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Pan-Fried White Brined Cheese

Pan-fried slices of salty, brined white cheese served with lemon and optional bread.

From the Wikibooks Cookbook · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Cheese and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,130 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Pan-Fried White Brined Cheese

Serves 1
Timea minute or two per side

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Heat a small frying pan over medium-high heat.

  2. While the pan heats, cut the cheese into slices of the desired size and thickness.

  3. Optionally dredge the slices in flour.

Fry and serve

  1. Add the oil to the hot pan and swirl it around.

  2. Wait until the oil shimmers and becomes more fluid.

  3. Add the cheese to the pan and step back; it will spit due to the brine-water on the cheese.

  4. Flip the cheese after a minute or two.

  5. Serve immediately with lemon and optional bread.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

812Calories
28 gProtein
33 gFat
100 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Cheese1 oz (28g) cheddar113
Feta Cheese1 oz (28g) cheddar113
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Wikibooks Cookbook.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Cheese + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,130 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  2. Olive + lemontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,922 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  3. Olive + breadtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,091 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).

  4. Cheese + olivetop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,802 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (apple, fatty).

  5. Lemon + flourtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together30,404 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

White brined cheese
Forms the crisp, browned crust while its inside softens and turns molten and creamy.
Olive oil
Conducts heat to the cheese surface and helps it brown evenly in the pan.
Flour
Dries the cheese surface, helping it form a more even, golden crust when dredged.

The step that matters

Adding the cheese to the hot pan. Brine water on the cheese turns to steam and makes it spit, so the cheese should go in only once the oil is hot and shimmering, and the cook should step back to avoid splatter.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cheese, olive, flour, bread):

  1. Figfits better
  2. Avocadofits better
  3. Pearfits better
  4. Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cheese, olive, flour, bread. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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