Fresh Tart

Do you invite people to your home for dinner or do you break into a January-in-Minnesota sweat at the thought? I love eating in restaurants, but the nights spent with friends and family in our home, or in theirs, are the best of all. When I was a newlywed, I was so excited to be a grown up that I almost killed myself preparing elaborate dinner parties in tiny kitchens. I don't regret those experiences one bit, but these busy days, I prefer to keep it simple. I think my guests have more fun and I know that I do.

Especially when the dinner party is spontaneous! I just love a last-minute dinner party, when guests pitch in with the chopping, and setting the table, and we all sit around chatting and relaxed. Hear this Minnesotans - there is no need for fancy appetizers before dinner! Sometimes I think the pressure of fussy appetizers kills a party more than the dinner itself. Pop some bubbles and set out some salty nuts, raw vegetables, and a slab of good butter. Delicious. Done.

Or make frico! If you keep a block of Parmesan cheese in your fridge, you're ready to impress in mere minutes. Frico is basically fried grated cheese, toasted in a pan to a crisp wafer of whoa, ready in five minutes or less. Slide the golden crunchy cheese onto a plate and let your guests break off pieces to devour between sips of wine.

It's lovely to fry a bit of sage in the pan before sprinkling in the cheese. Ditto stirring around a bit of garlic. This Melissa Clark version from the New York Times jumped right out at me a couple of weeks ago. Isn't the scorched zucchini pretty? It's also a nice foil for the richness of all that toasted cheese. Clark's introduction didn't put me off either: WHY there is no cult devoted to crunchy fried cheese is beyond me. It’s as rich as bacon or pork belly, as crisp as chicken wings, and as tempting as a foie gras doughnut.

I couldn't agree more!

Recipe for Melissa Clark's Zucchini Frico at TC Taste/Minnesota Monthly Magazine.

You probably don't want to know this, but it's seriously easy to make fried cheese curds at home. In fact, in the time you spend in line at the Minnesota State Fair, sweating your brains out while standing on a smushed-curd covered floor, you could have whipped up a batch at home and EATEN it. Kablam!

So in case you couldn't hack the line, or your kids got too cranky before the cheese-curd portion of the day, I offer this fast tempura version for your kitchen. A combination of rice flour and corn starch yields a shatteringly crisp exterior (that just happens to be naturally gluten-free).

Assuage fried-food guilt by dipping a few sliced vegetables in the batter too. I had fried mushrooms for breakfast just this morning, in fact, as a quick test to make sure that I could recommend the batter for vegetables...all good. I suspect strips of bell pepper, zucchini, onions (of course), dill pickles, or asparagus would all work beautifully. I guarantee that little balls of leftover risotto and mashed potatoes are crispy-gooey fabulous. (Breakfast of champions for me today, oy...)

Recipe for Fried Cheese Curds at TC Taste/Minnesota Monthly Magazine.

So I had fried cheese for both breakfast and dinner today.

I am ridiculously obsessed with the stuff right now, to such a degree that I kind of embarrassed myself a couple of weeks ago raving about the gluten-free fried cheese curds at Red Stag in NE Minneapolis to Ryan Petz of Fulton Beer. When we ended our conversation with plans for a group brunch, he wryly suggested that maybe we'd best head to Red Stag to assuage my fried cheese craving.

So that's exactly what we did! And the crispy, salty little treats were so good that I ordered a few more rounds while at Red Stag again this past week with a group of the girls.

Apparently my years at the University of Wisconsin taught me well that There is Never Enough Fried Cheese. And that Beer is Food, although that's a different post.

But since I can't very well go running off to Red Stag every time I have a craving for fried cheese, and because tasty cheese curds aren't completely easy to obtain, I created the version pictured with slices of fresh mozzarella coated with egg and almond flour. The trick for cheese contained within - not exploding out of - a golden crust is to freeze it for a bit before frying.

Serve the melty, golden loveliness with marinara sauce and lots of basil for an almost-summer treat.

Fried Cheese with Almond Meal Crust (Gluten-Free)
Makes 4-6 slices

1 ball of fresh mozzarella, sliced into 4-6 slices, a bit less than 1/2-inch thick
2 c. almond meal
1 tsp. salt
1 large egg, lightly beaten in a flat bowl
olive oil for frying
warm marinara sauce & fresh basil for serving

Line a large plate with parchment paper.

Combine almond meal and salt on a large plate. Dip one slice of cheese in the beaten egg, then dredge the cheese slice in the almond meal mixture. Lay the cheese slice on the parchment paper. Do the same with the remaining cheese slices.

Put the uncovered plate of cheese in the freezer for 30 minutes.

Add 1/4-inch deep olive oil to a medium skillet and heat over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, fry the cold cheese slices a couple at a time, until golden brown on both sides. Transfer slices to a paper towel-lined plate and fry the rest of the cheese. Serve cheese hot with warm marinara sauce & fresh basil.