Garrett’s Cheese Straws

Great finger food for the race, football game, or for that cozy party. There are 2 parts to these appetizers, the seasoning and the straws. The great thing about this recipe is that you can alter so many different parts to make the cheese straws you like best. See the alternatives sections for more ideas.

Total preparation time: 1 hour, 45 minutes.

Creole Seasoning
Ingredients:
This makes about 1/2 cup of seasoning. Store unused portions in a seasoning bottle for next time.

Creole Seasoning Preparation Time: 10 minutes

• 2 tblspns freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tblspns ground white pepper
• 2 tblspns paprika
• 1 tblspns powered sugar
• 1 tblspns salt
• 1 tblspns garlic powder
• 2 tspn ground thyme
• 1 tspn cayenne pepper
• ½ tspn ground celery seeds.

Seasoning Directions:

• Combine all of the ingredients in a mixing bowl.
• Stir together well
• Store in an air-tight container until ready for use.

Cheese Straws:
Preparation Time: 1.5 hours

Ingredients:

• 2 sheets frozen puff pastry, thawed.
• ½ cup grated Romano cheese
• ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
• ½ tspn freshly ground black pepper
• 1 egg
• ½ cup milk
• 2 tspn Creole Seasoning *

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 325°f
• Unfold pastry sheet on lightly floured surface
• You can roll out pastry sheets to a desired thickness, or leave them as is. They should be ¼ inch thick. The sheet should be a rectangle about 14 by 12 inches.
• Cover with a dry kitchen towel and allow to rest for 30 minutes.
• Combine Romano and Parmesan cheeses with Creole seasoning in a mixing bowl.
• In a separate bowl, beat the egg with milk to form a wash.
• Lightly paint the puff pastry with the egg wash.
• Sprinkle the cheese mixture, making sure the puff pastry is evenly coated.
• Gently press the cheese into the puff so it will stay in place.
• With a sharp knife, you’ll make several cuts in the pastry sheet.
  (See the cutting details below, for additional help and pictures).
  • First, cut pastry sheet vertically at 1 inch increments, this will form twenty-eight 1 inch strips.
  • Second, cut the pastry sheet in half lengthwise.
  • Lastly, cut each strip diagonally in half to form narrow straw-like triangles.
• Carefully remove triangles and place on a baking sheet.
• Bake until golden brown; about 20 minutes.
• Remove from oven and place baked straws on a wire rack to cool.
• Serve within 5 to 10 minutes, while still warm.

* Alternatives:

• If you have a sensitive stomach, you can replace the Creole Seasoning with ¼ tspn pepper and ¼ tspn salt.
• You can use any kind of cheese combinations you like. Replace the Parmesan and Romano with white and yellow shredded sharp cheddar.
• Try a pre-packaged tex-mex shredded cheese mix instead of the creole, Parmesan and Romano mixture.
• Try cinnamon sticks. Replace the creole seasoning and cheese with dashes of cinnamon sugar. (Don’t use plain cinnamon).

Cutting The Straws
1. Roll seasoning evenly across the pastry sheet.

2. Cut the sheet vertically at 1 inch increments

3. Cut the pastry sheet in half lengthwise to create 2 sets of 6 inch strips.

4. Cut each strip in half diagonally.

5. This will form narrow straw-like triangles.

6. Bake and Serve warm.

© 1997-2018 Springwolf, D.D., Ph.D., Springwolf’s Creations. All Rights Reserved.