For the first two weeks of September, I got to go to Minneapolis to house and cat sit for Molly, and it was a dream. I got to A) live in a house with AC, B) experience early fall/late summer in the Midwest, C) explore the city and get a taste of MN living… and D) I achieved my final evolution in being a Midwesterner, and made homemade cheese curds. I went grocery shopping at Target, and they had cheese curds in the cheese aisle and I realized I just needed to give it a try. All it took was some cheese curds, some Hamm’s beer batter, and some oil. The result was really everything I was hoping for.
I definitely want to try making these again, maybe for a football game party, or some special occasion. I think it would be fun to play around with the seasoning or the cheese and try to put a spin on it to make it extra special. I also determined that dipping them in breadcrumbs before frying is ideal for homemade. Having them not with breadcrumbs was very reminiscent of the cheese curds at Coyote Roadhouse, but having the breadcrumbs made them feel more deluxe and homemade.
I don’t have too much else to say about these cheese curds. They put me in the perfect mood for a Midwestern fall, and I feel very accomplished and am excited to keep these in my back pocket for the future. It also allowed me to enter my alternate reality fantasy world, where I inevitably move out of CA. In this fantasy world I move to WI and I can buy New Glarus and cheese curds at the grocery store, and I make these every other Sunday for the Packers game. It’s clearly a very elaborate fantasy.
(In other funny news, the algorithm has picked up on this fantasy world and has started suggesting me things like this.)
Print
PinIngredients
1 pound cheese curds
1 cup flour
1 cup beer (+ 1–2 tablespoons as needed) (I used Hamm’s because it was available)
1 egg
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon table salt
1 1/2 cups bread crumbs
vegetable oil for deep frying
Instructions
Heat oil in deep fryer or skillet or pot to 400 degrees. If using a skillet ensure enough oil is added to cover the curds (approximately 2″).
Combine flour, baking powder and salt together in a medium bowl.
Add egg and beer and mix till combined. The batter should have the consistency of thin pancake batter. If it is too thick add additional beer as needed. If it is too thin, sprinkle in a little flour.
Working in batches, drop cheese curds into the batter and evenly coat then lift cheese out of the batter (letting excess batter drip off first) and toss in the bread crumbs. Then, using a slotted spoon, place them in the oil.
Deep fry curds for 1 minute, or until golden brown, turning over as needed, then remove the fried curds to drain on paper towels.
Let cool slightly, but serve while still hot.