03.22.12_Buffalo Fried Goat Cheese

I think the name alone explains why I was uncontrollably excited about making these. I love buffalo sauce and goat cheese is by far my favorite cheese. Anytime I see goat cheese on a menu I have a really hard time not ordering it. I thought these would be a great appetizer for our monthly dinner party this month.

I was a little reluctant to make these only because the blog I found the recipe on said "Don’t let them sit on one side for too long or the cheese will start to escape." I have never been good at frying things without having to worry about cheese "escaping!" But my fear could not stop me from making these.

To make them, all I did was buy a 12oz log of goat cheese and cut into 12 equal discs. The recipe called for a 4oz log but my goat cheese obsession told me that making 12 balls out of 4oz would simply not be enough to satisfy me. Next Phillip and I rolled the discs into balls. I then put the cheese balls into an egg wash (I used 2 eggs beaten together), dropped them into panko bread crumbs, and then repeated so that each goat cheese ball had been dredged twice in the panko and egg.

Finally it was time to fry. I put about 2-3 cups of vegetable oil in a pan, put the heat to medium-high, and then when the oil was starting to ripple put in 6 of the balls. I used a metal pasta strainer (I don't have a metal slotted spoon) to toss the cheese balls int he oil and tried to keep them constantly moving. I was really surprised how quickly they browned up. I took them out of the oil and dropped them directly into a bowl with 1/2 cup of Frank's Red Hot. I repeated the process with the 6 remaining cheese balls. I screwed up and put them all on a paper towel lined plate after dropping them in the sauce rather than directly after frying, but it probably didn't make much of a difference. After they sat for a few minutes to dry, we dug in. They were everything I had dreamed of. The creamy goat cheese cut the spice of the hot sauce. I couldn't stop eating them.

The only thing I probably could have done differently was to leave the cheese balls in the oil a little longer to get them crispier and warmer but I was really nervous about melting the cheese. Definitely try these. They are so heavy that everyone will only eat a few anyway, unless you are like me and cannot stop eating them and immediately regret the fact that you just ate half a log of goat cheese in 5 minutes. Totally worth it though.