deep- fried breaded camembert with spicy plum sauce

deep-fried camembert with spicy plum sauce

As a truculent teen-aged vegetarian, I wasn't expecting much (well too many veggie options) from the French bistro my long-suffering parents had dragged me to. But my gloomy expectations were turned upside down; the first course of deep-fried Camembert with a gooseberry sauce was a bit of a revelation for me. It was so good, that I had it for my second course since by now I was in melted cheese nirvana and never wanted to leave.

Since gooseberries aren't in season, but plums are, I made a sweet but spicy plum compote (again!) to go with the gooey cheese bites. Any leftover plums are fabulous in a crumble too, so you have two recipes for the price of one.
Of course, you could use any kind of fruit with your cheese (pears or apples would be lovely), but at the moment I am maintaining my plum obsession!

Serves 3 to 4 as a starter
Skill level: Easy

ingredients:
1 round of Camembert, (about 250g), frozen
45g seasoned flour
75g dried breadcrumbs (I used a both brown and white)
2 tsp smoked paprika
2 tsp Parmesan cheese, finely grated
1 tsp dried Oregano
a pinch of Cayenne Pepper
1-2 eggs, beaten
vegetable oil
plum compote

directions:

1. You will need to freeze the Camembert before starting the recipe. However, remove Camembert from freezer, while preparing the plum compote.
2. Once the compote is cooked, you can leave the fruit chunky, or puree to a thick sauce.
3. Divide Camembert into 6 to 8 wedges.
4. Set up your preparation line - one shallow bowl of seasoned flour, one bowl of beaten egg, one plate of seasoned breadcrumbs. Now get to work!
5. Dredge each wedge in seasoned flour. Dip in beaten egg. Coat with seasoned breadcrumbs. Repeat, so that each wedge has been coated twice. They can be chilled before cooking.
6. Heat vegetable oil; to 190C in a deep-fat fryer or until a cube of bread cooks in 30 seconds.
7. Carefully lower wedges into oil and fry. (Mine took about 1 minute.)
8. Remove using a slotted spoon and set aside to drain on kitchen paper.
9. Serve with a spoonful of plum compote and enjoy your little piece of cheese heaven.