Dixie Cheese Straws Food

SOUTHERN CHEESE STRAWS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350° F.
• With electric mixer, cream butter and cheese until well blended. Add baking powder, salt and cayenne pepper. Beat on medium speed until well blended. Add flour; beat on medium speed for 5 minutes until very creamy, scraping down the sides of the bowl several times.
• Using either a cookie press or a decorating bag with a star tip (I use the 1M large star tip), pipe 3-inch long cheese straws on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Leave at least ½-inch space between cheese straws. Bake for 14 to 16 minutes, or until golden brown.
• Remove from oven and allow straws to sit on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in air tight container.
• Yield: 12 dozen.

CLASSIC CHEESE STRAWS

Steps:

• Unfold the puff pastry sheets on a lightly floured surface. Beat the egg with 1 tablespoon water; generously brush on the pastry sheets (reserve the remaining egg wash).
• Combine the cheddar, parmesan, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a medium bowl. Sprinkle the cheese mixture over 1 pastry sheet, then place the other pastry sheet on top, egg wash-side down, lining up the edges. Lightly dust the pastry with flour; firmly press the top sheet down, then roll out the sandwiched pastry sheets into a 10-by-12-inch rectangle.
• Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Cut the puff pastry rectangle in half lengthwise. Cut each half crosswise into 18 strips. Twist each strip a few times and arrange 1/2 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets. Brush with the reserved egg wash. Refrigerate at least 20 minutes or up to 1 day.
• Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees F. Bake the cheese straws, switching and rotating the baking sheets halfway through, until puffed and golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes. Slide the straws (on the parchment) onto a rack and let cool completely.

CHEESE STRAWS

Steps:

• Sift the flour and a pinch of salt into a bowl. Using your fingertips, rub in the butter until all the lumps are gone and the texture is like fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the cheese, mustard powder, cayenne, and egg yolks. Add 4-5 tablespoons of cold water and mix to a firm dough. Wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5. Line a baking sheet with baking parchment. Roll out the dough to a square, roughly the thickness of a £2 coin. Cut the square in half, then cut each half into 1cm/½in strips. Transfer carefully onto the lined baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes, until crisp, then leave to cool on the tray.

CHEESE STRAWS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
• Put the softened cheese and butter in the bowl of a heavy-duty electric mixer. Using the heaviest mixer paddle attachment, beat until the mixture has the consistency of whipped cream, 15 to 30 minutes.
• In a large bowl, sift 3 cups of the flour with the salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper and garlic powder. Gradually add the seasoned flour to the cheese mixture by large spoonfuls, beating well after each addition. Add the remaining 1 cup unseasoned flour incrementally until the dough is somewhat stiff but still soft enough to be pushed through a cookie press; you may not need to add all the flour.
• Lightly spray 4 cookie sheets with cooking spray. Put a portion of the dough into a cookie press fitted with the star tube and press the dough onto a cookie sheet in long strips that run the length of the pan. Repeat until the pan is full. Bake until straws are golden brown and crisp, about 20 minutes.
• With your hands or a sharp knife, break or cut the long strips into 3-inch lengths. Use a flat, thin spatula or an egg turner to remove the cheese strips from the pan. Allow them to cool on a wire rack. When they are completely cool, serve or store in a tightly covered container.

SOUTHERN CHEESE STRAWS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grate cheese.
• In a food processor, pulse dry ingredients until combined, then add cheese and butter. Process until dough becomes smooth and has the texture of Play-Doh. Alternately, make the dough in a stand mixer by creaming cheese and butter until smooth. Then combine dry ingredients in a bowl and combine with butter mixture at low speed until smooth.
• Shape the dough into a cylinder, wrap with plastic wrap or parchment and allow to rest for 20 minutes. Or store in the refrigerator until ready to bake.
• Bring dough to room temperature and pack it into a cookie press fitted with a star disk. Pipe long ribbons of dough across the baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat, about an inch apart. Then cut into six-inch lengths. Repeat with remaining dough. Dough may also be hand-rolled into long ropes and cut to size, or shaped into a cylinder and sliced into rounds and baked.
• Bake for about 13 minutes or until the edges just begin to brown. Store between sheets of parchment or waxed paper in an airtight container. Will keep for up to three weeks.

QUICK CHEESE STRAWS

Steps:

• heat oven to 220c/fan 200c/gas 7. Unroll a puff pastry, scatter over a couple of handfuls of grated Parmesan, then fold in half. On a lightly floured surface, roll out to the thickness of a £1 coin. Cut into 1cm strips, then twist the strips 3-4 times. Lay on a baking sheet, scatter over more cheese and bake for 12 mins, or until golden. Leave to cool, then keep in an airtight container for up to 2 days. As these cheese straws are very delicate, roll them in kitchen paper before packing into a plastic container.