Texas Roadhouse
Rattlesnake Bites

For the bites

• 8 oz Monterey Jack cheese, shreddedShred it yourself — pre-shredded is coated in starch and melts poorly
• 2 to 3 jalapeños, seeded and finely dicedLeave some seeds in if you want real heat
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flourBinds the cheese so the bites hold together

For the coating

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup milk
• Vegetable oil, for frying
• Ranch dressing, to serve

1. 1

   Mix the filling

   Shred the cheese and dice the jalapenos small — bigger than a pea and they fall out when you roll. Toss both with the 2 tablespoons of flour. Now squeeze a handful in your fist. If it holds like wet sand, it is right. If it falls apart, another spoon of flour. If it feels greasy, the cheese has warmed up; put the bowl in the fridge for ten minutes.

2. 2

   Roll and freeze them hard

   Roll into balls a bit smaller than a golf ball. You should get around 20. Onto a lined tray, into the freezer, and leave them a full hour. Do not shortcut this. Frozen cheese takes long enough to melt that the coating sets around it first, and that is the whole trick. Warm cheese melts before the shell forms and you get a pan of oil with cheese floating in it.

3. 3

   Set up your coating station

   One bowl with the flour, garlic powder, paprika, cayenne, salt and pepper, whisked so the cayenne is not sitting in one spot. Another bowl with the egg beaten into the milk until there are no streaks of white left.

4. 4

   Coat, then coat again

   Flour, egg, flour. The second flour pass is not optional either — one coat leaves thin patches and cheese finds them. Press the flour on rather than rolling it lightly. Put the coated bites back on the tray and into the freezer while the oil heats.

5. 5

   Fry them in small batches

   Two inches of oil at 350F. Use a thermometer; guessing is how this goes wrong. Four or five at a time, no more — every bite you add drops the temperature, and a crowded pan makes greasy bites instead of crisp ones. They take 60 to 90 seconds. Pull them when they are deep gold, not pale. Let the oil come back to 350F between batches.

6. 6

   Drain and eat them now

   Onto paper towels for a few seconds, then straight to the table with ranch. These are at their best in the first five minutes, while the shell still cracks. After ten it softens and after twenty it is a different snack. Fry them last, not first.