Cheese Straws

I am a huge fan of Chef John of foodwishes.com and, the other day, he posted a youtube video of this really simple way of baking cheese straws which, like all of Chef John's creations, I had to make immediately. Only, I'm not a big fan of the puff pastry that the local store carries so I decided to use some filo (phyllo?) pastry. Also, unlike chef John, I didn't really use a lot of cheese, I used Doritos Nachos in cheese flavor (I was actually looking for a packet of Cheetos but couldn't find any, else I would have used that instead.).

I apologize for the out of focus pictures as, the freelance photographer that i had hired (read: my sister) couldn't be bothered to wake up to take the said photos. DOES ANYONE ELSE WANT THE JOB?

To make 4 Cheese Straws

Step One:

Take the packet of Filo Pastry out of the freezer and let it defrost at room temperature. Take out 4 sheets of pastry and keep it aside. 

Take half a can of Doritos Nachos (or cheese Cheetos) in cheese flavor (about 50 gms) and, using a food processor, mix it till the chips turn into fine powder. Add half teaspoon of salt, 1/3 teaspoon of red chilli powder and about 2 tablespoons of dried oregano and give the entire concoction a brief whirl in the food processor. Just till everything is blended. Divide into 5 equal parts.

Melt 50 grams of butter.

Grate 50 grams of Cheddar (or any strong cheese) cheese and divide into 4 equal portions.

Step Two:

Roll out the Filo pastry sheet on aluminium foil, brush its entire top surface with the melted butter and, keeping a 1/2 cm margin free on the shorter rectangle side of the pastry, line it with one portion of the grated cheese as in the picture below. Sprinkle a portion of the Doritos mixture onto the surface and pat it into place. 

Step Three:

Starting from the grated cheese side, roll up the pastry into a straw. 

Step Four:

Repeat the above steps to make 4 Straws.

Step Five:

Brush the outer surface of the straws with melted butter. Sprinkle the remaining 5th portion of the Doritos mixture onto the aluminium foil and coat the outer surface of the straws well. Place on an oven proof wire/grill rack.

Quite aware that these aren't on wire racks.. yet

Step Six: 

Preheat the oven to 180C and bake your straws on top of the wire racks for 17-20 minutes or until the crust is gold brown and your entire house smells of Doritos. 

Step Seven:

Take your straws out of the oven and let them cool down for 1/2 hour. 

And there you have it, Cheese straws. They look equally impressive in a glass.