Your weekly frugal recipe - Mozzarella Sticks

Fried Mozzarella Sticks

The Food Stamp Way

Skills	Prep	Cook
What do these meters mean?

 This week's recipe comes as a request from @katecgarvin who wants to know how to make mozzarella sticks.  Though fried mozzarella is far from a gourmet meal, it's probably what most of us associate with our first trip to an "Italian" restaurant.  I know it's my favorite horribly non-authentic appetizer.  You can also buy it frozen!  Wait, no, we don't do that here.

Equipment you'll need
Chef knife, cutting board, heavy-bottomed saucepan or cast iron skillet, mixing bowls, metal slotted spoon or fork, candy thermometer (optional)

 
Serves 4

Ingredient	Amount	Cost
Mozzarella cheese	8 oz	$2.28
Egg	1	$0.12*
Milk	1 Tbsp	$0.01*
All purpose flour	1/4 c.	$0.03*
Italian bread crumbs	1/4 c.	$0.07*
Garlic powder	1 tsp	$0.10*
Vegetable Oil	at least a quart	☨
Total		$2.61☨
* Based on price per package divided by amount used.

Price per plate =$0.65☨ - a quart of vegetable oil costs about $3.00, but you'll use less than 1/4 c. in the process of deep frying, so the cost is nominal

Notes about ingredients:

Italian Bread Crumbs:  If there's a price difference at your grocery store (there isn't at mine), buy regular bread crumbs and add 1 tsp of Italian seasoning to them.

Vegetable oil:  Deep frying is seriously the only situation in which I'm going to recommend actual vegetable oil.

Prep Instructions:

Beat the egg and milk together in a mixing bowl.  (This is called an egg wash)

Put your flour in another mixing bowl.

Put your bread crumbs in a third mixing bowl.

Cut the brick of mozzarella into pieces that are 2 inches long and 1/2-inch square

Instructions:

1.  Heat the oil to 375ºF (185ºC) in a heavy bottom saucepan.  If you don't have a candy thermometer, heat the oil over medium-high heat until a tiny pinch of flour bubbles in the oil when you drop it in.  If, when you put a touch of flour in the oil, it just sits there, it's not hot enough.  Wait 5 more minutes.
2.  Roll each cheese stick in the flour, coating it completely.
3.  Dip each stick into the egg wash completely.
4.  Roll the stick into the bread crumbs.  I roll it three or four times.  Use your dry hand to cover any parts that might have come off on your wet fingers.
5.  Carefully place the cheese stick in the hot oil.
6.  Allow the cheese stick to fry until the bread crumbs are golden brown.  If the oil isn't hot enough, all the cheese will melt out of the bread before it browns up.  Wait a few minutes and try again.  You might lose a couple, but you'll get it right.
7.  Remove the cheese stick from the oil with a metal slotted spoon or a fork (plastic will melt), and place it on a paper towel folded in quarters to dry.  Let it cool a bit before you try it or you'll burn the crud out of your tongue.

     This is one of those recipes you won't want to do often, but they're tasty.  Unfortunately, the first bite you take will probably seem bland to you for two reasons:  First, fresh mozzarella has a lot more salt than the dry mozzarella you probably bought.  Second, restaurants and frozen brands pack extra salt into their mozzarella sticks.  If you don't like them after a while (it took me 2 sticks), add salt to your bread crumbs next time.  You should also note that, if you'll buy a jug of vegetable oil just for frying, you can let the oil cool completely then use a funnel to put the oil back in your jug.  To keep the oil clean, put a coffee filter in the funnel before your start pouring the oil in.  It'll take longer, but your oil will stay good longer.  If you're frying correctly, you won't lose very much out of your oil each time.  The thing about deep frying is that it is unhealthy if your oil's not hot enough to cook things immediately because they breading or batter will absorb the oil.  If it's too hot, it'll burn really fast, but that's really not a problem in this one.  In fact this is probably the best way to introduce yourself to deep frying - if you don't get it quite done, you don't run the risk of salmonella.  If your cheese sticks are still cold in the middle, you kept the oil too hot.  Learning experiences are great.

What recipe would you like done the food stamp way? Comments? Questions? Tweet to @cookingcheap