Mozzarella Sticks, and Monkey Bread

Our Tuesday date night was reschedule to Thursday this week, so last night we made our dinner. We did a Calzone bar basically, we had everyone make their own calzones and we baked them while enjoying a appetizer. I found this appetizer through a friend and thought it would be fun to try on a date night.

Mozzarella Sticks (From: Food Network)

• 1 1/2 cups Italian-style dried breadcrumbs
• 1 1/3 cups freshly grated Parmesan
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 (16-ounce) blocks pasteurized mozzarella cut into
• 4 by 1/2-inch sticks
• 4 large eggs, beaten to blend
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
• 4 cups Marinara Sauce

Stir the bread crumbs, 1 cup of Parmesan and 1 teaspoon of salt in a medium bowl to blend.

Dip the cheese in the eggs to coat completely and allow the excess egg to drip back into the bowl. Coat the cheese in the bread crumb mixture, patting to adhere and coat completely.

Place the cheese sticks on a baking sheet. Repeat dipping the cheese sticks in the egg and bread crumb mixture to coat a second time. Cover and freeze until frozen, about 2 hours and up to 2 days.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Working in batches, fry the cheese until golden brown, about 1 minute per side. Transfer the fried cheese to plates. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and serve with the Marinara Sauce.

***Tips: We made these Sunday morning, we froze them on a cookie sheet until Monday afternoon and then I put them in a Ziploc baggie. We made half the recipe, and it was plenty for 4 people. Next time, I think we would double bread them, as they didn't have as much as we were hoping for.

Calzones

We made these a few months back, they were just as good this time. Click here to go to recipe.

Monkey Bread (From: My Mom)

• 4 cans biscuits
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/4 c. cinnamon
• 1 stick butter, melted
• 1.4 c. dark karo syrup

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix sugar and cinnamon together in a bowl.

Pour 1/2 of melted butter in bottom of a bundt pan.

Cut biscuits into quarters, roll in cinnamon sugar, and place into bundt pan on top of butter.

After all biscuits are in pan, pour some cinnamon sugar on top, as much or little as you want. pour rest of butter over, then pour the karo syrup over.

Baked for 30-45 minutes or until golden brown.

The easiest way to serve is to tip over on plate and have every grab a chunk and eat.