At the start of the month I had the amazing opportunity to appear on a local talk show, Daytime Durham! I had so much fun, and it was a huge honour to kick off the show’s blogger week. While on the show I discussed blogging, shared some tips & tricks and had the opportunity to demonstrate a recipe as well! The recipe I chose to share was an oldie but a goodie, my gluten free mozza cheese sticks.
As some of you may remember, when I first went gluten free I was so depressed over the fact that I couldn’t seem to find gluten free cheese sticks anywhere so I had to learn how to make my own. It’s a really easy recipe, just time consuming as the steps require repetition. The great thing about this recipe is that even if you’re not gluten free, you can still enjoy it. Simply use regular flour and bread crumbs. I like to make a large batch when making these and freeze most of them for connivence reasons. (I am one person after all!)
As I said, the recipe itself is fairly simply just tedious and repetitive. If you are local and had the luxury of watching my segment, you have the benefit of a visual reference and these instructions will seem much simpler and will be easier to follow. Should part of the segment become available online, I’ll share it here for those of you who aren’t local. As far as ingredients go, all you need is some mozzarella cheese sticks, gluten free flour and bread crumbs (or regular!), milk, eggs and spices of your choice.
- Mozzarella Cheese sticks or cheese strings (whichever you prefer)
- 3 Eggs
- 1/4 Cup milk
- 1 Bowl of gluten free all-purpose flour
- 1 Bowl of gluten free panko style bread crumbs
- 1 1/2 Tsp parsley
- 1/2 Tsp oregano
- 1/4 Tsp garlic powder
- Juice of 1/2 a lemon
- 1 Sea Salt
- You will need the following in three separate bows – (bowl #1) gluten free flour; (bowl #2) Whisk together milk and eggs; (bowl #3) gluten free bread crumbs, parsley, oregano, garlic powder and sea salt
- Slice the cheese sticks in half
- One at a time, roll the cheese stick first in the flower, then the egg/milk, and finally in the bread crumbs
- Repeat this process 2-3 times, set aside on a cookie sheet until all cheese sticks are covered
- Flash freeze the fully coated sticks for 15-20 minutes, this step is crucial because if you don’t the cheese will melt before the outside is cooked resulting in a mess
- In a medium sized frying pan, lightly coated with oil, fry Mozza-Sticks for about 5-10 min, or until golden brown
- *Optional: Freeze in a ziplock back and pop them in the oven for 5 minutes for a quick snack.
Once they’re all cooked, you can either eat them right away, or freeze them in a ziplock bag if you are making a large batch. I usually will make around 20-25 and will freeze them. This makes them a great, easy snack for later! If you do decide to freeze them, just pop them in the oven for about 5 minutes around 300F to warm the centres and get that cheese gooey for a quick snack!
Serve with tomato and basil marina sauce, or whatever kind you prefer! For those of you feeling adventurous, you can also make your own using this recipe:
- 1 Small can tomato paste
- Finely chopped onions
- 1 Clove garlic, minced
- Fresh basil, chopped
- 1/4 Cup Water
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 Tsp garlic salt
- Dried oregano, salt, pepper and sugar to taste
- Combine all the ingredients in a medium pot
- On medium-low heat, stir until it is thoroughly mixed. Taste test, and add more sugar if needed. I find 2 pinches does the trick.
