Cheese oregano straws

These Cheese straws are French appetizers..They are meant to stimulate one's appetite during any meal and not ruin it..With frozen puff pastry from the grocery store, these cheese straws are really easy to make..The smell of the oregano added really peps up the flavor of these cheese straws.

Oregano or pot marjoram is a perennial herb, growing to 20-80 cm tall, with opposite leaves 1-4 cm long. The flowers are purple, 3-4 mm long, produced in erect spikes.It is particularly widely used in Greek and Italian-American cuisines. It is the leaves that are used in cooking, and the dried herb is often more flavourful than the fresh.It has an aromatic, warm and slightly bitter taste. It varies in intensity; good quality is so strong that it almost numbs the tongue, but the cultivars adapted to colder climates have often unsatisfactory flavour. The influence of climate, season and soil on the composition of the essential oil is greater than the difference between the various species.

Ingredients (Makes about 20 to 22 straws)

Puff pastry - 2 sheets defrosted in the refrigerator
Egg -1
Any two types of cheese grated - 1 cup
Salt - 1 teaspoon
Freshly ground pepper - 1/2 teaspoon
Oregano (dried)-1 teaspoon

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Roll out each puff pastry sheet on a lightly floured board until it's about 10x12 inches.Beat tthe egg along with one tablespoon water and brush the surface of the puff pastry.Sprinkle each sheet evenly with the cheese,dried herbs,salt and pepper..With the rolling pin slightly press the flavorings into the puff pastry..Cut each sheet crosswise with a floured knife or pizza cutter into 11 or 12 strips.Twist each strip and lay on baking sheets lined with parchment paper..

Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until lightly browned and puffed.Turn each cheese straw and bake for another two minutes..Dont overbake or the cheese will burn..Cool and serve at room temperature..

Note: You need to work quickly, because the puff pastry needs to remain cold until it's baked.

Instead of using cheese to brush the pastry, sundried tomato paste, pesto can also be used.

This is my entry to Weekend Herb Blogging started by Kalyn and hosted by me this week.

For more details about this week's event see here.