Baked / Fried Cheese Puffs - Hot Or Cold...Delicious!!

Gees I really missed you guys!! I had to be serious for a while and look after my business other than cooking. I would love to share with you a recipe that came to my mind while reading various cooking magazines and figured you would love it. Everybody loves cheese unless prohibited due to health reasons.
These are cheese puffs which are supposed to be fried... but because frying is not good for the health (I know yellow cheeses are not either) therefore I baked them. The only problem is that they do not really keep their shape but they still are delicious and not oily.

You will need:
-  100 gr. of grated Cheddar or Gouda cheese.
-  100 gr. of  grated smoked cheese.
-  100 gr. of parmesan.
-  A handful of fresh basil finely cut.
-  A handful of fresh thyme finely cut.
-  A handful of fresh mint leaves finely cut.
-  Pepper to taste.
-  Watch the salt because some cheeses are already salty.
-  1 whole egg  to hold everything together.
-  Some all purpose flour.
-  1-2 eggs slightly beaten.
-  Very fine breadcrumbs.
Method:
-  Mix by hand your three cheeses together in a bowl.
-  Add your herbs and mix well.
-  Add your egg and mix well.
-  Add your pepper to taste.
-  Work your mixture till it becomes uniform.
-  Take a small amount and form a ball between the palms of your hands. The size should be half that of a golf ball.



-  Roll each cheese ball in flour, immerse in egg, then coat in the fine bread crumbs.
-  Place on a cookie sheet lined with oven proof paper.
-  Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. In fact you can do ahead from the previous day to have them ready for cooking.
-  Bake for 10 - 15 minutes at 180 degrees C to golden brown.
-  If you prefer to fry them, do so in very hot oil to golden brown taking care to handle with care not to break, the melted cheese will then ooze out of the puff which should be avoided.

Serve hot or cold as you wish....a very nice amuse bouche with red wine.
Enjoy!
Stelio

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