Grossini Torinesi

I may have mentioned somewhere that I like to cook.  I also like to eat, which is my problem...and the reason why I'm overweight and have to be on meds for various lifestyle afflictions. Once the weight gets on it doesn't want to come off.    I like to cook but I'm the only one eating and cooking for one person is not easy. I'm not a big fan of eating leftovers so I either eat more than I should or I end up throwing stuff out because I know I won't eat it if I stick it in the refrigerator.

This year I started making bread and had some good stuff coming out of the oven....Focaccia, Naan, Persian Sesame Bread, Tunisian flat bread. Most were pretty good and I can always freeze a loaf of bread or share some with others if I go for a visit.

In Piedmont, in northern Italy, they make some really good bread sticks called Grossini Torinesi after the city or region around Torino. We had some of these while we were in Bra for the wedding last June, They are usually part of an appetizer or antipasto leading up to the meal, which runs for multiple courses or until you pass out. These bread sticks don't fill you up but give you something crunchy as the meal gets underway.

I found a recipe and decided to make a batch of these crunchy thin bread sticks. You can sometimes find them in the grocery store but when you make them yourself you can add any sort of special flavoring or topping you want. One "batch" ended up being over 40 bread sticks. I used sesame seeds and poppy seeds on half of them and then used a variety of other toppings -- corn meal, onion powder, sea salt, tarragon, Greek herbs, and Jamaican curry powder.  So far I've had several and they are very good and very crisp and crunchy.

The recipe called for malt extract as sort of an additive for the yeast to give it some extra sugar. Finding malt extract is impossible in my local stores and I don't have any in my home brewing supplies.  I ended up using a little honey and it worked great. The recipe was pretty simple and didn't take a long time to make.