Bread – I’m trying to make cheddar sticks from scratch

I would think all of the above will give tasty results, the point about the use of a professional broiler or salamander is possibly the real clue for cheese to crisp it needs heat, the rest of the dish probably does not.

There are a few tricks to try,

1 use any of the above mixes but get yourself a blow lamp from the DIY store or garage, not a silly little overly priced armature cook shop one, and use it to flame the tops just before serving(warn guests of the temperature before they burn their mouths) Effectively same as a good crème brulee.

2 make parmigiana disks grate parmigiana very finely on to a silicon tray or baking sheet oven roast until crispy or use grill if you have a hot broiler. let them cool on a rack place them on top at the end of the cooking - Combine with the blow lamp to colour and heat as a professional touch.

3 the lazy way add a dash of butter to the tops during the baking to colour the cheese mixture.

You need to cover soft vegetables in egg or batter first. Normally the vege's are steamed first to actually cook, cooled, then egg washed or lightly battered and flash deep fried in hot oil just to set the thin batter

Try Indian style spicy pea/chickpea flour batters