Linny's Kitchen: Bake it Baby!!

Monday, September 5, 2011

Bake it Baby!!

Baked Mozzarella Bites

I have a bitter sweet love for Mozzarella Sticks. They are one of my favorite appetizers but, they are just so not healthy for you to be eating. However, not being one to give up a favorite food I played around with a few recipes for a Baked Mozzarella Stick to finally come up with one one that tasted just like the real thing. But, without the face covering artery clogging grease.

Because you are baking these instead of frying them there are two very important steps to keep in mind. The first is to cut the cheese sticks in half. If you do not cut them in half I noticed that the ends of the sticks over melt and leak out all over the baking sheet. the next is to freeze them for just about 30 minutes before baking. This allows the crusts to set up and to not melt off the cheese when baking. You can make the cheese sticks even smaller by cutting the sticks in thirds, this will make them even more bite size and increase your serving size for 24 to 36 (a great idea if you are having people over.)

I suggest using the Italian Corner Tomato Basil Sauce as a dipping sauce for the Mozzarella Sticks. It is milder than the pizza sauce and has just enough chunks of tomato to grip to the bread crumbs.

Ingredients

4 cups of Bread Cumbs (I used Panko)

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 egg whites

2 tablespoons milk

12 Micelli's String Cheese (cut in half)

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly grease a medium baking pan lined with parchment paper.
In a large, shallow bowl mix together the bread crumbs, oregano and garlic powder.
Place the flour in a small bowl.
In another small bowl, thoroughly beat the egg whites and milk.
Cut the Micelli's Cheese Sticks in 1/2 to make 24 pieces of cheese. Dip the cheese sticks in the flour, then the egg mixture, then the cereal mixture. Repeat dipping in the egg and cereal mixture to ensure a complete coating. Arrange cheese sticks on the baking pan. Allow the sticks to set for 30 minutes in the freezer.
Bake in the preheated oven about 8- 10 minutes until cheese is soft and sticks are lightly browned.

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Linny's Tip - Cooking and Storing Potatoes

Potatoes should be kept in a cool, dark place with good ventilation. The ideal storage temperature is 45 to 50ºF. At these temperatures, potatoes will keep for several
weeks. But don't store potatoes in the refrigerator! When kept below 40ºF, potatoes develop a sweet taste, due to the conversion of starch to sugar. This increased sugar causes potatoes to darken when cooked. If you store potatoes at room temperature, try to use them within a week or so.

Keep potatoes away from prolonged exposure to light, which causes them to turn green. This greening causes a bitter flavor. If potatoes develop green areas or start to sprout, just trim off these areas before using.

Always add potatoes to cold water to boil. This ensures that potatoes will cook evenly throughout.

Linny's Tip: Tomatoes

Did you know tomatoes are second in consumption to potatoes!

However, there is one important thing everyone should know about tomatoes and that is how to store them. Tomatoes do not like the cold at all. In fact when you keep them in the refrigerator they will become mealy and loose their robust flavor.

Instead store them in a cool dark place with their stem side down for ripe tomatoes. For those tomatoes that a not quite ripe leave them on a sunny window sill and soon they will turn bright red and juicy ready to honor any salad or BLT!