My brother and I were born on Armed Forces Day two years apart. That meant that we celebrated most of our birthdays together. When we were older our folks would let us choose a restaurant for our birthday dinner. Right away we chose TGI Fridays as that was all the rage in the 80's. Now it wasn't for the fact that they would sing us "Happy Birthday" with a sparkler in our ice cream that we went there, no it was for something more profound- the Stuffed Potato Skins. Remember when those got famous? Years after, restaurants have been throwing all kinds of finger food novelties at us like nachos, loaded fries, Buffalo wings, mozzarella sticks, even fried mac and cheese. So when I saw the Squeaky Cheese in Trader Joe's the other day I wanted to have my own finger food input. These turned out to be fantastic and very, very crispy. My kids went nuts for them with Ranch Dip and BBQ sauce for dipping. 
Fried Squeaky Cheese
10 once package squeaky cheese
Batter*:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. seasoned salt-smoked if you have it
1 tsp. smoked paprika
1 cup water
2 cups panko bread crumbs
48 fl. ounces vegetable oil
Dip Suggestions:
BBQ Sauce- I used Trader Joe's which is delicious
Ranch Dip
Bacon Mayonnaise
In a large dutch oven or in your deep fryer, heat oil to 375°. Meanwhile in a large bowl, mix all the ingredients for the batter excluding the bread crumbs. Place the curds in the batter and stir until coated. Place the bread crumbs in a large bowl. Working in small batches, shake off excess batter and toss the battered curds in the bread crumbs coating completely then fry in hot oil for 45 seconds or until golden brown. Remove from grease with a spider or slotted spoon to a paper towel lined plate. Continue frying in small batches until you are done. Serve hot with dips. Serves 6.
Note- The seasonings can be tinkered with like adding, garlic salt, cayenne, or onion powder. Whatever your heart desires.
*Batter adapted from and reprinted with permission from Bobby at blogchef.net. Thanks Bobby for such a great batter.
Too bad football season is over because this is perfect football fare. But I think baseball season is right around the corner!
28 comments:
They look so perfectly fried! I'll go nuts for them too!
Trader Joe's has come up in so many places lately that I feel the need to take a drive down to Maryland to see one! I'm feeling left out!
These look really great....
Michelle
http://oneordinaryday.wordpress.com/
These look yumm-o! Fried cheese is a beautiful thing and I always order it as an appetizer in restaurants :-)
I always used to request Friday's for my bday, too! In large part for the mozz sticks and potato skins (and the fact that my Friday's had a 2-tiered, old-school phone booth that my sibs and I could play in). Your fried squeaky cheese looks out of this world good! Can't wait to try this with some ranch dipping sauce!!
Oh yeah...we are lucky enough to live where fresh cheese curd is available right at the plant! This is SOOOO good!
Robin once again you have outdone yourself. The kids are coming soon and these look really groovy
Ok - so I know what I'll be buying next time I go to TJs:)
I love those cheese curds, but would have never thought to fry them! I know what I'm making this weekend :)
If only we had a Trader Joe's here! Or, if only we had a place I could get squeaky cheese! These look fantastic.
They look so good I can't find cheese curds I guess they don't sell in Utah when I lived in Hawaii we had them all the time. I am going on a hunt. Thanks for sharing
Frying cheese! Is there anything better? These look like yummy little morsels and I know where I'm watching baseball this year!
This looks like a fun one! It would be great for our Friday Movie Night.
We love squeeky cheese and fried it looks great! Trader Joes barbeque sauce is my favorite! Unfortunately, there isn't one in Miss., we go when visiting my mom in GA. So it is a stocking up shopping trip!
Um, you had me at SQUEEKY CHEESE! OMG, I cannot wait to make these.
I didn't know TJ's had cheese curds either.
And pretty sure you don't need an occassion to make these!!
THANK YOU!
OK. I want to try cheese curds (why can't they call it something else besides curds? ick!). Does it really taste like cheese? It doesn't taste like sour cottage cheese or anything does it? Because after seeing this I seriously want to try it.
The curds taste like cheddar cheese but a bit softer. If you do not have curds then you may use any cheese cubes you would like. Cheeses that would be good are cheddar, mozzarella, pepperjack, or colby jack.
You're right....cheese curds are squeaky...much like Halloumi cheese.
Don't forget, a French-Canadian fave are Poutine (Fries, cheese curds & gravy).
I always want to try them, but the hubs is unreasonably afraid of curds.
Wow those look. So evil.
How insane you and your brother have the same birthday.
What could be better than squeaky cheese other than to have it fried!
This squeaky cheese looks terrific. If I get industrious, I'll make this recipe gluten-free for my son. He loves cheese sticks, and while squeaky cheese is obviously different, I bet he'd enjoy these flavorful bites.
Shirley
I don't need a sports game for a reason to make these...they look amazing..eeeh gads I must have them.
I will have to trek to Trader Joe's to get this. It looks like it will be worth the trip.
Hi Robin Sue!! I just made your NJ Coffee Cake tonight and there are so many more recipes I want to try including the fried squeaky cheese ~ YUM! I posterd your NJ Coffee Cake recipe on my recipe blog ~ giving you full credit ~ just so I could have it for my own easy-go-to reference! So I guess my question is... is that ok? I'm not real sure about what I can or can not post but always give credit and the links to the sites where I find these awesome recipes!! Thanks for sharing...♥ from Idaho!
"cheese curds" sounds not-so-appetizing, but i'll coming running at the mere mention of fried cheese. deeeeliciously done. :)
They sell squeaky cheese at the Farmers Market by my house in the summer. You have to get there early though because it sells out so fast! I love this recipe!
And, I didn't know they sold it at Trader Joes! Nice!
Fried cheese curds is such a great idea!
Oh my, those look just scrumptious! I'll eat the whole thing right then and there. Sharing was never my strong suit. ;)
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