Beer-Battered Cheese Curds with Caramelized Onion & Garlic Sauce

Whether it's game day, movie night, or a potluck, these curds will be a smash hit!

Ingredients

2 Bags of Squeaky Cheese Curds

2 Cups of your favourite beer

3 Cups all purpose flour

1 Tsp Baking Powder

1 Tsp White Vinegar

1/2 Cup medium sized Spanish Onion, finely diced

1 Tbsp Chopped Garlic

1 Cup Sour Cream

2 oz White Wine

1 tsp Canola Oil

Curated by Chef Lincoln Key, these deep-fried cheese curds bring a new level of versatility to the cheese curd and reinforce that this fantastic cheese can be eaten on its own!

*Italicized comments are Chef's Notes.

Cooking the curds

• Preheat deep fryer to 325 degrees .

• Spread out Squeakies Cheese Curds on a baking sheet and cool in freezer for 10-15 minutes.

  • This helps keep them firm when you’re mixing them with the batter.

• Whisk 2 cups of beer with 2 cups of all purpose flour, removing any lumps.

• Add baking powder and vinegar.

• Season with salt and pepper.

• Mix curds with the remaining flour, making sure to cover them.

• Mix curds with batter mix, shaking off excess flour in the process.

  • I chose to do it in a couple of batches, so that I could make sure that they’d all be covered in batter.

• Slowly and carefully drop the curds into the deep fryer. Keep them as separated as possible so that they don’t stick together.

  • Make sure not to drop them from an elevated position, or the oil will splash!

• When the curds are golden brown (approximately 4 minutes),remove them from the fryer, and allow excess oil to drip off of them.

• In a bowl, season the curds with salt and pepper.

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Cooking the sauce

• In a saucepan, on medium heat, add 1 tsp of canola oil.

• Add onions and cook until golden brown.

• Add chopped garlic and cook for 30 seconds.

• Add white wine and reduce until the liquid has almost disappeared, soaking up all of those great onion and garlic flavours from the pan.

• Add sour cream and mix.

• Season to taste with salt, pepper, and a dash of paprika.

• Cool for 10-15 minutes in refrigerator.

If you’re looking to make it a little bit prettier or add some flavour, try adding some chopped herbs (Soft leaf herbs such as chives, dill, tarragon, etc.), scallions, or even add a bit of heat with some cayenne powder.

Created in partnership with Dairy Farmers of Prince Edward Island.