IRON SKILLET CHEESE BREAD

Tell me that picture didn't just make you melt right then and there in your chair?? Just imagine actually tasting it!! I made this over the weekend. I used my favorite pizza dough recipe and just doubled it so that we would have a pizza and cheese bread. I also just got this really cool (and heavy) iron skillet from my Mom for my birthday that I was dying to use.

Below is the basic pizza dough recipe I use. What is awesome is you don't have to let the rise you can use it right away or if you have time, you can let it rise. So it is great to use on weeknights when there isn't always extra time to wait on something like bread dough rising.


Ingredients

* 3 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
* 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 tablespoon white sugar
* 1 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
* 1 teaspoon garlic powder
* 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

Directions

1. Combine flour, salt, sugar, and yeast in a large bowl. Mix in oil and warm water. Spread out on a large pizza pan. Top as desired.
2. Bake at 375 degrees C (190 degrees C) for 20 to 25 minutes.


When I make this I like to melt butter and add garlic powder to it and brush it all on the dough, it adds a really great flavor.




After making the bread dough, I pressed it in the bottom of my iron skillet. Sprinkling a little cornmeal in the bottom will give the dough something to grab on to and stick and not keep shrinking back.



Next I layered on two kinds of cheese, mozzarella and colby. I sprinkled the top with garlic salt and pepper. I think this baked for about 15-20 minutes.



Look at this right here! Looks like a pillow of cheese!




Cut into bars and serve warm!


One thing I would have done differently that I didn't do this time, was I think I should have greased my iron skillet, stuck some butter in the bottom or something to crisp up the bottom a little. Next time . . . .

FRIED CHEESE = HEAVEN!!

I had a serious craving for some fried cheese Friday - like serious craving!!! So I decided to do something about it and make me some! It's really simple and delicious.

You need:
Cheese
Flour
Beer Batter
Oil for frying

I went over to my Mom's to make these - fried cheese is best when shared. We used three types of cheese:
Mozzarella
White Sharp Cheddar
Swiss Emmentaler Cheese


After trying all three, we both really like the Swiss the best. This can be found in the specialty cheese section of your store. I was a little leery of trying the Swiss - but the taste was spectacular - so much better than mozzarella. I strongly suggest you try the Swiss when doing this.

Cut your cheese into sticks or bite size pieces. I did small squares and strips - either worked well, so it is just your preference.
It is important that you let your cheese get to room temperature before going on to the next step.



Once your cheese is a room temp, dust lightly in flour. When your cheese gets to room temperature it allows the oils to come to the surface thus making the flour stick to it. The flour is what causes the batter to adhere to the cheese and fry up nicely.



I just used a box mix of beer batter and it worked just fine. Just make it to package directions. You need to have your oil nice and hot - around 350-375 degrees. You need it hot enough to brown the batter before melting your cheese. If your cheese starts melting out before your batter is brown - your oil is not hot enough, stop and let the oil get hot enough.




That's what I call FRIED FOOD PORN and I'm not ashamed to say I look at it!



Here it is fancied up on a nice plate! These are best eaten warm! And in case any of you are worried, we did dip and fry some cauliflower too, so it wasn't ALL cheese! (not that there's anything wrong with that)