Opening day of Farmer's Market on the square. Ominously gray morning w/ wind gusts > 20 mph. Going counter-clockwise (is this the 'right' direction to travel?), we decide to get a lb of Hook's cheese curds to initiate this line of experimentation. (We also picked up some Hook's 'Blue Paradise'--only $8.95/lb!) Though they were selling curds with flavoring, we decided to go with the plain curds for our first attempt. The curds are quite fresh; they were made yesterday at 2 PM.
After I bought them home (and ate a couple), I set the bag on the kitchen counter to get the curds to room temp. I find the curds become creamier, and thus tastier, and more likely to squeak, when they are at room temp. I went pretty simple for my first attempt:
|
Experiment 1
Cheese: Hook's Curd age @ frying time: 1 day and 6 hr Pre-marinade: 15 min soak in 3 oz of Southern Tier's 8 Days a Week (delicious beer btw) + 3 oz of Silk Almond & Coconut Milk (all I had in the fridge) + 1/2 tsp rice wine vinegar Batter: 1 cup sifted all-purpose flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp black pepper, 1 tsp sifted baking powder The fry: I removed the curds from the soak and tossed them in the batter until they were entirely coated. My Presto 05420 FryDaddy only has one temp (350 °F). I fried a few of them in 1X used peanut oil for about 2-3 min. |
|
Results:
It's unfortunate my first ever fried cheese curd looks kinda phallic. The right 'ball' is a nice, crunchy piece of batter--no cheese--in case you were wondering. The texture of the batter was actually pretty good in crunch, but I was hoping for more air between it and the cheese. I learned that longer frying time = over-melted curd. Rather than being a fried cheese curd, you get more of a moz stick thing. You end up with a hollow piece of cheese-lined batter. |
|
Conclusions:
|
How about fried curds for dinner on a Monday after work? I also experimented w/ aioli (might document my struggles with this later). Making aioli by hand must be some sort of hazing during culinary school, is all I will say for now. In this next experiment, I wanted to try for a puffy 'fish-n'chips' type of batter, so I went w/ a tempura-like beer-heavy batter.
|
Experiment 2
Cheese: Hook's Curd age @ frying time: 3 day and 3 hr, fridged Pre-marinade: none Batter: 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, 1/4 cup corn starch, 1/2 tsp sifted baking powder, 1/8 tsp baking soda, 1/4 tsp paprika The fry: 350 °F in my FryDaddy, fresh peanut oil. I dunked the curds in the batter, let some of the spare batter drip, and lowered them into the oil. They browned fast! So, I removed them in 1-2 min and tossed them in salt. |
|
Results:
I definitely achieved that 'fish-n'chips' texture; the fry was puffy and ultra-crunchy in an airy way. However, I felt the fry was a bit too airy and flaky, like Japanese tempura. I wanted a bit more structure and a liiittle bit more space between the curd and the batter.  
|
Conclusions:
|
Will I die young if I eat fried cheese curds for dinner every night? I wanted to finish up these delicious Hook's curds w/ a final experiment w/ a) eggs in the batter and b) frying in my cast iron (for higher temps).
|
Experiment 3
Cheese: Hook's Curd age @ frying time: 4 day and 3 hr, fridged Pre-marinade: none Batter: 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, 1 egg with 1/4 tsp salt, 1/8 cup of Silk Almond & Coconut Milk, < 1/2 cup of Mango Coke First, I mixed all the ingredients but the flour. Again, when adding the flour, I mixed until it was all hydrated, but left some lumps.  The fry: 375-400 °F in a cast-iron pan; 1X used, strained peanut oil. I dunked the curds in the batter, let some of the spare batter drip, and lowered them into the oil. These took a full 2-3 min to fry to golden perfection. I could have allowed them to go a bit longer because the curds were pre-chilled. |
|
Results:
My best fry yet! They reminded me of the ones from Old Fashioned (if the fry cook was not entirely on point). I've also decided that I don't like pre-marinating the curds. I will stick w/ adding the beer to the batter immediately. I think it results in a fluffier fry. I will continue to experiment w/ the egg. I'm not sure if it adds anything yet. I might fold in some stiffly beaten egg whites and a little corn starch next time to get some of that tempura crunch effect back. Finally, I'm convinced that I'll be needing temps closer to 400 °F in the future, and thus, the FryDaddy will have to be relegated to non-curd frying. |
 |
Conclusions:
|
Right before frying, I added 1/8 cup of vodka (Chopin--sorry for wasting you!) and ~1/2 cup of beer (Leinie's Summer Shandy) to the dry ingredients.
I whisked just until the dry material was hydrated (still lumpy) so it was akin to pancake batter or wall paint in texture.