Easy cheese sticks – and foodie films

I have been searching out movies that have food as part of their theme to watch now that I am done binge watching season 3 of House of Cards. There is a significant number of food movies out there, some well known, other more obscure. Here is my starter list of foodie films. If you know of or have a favourite food movie please pass on the name in a comment to this post:

Chocolate                                     My Dinner with Andre                                           The Trip to Italy
Like Water for Chocolate             Mediterranean Food                                              Eat Drink Man Woman
Julie and Julia                              Who is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?            Bottle Shock
Sideways                                     Le Chef                                                                   I am Love
Babette’s Feast                            Bread and Tulips                                                    The Lunch Box
Under the Tuscan sun                  La femme Boulanger

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Other than that I am still cooking. We were invited to dinner and I was asked to bring an appetizer. I had a few things in mind but started with these cheese sticks. It is a simple dough that I use to make one bite appetizers but this time decided to make it into sticks. The dough is a blank slate that you can flavour with cheese, herbs or spices, seeds and interesting salt. The sticks are fun to serve and eat and can be a part of an appetizer selection when the need arises. I also make bread sticks made from bread dough but these cheese sticks are lighter and appropriate for pre-dinner situation.

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Ingredients:

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2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika

2 tablespoons fresh thyme  leaves (you can use dried thyme as well)

1/3 cup grated parmesan or another hard cheese (gruyer, pecorino etc.)

4 tablespoons olive oil (more oil for brushing the dough)

1/2-3/4  cup water, as needed

Sea salt (or another special salt – pink salt, black salt etc.)

2 tablespoons sesame seeds

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Directions:

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Place flour, baking powder, salt, paprika, thyme and parmesan in a food processor and pulse a few times to blend.

Add oil and process until the dough gathers in smaller particles.

Begin adding water while the machine is running and process just until the dough comes together and clears the sides of the bowl.

Remove the dough to a sheet of parchment paper dusted with flour.

Roll the dough into a rectangle and trim it with a pizza or ravioli cutter for the size of sticks you wish to make. I cut them into  6″ today but sometimes I make them much longer, depending on the presentation I have in mind.

Brush the sheet of dough with olive oil, sprinkle with a little coarse salt and scatter sesame seeds over, pressing them into the dough lightly.

Using a pizza cutter cut the dough into thin strip.

Lightly roll each strip with the palms of your hands to round them up. I move my palms in opposite directions to twist them a bit.

Lay the sticks on a parchment lined baking sheet. They can be fairly close together but not touching, leave about 1/2 inch in between.

Keep rolling the remaining dough, incorporating the scraps, until you have used up all the dough.

Place in a preheated 350F or 375F oven and cook until they sticks are slightly puffed and golden.

Remove from oven and let cool.

Serve at room temperature.

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