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Cheese Bales

Small balls or shapes of grated cheese, bound with egg or flour, crumbed and fried in deep fat, with other cheese savouries.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Landmarks Club · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 25 ingredients
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Why it works: Cheese and parmesan cheese match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,041 recipes. Both carry ethyl 2-methylbutyrate, which smells fruity, apple. The science ↓

Cheese Bales

Ingredients

Directions

Make the cheese balls

  1. Mix one cup of grated cheese with the stiffly beaten whites of two eggs.

  2. Add a pinch of red pepper and a little salt.

  3. Make into balls as large as walnuts.

  4. Roll the balls in fine bread crumbs.

  5. Fry in deep fat in a basket.

  6. Serve very hot.

  7. Serve with lettuce and French dressing.

Other methods

  1. Mix one and a half cups grated cheese, one tablespoonful flour, a little salt, a few grains of cayenne, and the whites of three eggs beaten stiff.

  2. Shape in small balls.

  3. Roll in cracker crumbs.

  4. Dip in the beaten yolks of the eggs.

  5. Roll again in cracker dust.

  6. Fry in deep fat and drain on brown paper.

  7. Scald the milk.

  8. Mix the flour into the hot butter.

  9. Put grated cheese into the milk.

  10. When dissolved, add the butter and seasoning.

  11. Stir until thick and smooth.

  12. Pour on a platter and set on ice.

  13. When stone cold, roll as croquettes in egg and bread crumbs into small balls.

  14. Fry in hot lard.

  15. Rub butter into flour with salt and cayenne.

  16. Add grated cheese.

  17. Mix with the egg yolk and a squeeze of lemon juice to a very stiff paste.

  18. Roll very thinly.

  19. Stamp into small round biscuits.

  20. Bake a few minutes in a moderate oven.

  21. Before serving, place a little pyramid of whipped cream flavored with cheese in the center of each biscuit.

  22. Make a sauce of butter, flour and milk.

  23. Stir in egg yolks unbeaten.

  24. Add cheese and cook until cheese begins to soften.

  25. Remove from stove and add seasoning.

  26. Spread in a shallow buttered pan and allow to cool.

  27. Cut out in strips or squares.

  28. Crumb, egg and dip in crumbs again.

  29. Fry in deep hot fat and drain on cheesecloth.

  30. Serve as cheese course.

  31. Work the ripest cheese with a knife to a smooth paste.

  32. Mix with enough olive oil to make the consistency of thick cream.

  33. Mix in plenty of paprika until the cheese is decidedly red.

  34. Serve with slices of thin bread and butter, or toasted crackers.

  35. Mix grated cheese, flour, butter, baking powder, salt and cayenne to a stiff paste with a very little milk.

  36. Roll out and cut into strips about three inches long.

  37. Roll round and bake on a tin in a brisk oven for five minutes to a very delicate brown.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1027Calories
45 gProtein
43 gFat
113 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 10 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Cheese1 oz (28g) cheddar113
Parmesan Cheese1 oz (28g)110
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Chili1 tsp (2.7g)8
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Cayenne1 tsp (1.8g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

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

By Landmarks Club. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.

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 + parmesan cheesetop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,041 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  2. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Cheese + buttertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,962 recipes

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

  4. Butter + parmesan cheesetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,163 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Cheese + milktop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,426 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Grated cheese
Provides flavor and body, and helps bind the mixture into a shapeable paste.
Eggs
Whipped whites give structure and lift; yolks add richness and help bind the mixture.
Flour
Forms a starch base that thickens the sauce or paste and gives structure.
Butter
Adds fat for richness and tenderness in the paste or sauce.
Milk
Moistens the mixture and forms the base of the cheese sauce.
Baking powder
Releases gas that leavens the dough so the biscuits rise and lighten.

The step that matters

Stir the sauce until thick and smooth. Flour must be cooked fully in hot butter and milk to thicken evenly; undercooked or lumpy starch leaves a raw taste and a grainy texture that weakens the cheese mixture.

“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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