Even though I feel kinda silly, I wanted to share with anyone out there a trick I discovered. I don’t fry food a lot, but when I do, I usually prefer my deep fryer. It is a little faster and more convenient. Still, every time I used it I hated cleaning the basket. So much so, that sometimes I would just prefer to fry some food on an almost flat pan. I had another epiphany. The other days I made home made fries and this time, for some reason, I decided to spray the basket with PAM cooking spray. It worked like a charm! No more food glued to the basket. I did not have to scrub hard at all. I had been thinking that it would be much more convenient for manufacturers to make a nonstick basket for deep fryers (maybe they’ve manufactured this already, but since I cannot buy any more kitchen stuff I’m stuck with the one I have). I found my remedy. I’ve tried this with fries and cheese sticks (you know how messy they are!). If you didn’t know about this, try it next time. I think it will be worth your while. You can try it with this recipe:

Mahon cheese (this is a Spanish cheese from Menorca) or Mozzarella cheese (actually any kind of melting cheese would do) cut in half inch sticks, 2 eggs, all purpose flour (enough to dip the cheese pieces), Progresso Italian style bread crumbs (also just enough to coat the cheese pieces) or you can use any brand, even pulse some croutons in the food processor, and vegetable or corn oil for frying.

Heat oil in the deep fryer to about 350 degrees. Don’t forget to spray the basket with PAM cooking oil. Beat the eggs in a bowl and set aside. Arrange the flour and the breadcrumbs in separate bowls and put them close together. Coat the cheese entirely with the flour. Dip the floured cheese stick in the egg bath. Make sure it is covered with the egg all the way and finish coating it with the bread crumbs. Do this with all the cheese sticks. Place them in the basket, submerge in oil (be careful with any splash) and fry until golden. Strain and serve with your favorite marinara sauce. My boyfriend enjoys Ranch dressing.

Enjoy and Happy frying!