Cheese & Taco Frenchies

I grew up in the small town of McCook, Nebraska (population then was approximately 8,000). In a blog post I wrote a few months ago for my hometown gazette, I talked about some of the eating establishments I missed in McCook and the surrounding areas. One place I talked about was Peter's Dairy Creme. Even though the restaurant closed in 1994, the memories still live on. Someday I will add a recipe post dedicated to the Jiffy Burger, a sandwich that Peter's was well known for, but today I am focusing on the FRENCHIE.

Just a few months ago I introduced my hubby to the frenchie! He had never even heard of such a delicacy. That leads me to believe there are others out there who are unaware. Well, this is too good of a thing not to share. Think of it as grilled cheese on steroids! Yummo! Personally, I like to define it as a "take-two-slices-of bread-add- mayo-and-American-cheese-then-dip-in-egg-and-cornflakes-before-frying-to-a-deep-golden-perfection" delicacy!

You can still find cheese frenchies today at places like Don & Millie's and King's. To my knowledge, Peter's is the only place I know of that had ventured into different flavors of frenchies. Along with regular cheese frenchies, you could also get pizza and taco frenchies. My favorite were taco frenchies! 

Follow the pictures and steps below to make both cheese and taco frenchies. I promise you won't be sorry. Well, your waistline may be a bit sorry, but your mouth won't! ENJOY!

Frenchie Basics . . .

Remove the crusts from bread.
(Idea: Save the crusts and make croutons!)

Spread a generous amount of mayo (or Miracle Whip)
over each slice of bread.

 For Cheese Frenchies . . .

Add one slice of cheese to each slice of bread (two slices
per sandwich). Cut diagonally into triangles.

The early beginnings of a cheese frenchie!

 For Taco Frenchies . . .  

Chop (finely) approximately 1/4 cup each of green pepper and onion.

Brown 1 lb of gound beef with the onion and green pepper.
Drain grease . Add taco seasoning.

I also added some cumin and chili powder (which is already found in taco seasoning). I love the taste of cumin! The taco meat mixture should be made according to your own tastes.

Add taco meat mixture on top of the cheese.

One half gets the meat mixture plus cheese while
the other just has cheese. Sandwich the two halves together.

Cut the now sandwiched halves in half (still with me?!?) and freeze
for one hour. Freezing helps keep things together for the dipping.

Frenchie Dipping . . .

(Sounds kinda sexy doesn't it...AHEM . . . where was I . . . hee hee?)

Combine crushed corn flakes (use a food processor to get them really fine) and bread crumbs in one bowl.
Add egg and water to another bowl.

(I use pie plates because they are shallow and work well for dipping.)

Dip the frenchie in the egg mixture and then coat
with the crumb mixture.

In order to get a really good coating you may need to dip in the egg mixture more than once. When you are done dipping, place in freezer overnight (or for several hours).

Frozen cheese frenchies ready to fry!

Frozen taco frenchies ready to fry!

Frenchie Frying . . .

Deep fry 'til golden brown.
It took about 10 minutes for the cheese frenchies
and a little longer for the taco frenchies.

Keep in mind that you want the cheese to be melted (ooey and gooey) all the way through.Also, because the taco frenchie meat is frozen you want to allow enough time so that it is completely warmed through. As a last resort, if the cheese isn't melted completely, or if the meat isn't warm, just stick it in the microwave for a few seconds. Fry time is really up to you!

Out of the Fryer and into the Mouth . . .

Mmmmm....mmmm...look at the oozing cheese!

Cheese Frenchie yumminess!

Taco Frenchie Goodness!

 

                                   

Dad, Mom, and Hubby approved!!!!      

One more thing . . .

In case you are wondering if you have to go through the freezing process, I will say that it is entirely up to you. Freezing definitely holds everything together and keeps the crumb coating from falling off right away into the hot oil. If you do freeze them and don't want to fry all of them up at one time, they store well. The frenchies you've seen in these pictures were made one week and then enjoyed several weeks later. I even took some back to my parents in Nebraska (with a little help from some dry ice). Here's how I packaged mine for freezing. . . 

Now, if you don't want to wade back through all of the pictures while you're trying to cook, use the following:

Cheese Frenchies

Ingredients:

  6 slices of white bread

  6 slices of American Cheese

  2 eggs

  2 Tablespoons of water

  4 cups crushed Corn Flake

  1/2 cup bread crumbs

  Mayo or Miracle Whip

  Oil for frying

Directions:

1. Remove the crusts from the bread.

2. Spread a generous amount of mayo on bread.

3. Insert cheese slices between pieces (two slices per sandwich).

4. Cut diagonally to form two triangles.

5. Freeze one hour.

6. Mix cornflake crumbs (use food processor to get them really fine) and bread crumbs in one bowl. Mix egg and water in another bowl. Remove from freezer and dip into egg then coat with the crumb mixture.

7. Freeze overnight (or for several hours).

8. Deep fry 'til golden brown (approximately 10 minutes).

For Taco Frenchies

Ingredients: All of the above ingredients plus the following:

  1 lb ground beef

  Green Pepper

  White Onion

  Taco Seasoning

  Water

  Cumin (optional)

  Chili Powder (optional)

Directions:

1. Chop (finely) approximately 1/4 cup each of green pepper and onion.

2. Brown gound beef with the onion and green pepper.
3. Add taco seasoning and approximately 1/4 cup water. The water steams the meat, breaking it down and making it stick together. At this point, you should taste the meat mixture. Add cumin and chili powder if you'd like.

4. Remove the crusts from the bread.

5. Spread a generous amount of mayo on bread.
6. Insert cheese slices between pieces (two slices per sandwich).
8. Add taco meat mixture on top of one slice.
9. Sandwich two halves together and cut in half to form two rectangles.


*Repeat steps 5 through 8 from Cheese Frenchie recipe above. Adjust fry time for Taco Frenchies (10+ minutes).*

Note: Because I made both cheese and taco frenchies, I used a whole loaf of bread. You will also need more eggs, corn flakes, and bread crumbs.

HOPE YOU ENJOY!!! Let me know if you end of making these. By the way, one of these days I plan to experiment with my own variation of the pizza frenchie. I'll let you know how it turns out.