You may or may not know this but in the last year I have developed a bit of an obsession with cheese curds. It all started with a little food truck at a food truck festival about a year ago. I had my very first taste of a cheese curd and was hooked! Ever since, I’ve made it a point to revisit the food truck. Then a couple months ago my brother went to Montreal and came back raving about the incredible poutine he had. So lets just say that ever since, I’ve had cheese curds on the mind! I came to the realization that finding fresh cheddar curds in NJ was just not going to happen. So instead I ordered online and had them shipped directly from Wisconsin! Heres what I did with 1 lb {out of 5!}… Beer Battered Cheese Curds with a Spicy Dipping Sauce!
Wait, are you wondering, What the heck is a cheese curd??? The curds are the milk solids that separate from the liquid part, the whey in the early stages of cheese making. Both the curds and the whey are cooked and stirred until the proper consistency of the curd is reached and then the whey {the liquid} is drained… leaving you a beautiful curd!
These curds are so so so good!!! The batter is really light thanks to the bubbly beer, they are quickly fried and the cheese is just perfectly melted inside! I made a really quick and simple dipping sauce to go along with the curds, mayo, Franks Red Hot and a little garlic powder. Self control needs to come into play here because you can’t just pop 5 of these Beer Battered Cheese Curds!
- 1 lb cheddar cheese curds
- 1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
- 1 cup of beer
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground pepper
- canola or vegetable oil for frying
- For the Spicy Dipping Sauce:
- 1/4 cup light mayo
- 2-3 tsp {or more to taste} Franks Red Hot
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- For the spicy dipping sauce simply mix together the 3 ingredients and set aside.
- Heat up about 2 cups of oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
- While the oil is heating mix together the flour, beer, garlic powder, salt and pepper.
- To test to see if the oil is ready carefully drop in a drop of the batter. If bubbles gently form around it then the oil is ready. If the batter drops to the bottom its too cool yet and if it starts splattering everywhere then you are too hot.
- One at a time dip the curds into the batter and gently place them into the oil. Do only about 5 or 6 at a tim, you don’t want to overcrowd the pan or to have them stick together.
- Using a slotted spoon gently move the curds around in the oil to ensure they brown up evenly.
- They cook up really quickly so about 30 seconds in the oil and they are done. Place onto a paper toweled plate to absorb any excess oil.
- Continue until all the curds are cooked.
- Serve warm with the dipping sauce.
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