Cotherstone Fried Cheese Bites

Thea of 'What's That You're Cooking, Thea?' fame regularly uses cheese in her recipes and has a particular soft spot for Cotherstone and Kirkham's Lancashire. Take a look at this recipe for Cotherstone Fried Cheese Bites below to see how simple and utterly delicious her cooking is. 

Cotherstone’s moisture content means it melts so beautifully, bringing ooziness to the centre of these fried cheese bites that will remind you of mozzarella. But this cheese packs more weight, tanginess and interest than any ball of mozz ever could. As the edges crisp up under the breadcrumbs, they develop a toastiness and their savouriness intensifies. 

Ingredients

3 egg whites
190g Cotherstone cheese
75g fine breadcrumbs
Salt and pepper

1. Finely grate the Cotherstone cheese. In a small bowl, mix the egg white with the grated cheese and season. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes.

2. With slightly damp hands, roll the mixture in into 12-13 balls smaller than a golf ball and then toss them in the breadcrumbs gently, place them on a tray. You can either refrigerate them again now or fry them straight away.

3. When you’re ready, heat up 300-400ml sunflower oil in a deep sided, small pan (I use a milk pan) and fry the balls in 3 or 4 batches for 2 minutes. Rotate and bob them around in the oil with a fork as you go until they're brown and crisp all over. Remove to a piece of kitchen roll to drain, and sprinkle with salt immediately. Enjoy with a glass of something cold.

NB: Put the unused egg yolks in your next batch of scrambled egg, omelette or custard to make them even richer