Halloween Charcuterie Board with Creepy Cracker Straws

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Ingredients...

• Selection of cheeses including an orange one (Red Fox Red Leicestershire or Avonlea Clothbound Cheddar), blue-veined (Bleu Fumé) and white cheese (Bellevitano or Manchego). You may even find a black cheese such as Basiron Black Lemon from Holland or a charcoal-coated cheese such as Île-Ash-Island Cheese from Quebec
• Figs, black grapes and celery
• Nuts such as walnut or smoked almonds
• Chutney or savoury jam such as Mrs. Bridges Chili Jam
• Other dips such as hummus of your choice

Creepy Cracker Straws

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 cup water
• 150 g all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt flakes such as Maldon
• 1 tsp light brown sugar
• 1 tsp black sesame seeds + more for sprinkling
• Black food colouring paste, optional

Method...

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a baking sheet liner.
2. In a bowl, whisk together olive oil with water. Add flour, salt flakes, brown sugar, sesame seeds and black food colour if using. Mix together with your hands until you have a rough dough. If it's too sticky, just add a little more flour.
3. Lightly flour a work surface and dump the dough on top. Dust the top of the dough with flour and use your hands to shape into a rectangle about 1-inch high. 
4. Dust the work surface with more flour and roll block of dough into a 8 x 10-inch rectangle about ⅛-inch thick (turn the dough as you go and add more flour as necessary so it doesn't stick). Using a pizza or pastry cutter or sharp knife, trim the edges straight without sacrificing too much dough, then cut the dough into thin strips about ¼-inch wide. Transfer the strips to the prepared baking sheets, leaving about a ¼-inch of space between them. Brush the strips with a little water and sprinkle with more sesame seeds and salt.
5. Bake the straws for 10-12 minutes, or until lightly browned on the top and bottom, rotating the pans from top to bottom and front to back midway through. Remove from the pans from the oven and set on a rack to cool. Carefully transfer the cheese straws to a plate and serve.

Makes 30 crackers

Storage: The straws will keep well in a covered container for a few days.