Randy has shared his recipe for Superfine Cheese Straws, so I can enjoy a taste of Dixie in the City of Angels anytime.
When I moved from Alabama back to Southern California in December and listed the Dixie specialities I’d miss, I overlooked a gem: my friend Randy’s Superfine Cheese Straws. He and his partner Phillip were kind enough to give me a generous batch of these delicate treats before I left Birmingham. I’m pretty sure I ate them all (with a little sneaky help from Rascal) before the car pulled out of the driveway.
They’re that good. As I noted in an earlier crazy rant, cheese straws as they’re made in the Deep South are a savory pleasure of cheddar cheese, butter, and flour. Love ‘em with a gin and tonic, which was usually how Phillip served them to me.
Randy’s Superfine Cheese Straws
Surprisingly, cheese straws are not the place to use your fancy English Cheddar. “The cheap stuff, like Cracker Barrel, works best for us,” says Phillip. A cookie press is a gadget that allows you to load the dough into a barrel and press out cookies–or cheese straws–in a uniform shape. Most come with an assortment of attachments for different shapes and sizes. If you don’t have one, shape the dough into little logs by hand. The results won’t look as refined as the photo above, but you’re using Cracker Barrel for crissakes, so there’s no need to be high-falutin’.
9 ounces flour (about 2 cups)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne (or more, if you want them hotter)
4 ounces (1 stick) butter, melted
1 pound sharp cheddar cheese, grated and at room temperature
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Sift together first 4 ingredients. Place butter butter and cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment; beat until smooth. With the mixer on, slowly add flour mixture, beating until dough forms. Place dough into cookie press, squeeze desired shape. Place on 2 baking sheets covered with parchment paper. Bake at 350 degrees F for 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool 2 minutes on pans. Cool completely on wire racks. Store in an airtight container for up to a week (though I can’t imagine they’d last that long). Yield: well, that depends on how the size of cheese straws you choose. I mean, don’t go overboard or anything. They’re just supposed to be a lil’ cocktail nibble.
