Shepherd's Staff Breadsticks

The Christmas dinner - I love and dread it, but for now haven't the time to muse, rant or pontificate about it, as obviously, I am in the process of cooking this meal.


Very quickly, on the menu this year are:
    - Clam chowder with shepherd's staff breadsticks
    - Pommes dauphinoise (potatoes baked in cream, but sounds         
      fancier in French)
    - Pasta in tomato and cheese sauce
    - Roast Chicken (with herbs) and portabella and bacon stuffing
    - A simple salad
    - Chocolate and salted caramel brownie ice cream


Since I have not posted any recipe, here is the first one - for the Shepherd's Staff Breadsticks.  


Ingredients for dough:


3 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon yeast
1 cup + 1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon oil
extra flour for kneading and rolling


Ingredients for topping:


2 tablespoons olive oil or melted butter
1/2 cup of grated parmiggiano reggiano or mature cheddar


Method:


1.  Mix the flour, salt, sugar and yeast in a large mixing bowl.  Make a well in the centre and add the water and oil.


2.  Using a spatula, draw the flour into the liquid till incorporated.  Scrap the sides of the bowl well.


3.  Flour your hands lightly.  Sprinkle a bit of flour over the dough and knead till all the flour is mixed in.  Add a bit more flour (about 1/2 tablespoon) only if bits of the dough still stick to your hand and  continue to need till the added flour is mixed in.  Repeat if dough still sticks to your hands.  


4.  Knead for a total of about 10 minutes.  The dough will become smooth and elastic as you knead.  It will feel moist but it should not stick to your hands.  


5.  Shape the dough into a disc.  Leave it in the mixing bowl and cover the bowl tightly with cling foil.  Leave the dough to rise till tripled in volume.  It may take 2 to 4 hours. (Mine took about 3 and a half.)

6.  Line two or three 38 x 25 cm trays with non-stick baking paper.  (Or just use the largest trays that fits your oven.  Oven and tray sizes will determine the lengths of the staffs.)


7.  Put the parmiggiano reggiano on a plate.


8.  When the dough is risen, divide it (use a pair of floured scissors) into 24 pieces.  I do this by cutting the round dough into quarters, roll each quarter into a sausage and then cut it into 6 portions.  (Just eyeball it as best as you can.  It does not matter if shepherd's staffs are of differing lengths - more interesting actually.)


9.  Flour one portion of dough and roll it on a clean work top (a rectangular chopping board is good) to as long as the length of your tray.  You will find that the dough will stubbornly resist your attempt to lengthen it fully and will keep shrinking.  Just do the best you can and then leave the dough strip on the prepared tray and get on with the next piece.  As you work your way through the whole batch, the gluten in the dough strips you have rolled out will relax and be ready for you to stretch them again.


10. Now go back to the first strip of dough.  This time, do not roll it but pick it up gently and stretch it the desired length.  Lay it on the tray and remember to curve one end of the dough so it resembles a staff. Repeat with the rest of the dough strips.  (Remember: if the dough is being stubborn again, leave it alone and get on with the rest first.  Kinda of like how you would handle a stiff-necked kid throwing a hissy fit.)


11. Preheat the oven to 240 degrees Celsius or 220 degrees Celsius in a fan-assisted oven.


12. Working on one staff at a time, smear each staff with oil/butter.  (I simply do this with my fingers - washing an oily brush is no fun.)


13. Gently pick up oiled/buttered stuff and dredge the oiled/buttered part in the grated cheese.  Return to tray.  Repeat for all the rest of the staffs.


 14. If you are preparing this way in advance for a meal, bake each tray for 5 - 6 minutes till just lightly golden.  Remove from the oven and cool completely on a rack.*  This baking time will merely cook the dough.  Just before eating, preheat the oven to the same temperature and bake the breadsticks (cold from the fridge) for a further 10 - 15 minutes till golden brown and crispy. 


15.  If you're going to eat the breadsticks right away, bake them for about 10 - 15 minutes.

16.  Serve these breadsticks in a glass tall glass container/jar.

Hmm...these do look like candy cane breadsticks too.   I will post more pictures of the fully baked shepherd's staffs after Christmas.


* To store the partially baked breadsticks, wrap them tightly in aluminium foil and keep in the fridge.  

In the frenzy to get the Christmas dinner ready, I had forgotten to take pictures of the tanned breadsticks standing tall in the glass jars.  The pics will have to wait till another batch is baked - no telling as to when that will occur.  Thousand apologies.