I made both a rosemary and a red pepper version this time.
Four Star Cheese Straws
12 ounces chopped Grafton Village Four Star Cheddar
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
½ cup wheat flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon crushed rosemary (batch 1)
or
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (batch 2)
2-4 tablespoons heavy cream
Set the oven to 350°F.
Place everything but the cream in food processor. Pulse until coarse crumbs appear. Add the cream by the tablespoon and process until the dough forms a ball.
Flour a rolling surface and a rolling pin. Separate the dough into two pieces and form each into a ball. Roll the first dough ball into a rectangle that is about 1/8-inch thick. Use a pizza cutter to cut 1/3 in strips along the short edge of the rectangle, making as many as can be. Carefully transfer the strips to a parchment lined cookie sheet, leaving at least 1/4-inch between them. Repeat with the second dough ball.
Bake the straws on the middle oven rack for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the ends are golden brown. Remove them from the oven and allow to cool on a rack.
We served these at our Relay For Life charity wine tasting and of course they were a huge hit again. I tried them with a couple different wines. The rosemary version was quite nice with my homemade un-oaked chardonnay. The red pepper version found a good partner with the Shiraz that our new winemaking friends Dave & Robin brought to share.
Cheers!
Jason
