Monday, May 01, 2006

Cheese Bites

While I normally prefer to cook items that take some work in the kitchen, building complex flavors with multiple ingredients, I'm also a fan of something I can whip together and throw out on the table in a few minutes. But even more than that, I love recipes that can be changed 1,000 different ways, depending on what I have on hand, or what I want it to accompany.

This is one of those recipes. It literally takes 15 minutes from start to finish, tastes amazingly delicious, and can be changed to suit your needs. I've made these with a Mexican slant, in honor of Cinco De Mayo, but that's just the beginning. Throw in scallions, ginger, and soy for an Asian flair, throw in some fresh asiago or fontina cheese with some herbes de provence for a Parisian snack, or just add garlic, cracked black pepper, and aged cheddar. No matter how you make them, you'll be delighted.

Cheesy Poofs

Cheese Bites
1 cup flour, sifted
2 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 cups shredded cheese
1 egg, beaten (or egg substitute)
1/2 c soymilk (or cow milk)
1 (4 oz) can diced green chilies

Combine flour, baking powder, salt, cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, cheese, and chilies in a bowl. In a small bowl, beat egg and milk together. Add to bowl with dry ingredients, and combine well. Drop by teaspoonful onto greased cookie sheet. Place in preheated oven, and bake 10-15 minutes, until done.
Allow to cool on a cooling rack for a few minutes before serving.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

i read all your blog, thanks for share all of the recipes and thanks for this great blog.

Emily said...

These look soooo good.

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

I love it! I bet these would be perfect with a lovely chili or stew.

Yum!

Catherine said...

15 minutes and 2 cups of cheese - my kinda recipe!

Anonymous said...

I made these this morning. Yet another winning recipe from your blog! I made them for a group of women, so I had to leave out a couple of things that some don't like. I used cayenne instead of chili powder and Greek oregano instead of cumin. I omitted the diced chilies (although I know I would have loved them). Oh, and I used whole wheat flour instead of white and they turned out wonderfully! I used Parmigianno Regianno for the cheese.
Yum! Keep these wonderful recipes coming :-)

Anonymous said...

Hi there - any suggestion as to a cooking temperature? Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Cooking Temperature...
I just tried these the other day at 375 and they worked great. Really quite fantastic fresh from the oven. And easy to boot!

Madeline said...

These sound fantastic, I can't wait to try them!

chelle said...

i have these in the oven RIGHT NOW... wish me luck. had to improvise because i didn't have all the ingreditents.... stairing at the clock move Soooooooo Sloooooow!

chelle said...

these were absolutely delicious!!!! thank you. i dont know that a recipe can get much easier than this.