before moving on.  Lastly, put the cheese into the bread crumb mixture and sprinkle some over the top of it with your fingers to make sure that the stick is entirely coated.  Move the stick to a sheet pan covered in parchment paper.

Repeat with the 23 remaining sticks.

When you have breaded all of the mozzarella, place the sheet pan in the refrigerator for 6-24 hours.

Heat about 2-3 inches of Canola oil to 365 degrees in a thick bottomed, deep pot.  Be VERY careful...if this oil splatters or spills on you it will burn you.  It is best to do this step when your children are not anywhere near the kitchen.

When the oil is heated, carefully place the mozzarella sticks in the pan, eight at a time and fry for 2-3 minutes, or until golden.  Remove with a frying basket or slotted spoon.

Make sure that the oil stays around 365 degrees, change the burner heat often to keep the temperature steady.  It is also helpful to wait a minute or two between batches to bring the oil back to temp.

When the batch is cooked, place the sticks onto a wire rack fitted over a sheet pan to cool.

When you are done frying, let the sticks cool for 5-10 minutes.  At this point you have two options...

1.  Eat them.

2. Put them back in the freezer on the wire rack and sheet pan, and when you are ready to eat them cook them at 425 degrees for 5-7 minutes.

If you are not eating them the same day freeze them for four hours on the pan and then transfer them to a plastic freezer bag.    

An Apple A Day...

When we lived in Wisconsin we had a beautiful old apple tree in our backyard that produced an insane amount of apples.  Like Strega Nona's pot, the supply of food from my tree was never ending.  For several weeks every Fall we would pick apples and make fantastic creations with our bounty.  My favorite by far though was always making apple sauce...

I am not a canner...I worry too much about food safety and was paranoid that I would not get it right and kill us all, so I almost always just made my applesauce for the refrigerator or freezer (except the one year when my expert canner friend offered to come over and help me...thank goodness for people who know things that I do not).

After trying a few different ways to make applesauce, I realized that my favorite is skin on, no sugar, touch of cinnamon, true perfection.

I love Texas, but I really miss my apples...

Elizabeth's Applesauce  

Ingredients:
However many apples you have (usually 3-5 pounds works best), cut from the core in a large dice
1-2 cups of water, you can always add more if needed
2 cinnamon sticks

Directions:
Place the apples into a large pot and pour in 1 cup of water.  The water should just cover the bottom of the pan around the apples.  If the water does not quite cover the bottom of the pan add an additional cup of water.  Bury the cinnamon sticks in the apples and place the pot over medium high heat.  When the mixture starts to bubble turn the heat down to medium low and simmer.

Cook the mixture until the apples are quite tender and then remove the pot from the heat and let it cool for 5-10 minutes.  When the mixture has cooled removed the cinnamon sticks and discard them.
Place an immersion blender into the applesauce and blend until you reach your desired consistency.  Spoon the applesauce in freezer safe jars and put them in the freezer until you are ready to use them.  (Make sure that you leave at least an inch of headspace for possible expansion during freezing.  They can also go straight into the refrigerator if you plan to eat it immediately...

But...

I feel that I would be remiss if I did not mention that the absolute best way to eat this applesauce is warm from the stovepot.  Try it, you won't regret it.

(NOTE: If you do not have an immersion blender you can use a potato masher, or you can put it into a regular blender.  If you put it into a regular blender you need to cool it for an additional 10-15 minutes and use caution as hot items in blenders can cause burns.)

Rice Krispie Treats For Adults...And Kids...

I have an unhealthy obsession with Rice Krispie Treats...like a six year old girl style love for this bad for you treat.  My friends used to wonder if I had some form of arrested development, but eventually they gave into my problem and started buying me the super big kind that you can get at the gas station whenever they saw them.  I found over the years that I was willing to try almost any version that I could find of this delish goody, but they always fell a little short of something that I would actually serve at a party...for adults...like next to the tarts and the cheescakes and all of the other adult food.

Enter my insomniac idea...

I was laying in bed the other night going through the thousand things on the "to do" list and I remembered that I have to make the regular version of Rice Krispie Treats for my kids' school next month.  For some reason, with my eyes closed the treats looked different in my head than they normally look in the pan.  They had pretzels and m&m's and marshmallows, oh my!  And so was born this creation...

Adult Rice Krispie Treats

Ingredients:

3 Tablespoons of salted butter

10 ounces of marshmallows

6 cups of Rice Krispies

1/2 cup of broken pretzel pieces (not smashed, just broken)

1/2 cup mini marshmallows

1/2 cup mini m&m candies

Cooking spray

Directions:

Melt the butter in a large pot over medium high heat being careful not to burn it.

When the butter is melted add the marshmallows and stir until they are all melted.  If the marshmallows start to bubble, turn down the heat. 

When the mixture if fully melted, remove the pan from the heat and stir in the Rice Krispies.  Stir for 20-30 seconds, and then add the pretzels, marshmallows, and m&m candies.  Continue stirring until combined.

At this point spray the bottom of a 9x13 pan and turn the mixture out into the pan.  Spray a piece of waxed paper and use it to press the mixture evenly into the pan.  At this point the recipe looks like chaos...there are broken shards of everything...just ignore that and keep going.    

Wait 10-15 minutes for the treats to cool and then cut and serve.  Eat slowly and enjoy feeling like a kid again :)

These can also be frozen to savor later.  If freezing, cut the treats and put them on a sheet pan covered with parchment paper.  Freeze for 4-6 hours and then place in large ziploc baggies.  Freeze for up to two months.