Cheddar Chipotle Cheese Straws
Morita chiles are red, fully mature Chipotles. This gives them a unique, medium – hot smokey flavor which is popular in many Southwestern dishes. These can be added to sauces (including Mole) to add smokey flavor and maintain the red color of the sauces. These peppers are about 2-4 inches in length, 1 inch in width, and have a deep brick reddish brown color. The word Chipotle translated to smoked chile. Consider the Chipotle a 6.5 on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the hottest). Scoville heat units 7,000-25,000.
Suggested Use:
Use Morita in enchilada sauces, chili, stews, barbecue ribs, and corn bread. Their smoky quality combines well with poultry, meats and fall squash.
Serves: 12
Ingredients
1 package frozen puff pastry, thawed in the refrigerator overnight
1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
1 large egg, beaten
1 chipotle pepper,rehydrated in hot water, then drained and finely chopped
½ tsp salt
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a small bowl, beat egg and chipotle together (I use an immersion blender to beat the egg and chop the pepper at the same time- it works really well but isn’t necessary if you don’t have one).
On a lightly floured surface, roll out the puff pastry. Brush the egg mixture over the surface of the puff pastry. Sprinkle cheese and salt evenly over the pastry. Using a rolling pin, lightly press the cheese into the puff pastry. Slice the pastry into strips, twist each strip up and lay them flat on the lined baking sheet.
Bake for 15-20 minutes until lightly browned then flip each straw over and bake for an additional 3-5 minutes so that they brown on both sides. Take care not to overcook. Let cool completely and serve at room temperature.
Slightly adapted from a recipe from portandfin.com