HOMEMADE MOZZARELLA STICKS (and bread crumbs)

I KNOW. I can't believe it either. WHY have I never made mozzarella sticks at home before!? So many wasted years...

I don't particularly like "string cheese" or any processed cheese for that matter, but let me tell you, breaded and fried? AMAZING.

We happened upon some such cheese this week, and since I didn't want to eat it cold, I fried it up.

Frying goodness

We also didn't buy bread crumbs this week, because Trader Joe's only had organic, and that seemed a little crazy (and overpriced) for us. SO, we made that too! The BF toasted a loaf of bread in the oven, then I broke off pieces, put them in the food processor and pulsed for about a minute until it was crumbs. I didn't add any spices, I'll just add those when I cook.

The bread, before it was crumbs

AND THEN, I made the mozz sticks...

I cut the "string cheese" sticks in half, dipped them in milk, then rolled them in my bread crumb mixture (below), then in the milk AGAIN (yes again) then in the bread crumb mixture again.
Next, I fried them for about a minute on each side, in a small amount of olive oil, on medium heat. They're done when they start to 'unfirm' and look a little melty.

Here are the ingredients for the breading. It made about 10 mozzarella sticks.
~4 heaping TBS. breadcrumbs
~2 heaping TBS. flour
~1 heaping TBS. cornstarch (my secret ingredient for frying)
~ a pinch each of garlic powder, oregano, basil and parmesan


I INSIST you make these next time you happen to have string cheese in your house. I also won't tell anyone if you buy it just to make mozzarella sticks. It's totally worth it.



I wish I hadn't eaten them all so fast...