Deep-Fried Mac 'n' Cheese

Continuing onto my third blog post, I decided to bring up the skill level a little higher with making Deep-Fried Mac 'n' Cheese from On A Stick! by Matt Armendariz. As stated by Armendariz, "there's a certain amount of culinary bravado required to pull off these crunchy squares of scrumptious mac 'n' cheese" (56). But I knew it would be worth it in the end, so I took on the challenge. To begin, as always, I gathered the ingredients (and this time there was a lot):

• 4 picks
• 2 tbsp. unsalted butter
• 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 2 cup milk
• 2/3 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
• 1/3 cup grated white cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup grated fontina cheese
• 1/2 lb. dried elbow macaroni, cooked and drained
• 5 qt. vegetable oil
• 2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 cups panko bread crumbs
• Salt and pepper to taste

Once set out, I began by greasing an 8-by-8 inch with cooking spray and put it aside for awhile. Then I whisked in the flour with melted butter in a saucepan for four minutes and milk was added slowly until everything was combined. After another four minutes the cheese was stirred in a little at a time and eventually the mixture was completely smoothed. Now I did the easiest part, folding the cheese sauce into the noodles and seasoned it with salt and pepper (Armendariz 56). The mac 'n' cheese, before the deep frying, was absolutely delicious. And my taste tester, Violet, agrees! She even gave it two "thumb's up":

Unfortunatelyit has to sit for one day in the fridge, which considering I'm extremely impatient this was pretty hard to do. So I placed it in that previously greased pan, and after 24 hours cut it up into squares and put it in the freezer for another hour. Finally, after a lot of waiting, it's actually time to deep fry them.  I heated the oil in a large pan, although I did not use 5 quarts, as suggested. Similarly to my first post of deep fried mozzarella sticks, the pasta squares are dredged in flour, dipped in egg, then rolled in panko. The last step is to let the mac 'n' cheese cook in oil for around six minutes then take them out and they're ready to go!

Although they look pretty appetizing, they didn't taste all that great. I would have much rather eaten the macaroni before it was refrigerated and deep fried. In conclusion, I probably wouldn't use this recipe again unless I was looking for some quality home-made mac 'n' cheese (not deep fried).

What are some other ordinary foods that are good deep fried?

Armendariz, Matt. On a Stick! Philadelphia, PA: Quirk, 2011. Print.