It's been about a year and a half since we lost our two other chickens Chloe and Sage. Our garden was just not the same without chickens in it. During the summer months we spend a lot of time outside and both me and my husband love to see the chickens roaming around. They are a joy to watch. Not to mention, we were also missing the fresh eggs.
Without further introduction here are, from left to right Vera, Violet, Ida and Trixie. As you can see, they made themselves quite at home in my vegetable garden.
Those aforementioned eggs didn't take long to show their beautiful golden brown speckled texture in the nest.
Just like the chickens, these cheese sticks are quite essential at our house. Being raised in Romania, I grew up eating these. They are wonderful to be serves just as, or alongside appetizers and spreads.
The saltier the cheese, the better. For these I used a block of goat cheese feta that I purchased from a local European store. The cheese was imported from Romania, however any supermarket feta cheese will do. Insuring the butter, the cheese, and the sour cream are cold, will definitely help with the cheese sticks texture.
For the topping you can also use poppy seeds, coarse salt, shredded cheese, dried herbs, etc.
RECIPE
INGREDIENTS
For the dough:
4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
6 oz cold unsalted butter, grated
12 oz cold goat feta, grated
2 eggs
16 oz cold sour cream
For the topping:
1 egg, beaten
caraway seeds
sesame seed medley
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, convention setting.
Place the flour in a bowl. Top with the rest of the ingredients for the dough, in no particular order.
By the use of a standing mixer, or by using your hands make a smooth, pliable dough. Do not over knead.
Divide the obtained dough in half. On parchment paper, roll each half into a 12x14 inch rectangle, 1/4 inch thick.
Using a fluted pastry cutter, slice the dough into approximately 1 inch wide strips, about 6 inches long each.
Place the cheese sticks on a sheet baking tray 1/4 inch apart. Brush with the beaten egg and sprinkle with the caraway and sesame seed mixture.
Bake for about 20-25 minutes until golden brown.
Allow the cheese sticks to cool off on the tray then serve. They can easily be frozen in a zip-lock bag if one desires to save them for later.
