Brazilian Cheese Bread Balls

I got a copy of Carol Fenster's "Gluten-Free 101-Easy, Basic Dishes Without Wheat (Centennial, CO: Savory Palate, 2003) and was leafing through it with Dan, when he spied the recipe for Cheese Bread Balls. We miraculously had all the ingredients on hand, so I tried a batch. The recipe hails from Brazil, where they are called Pao de Quiejo.

The taste was good, the outside was crispy, but the inside is unpleasantly rubbery (Fenster described the inside as "sticky"), sort of like an escargot wrapped in a nice cheesy, crispy pastry. I don't know if it's because of the tapioca flour, but next time I'm going to try the recipe with part rice flour and see if that helps the texture. Try them for yourself.

Cheese Bread Balls

1-1/2 cups tapioca flour
1 cup milk
1/4 cup light olive oil
1 large egg
1/2 cup grated Parmesan, Romano or Asiago cheese
1/4 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Have measured tapioca flour ready.

Heat milk and oil in medium saucepan and bring to rolling boil. Remove from heat and immediately add tapioca flour. Mix quickly with wooden spoon. Cool 5 minutes.

Place mixture in food processor and add egg, cheese, and salt. Process until mixture is smooth and forms a ball.

With 1-1/2 inch or 2-inch spring-action ice cream scoop, drop 12 balls of dough onto ungreased baking sheet about 2 inches apart. For smoother balls, roll each between your oiled palms.

Bake 30-35 minutes or until balls are lightly browned and crisp. Makes 12.

Serve warm or at room temperature (I think texture is better when they are cooled).