Wednesday, February 23, 2011

crispy carbs AND a dirty joke?!?!

Well, tonight was Italian food for us!  Luckily, there are three sections of tonights dinner that I can share - since I won't be cooking for a couple of nights.  (Sorry! I have to work tomorrow, and Friday is party night!)  So, I thought I would start out with a quick way to add some delicious carbs to your meals! (They look nice too!)

Crispy Breadsticks


This is one I put together after I saw a crispy breadstick recipe in the latest edition of Food Network magazine. I thought the picture in the magazine looked delicious, but they wanted me to use fennel seeds, and I decided I'd rather change up the seasoning - let's get on with the result!

What you will need

  • An oven
  • 2 baking sheets
  • Some parchment paper
  • A rolling pin
  • A pizza cutter
  • A BBQ brush & a small bowl (if you have the pump sprayer from Pampered Chef, and use olive oil in it... or if you buy the aerosol olive oil, you won't need this)
  • A roll of refrigerated breadstick dough
  • About a 1/4 cup olive oil
  • Some Italian seasoning
  • Some garlic salt
  • Some grated Parmesan cheese - that kind you don't think you should use for anything but pizza anymore since you can get good Parm now!
  • Some flour for dusting
Okay, now that I hopefully told you all of the supplies - onward to the directions!

Let's do this!
  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Farenheit
  2. Go ahead and line the baking sheets with parchment paper and get them out of the way (not too far out of the way, though!).
  3. Dust the space where you intend to roll out the breadstick dough with some flour. (I just use the counter top after I  give them a good massage with some disinfecting wipes.)
  4. After you open the dough, you will want to piece it back together - seal the creases with a firm pinch.
  5. Grab your rolling pin, shake it at something and express your disgust about something that is really pissing you off, before giving it a flour dusting.
  6. Roll your dough into a rectangle that is approximately 16"x8".
  7. Brush the dough with olive oil - or spray it on if you have those fancy items I mentioned earlier.
  8. Sprinkle the dough with garlic salt and Italian seasoning. (Be careful not to go overboard on the garlic salt!)
  9. Using your pizza cutter, cut the dough into strips. (I'm not going to give you an exact measurement - just try to make them equal in size for baking purposes.  I will mention, if you make them fairly thin, they get crunchier, and they will be longer.)
  10. Okay, before you touch those oily strips of delicious dough, put your baking sheets in a convenient place for loading.
  11. Pick up each strip, and twist - as tight or loose as you want (HAH!  That's what she said!) - before you put them on the baking sheets.
  12. Before you throw the sticks in the oven,  give them another light brushing (or spray, you rich, fancy braggart!) of olive oil, and a sprinkle of the Parmesan.
  13. Toss into the oven, and set a timer for about 10 minutes.  (Mine had to bake for about 13 minutes, but I don't want yours to burn!)
Done, and done!  If you want to serve these crunchy sticks warm, I would suggest a basket lined with a tea towel to wrap over them.  I'm going to throw it out there that these would be great to serve as an appetizer - stick them out of a plain vase like an edible arrangement - very bistro chic!  It doesn't have to be Italian night for a nice crispy bread stick!  Perhaps you want to make these and keep them around for snacking, or to pair up with your salad at lunch!  I hope you won't feel obligated to stick to my seasoning choices, either!  After dinner I wished I had bought a second tube of dough - because I wanted to slather it in butter, and sprinkle cinnamon & sugar on!  Don't you worry!  I'm sure I will!  I'll post it in phoodos too when I do - and have it routed to this recipe as well!    Enjoy these - and be sure to check out tomorrow's installment - Mimi's Spaghetti Sauce - a treasured family recipe!

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