We were away for a week in one of our favorite places, Door County, Wisconsin, and, since we were there a bit ahead of ‘the season’ one of our usual go-to restaurants was only open on the last night of our visit. Imagine, then, Rich’s disappointment that they were out of fried cheese curds – one of his favorite munchies, and a treat he’d been looking forward to all week. I knew we’d be stopping by Reynard’s on the way home, so I told him we’d pick up some curds and I’d look for a recipe to make at home for a kindofa junk food dinner.
Note: this is a pretty straight forward and simple to make recipe, but you will need a deep fryer. I have a small one given to me by friends that works a treat for the two of us and the very few times I deep fry anything.
INGREDIENTS
•2 qt corn or peanut oil for frying
•1 lb cheese curds, broken apart*
Batter:
•1/4 cup milk
•1 cup all-purpose flour
•3/4 cup beer
•1/2 tsp salt
•2 eggs
*The original recipe called for using two pounds of curds, but that was way more than the two of us needed. Still, the oil held out and there was enough batter, so, if you’re frying for a crowd, go for it.
Whisk the milk, flour, beer, salt, and eggs together to make a smooth, thin batter.
Heat the oil in your deep fryer to 375º.
Working with about eight pieces at a time, dip the cheese curds in the batter, stirring to coat them well, then lift them out with a wire strainer, shaking to remove excess batter.
Pop the battered curds in your fryer basket, lower into the hot oil, and cook for two or three minutes – the original recipe I found said to cook for one to two minutes, but I found that mine turned out much nicer if I went for the full three minutes.
Transfer the cooked curds to a paper towel lined plate to drain and repeat; battering, straining, then frying, with the remaining cheese curds.
We had ours with a bit of buttermilk ranch dressing and some sweet chili sauce on the side for dipping and Rich’s disappointment of the week before was forgotten.