West 4 or 5, occasionally 6 at first,
backing southwest 6 to gale 8 later, perhaps severe gale 9.
Moderate or rough, occasionally very
rough.
Rain at times.
Moderate or
good.
I had high
hopes for December. In my mind I would repost my recipes on the first and add
at least 24. Like an Advent Calendar. All of course delightful Christmas
morsels, charming like a Williams-Sonoma catalogue. It turned out to be nearer
to the mad reality of life and me just throwing things together. Not quite as
hilarious as the annual Williams-Sonoma parody but close enough. But I promise to write my recipe for the peppermint bark.
Just not today. For today it is about cheese. A cheese I have in my mind as a
summer cheese, but which is wonderful in winter too. As long as you deep fry it
(Spoiler alert: There will be more deep fried recipes!) Soon!
And
because this recipe is a promise. And a dedication to a wonderful person which
happens to be a wonderful artist. And likes Halloumi.
Halloumi
Saganaki is a recipe I came first across in Rick Stein`s wonderful book: From Venice to Istanbul. Unfortunately it has few
Vegetarian recipes so might not be your choice of a last minute Christmas
present for the one Vegetarian in your life. But Rick Stein is a wonderful cook
and even his meat recipes give me inspiration to make them Vegetarian.
A sagani
is a frying pan, so cheese Saganaki is fried cheese. You don’t need to buy
“special” Saganaki
cheese, this is just a marketing trick. The cheese in question is either
Halloumi or Kefalotiri , and since Halloumi is easily available in every UK
supermarket, why not go directly to the real deal? BTW: Waitrose sells
Kefalotiri, but I have not tried it yet.
However
Halloumi is not to everyone`s taste, or shall I say texture? I never met anyone
who objects to the taste but quite a few people I know cant stand the squishy,
slight rubbery texture of Halloumi. And this firmness never goes quite away. On
the other hand this makes it the perfect cheese for an open fire (BBQ or
grill), btw this Delia recipe is
still one of the best for Summer Halloumi recipes, and it makes it also one of the best
binding cheeses. Just grate it and mix it with whatever vegetable you want
(grated beetroot and grated Halloumi makes a mean Vegetarian burger). Or you
could deep fry it. I wont promise that the firmness will go away, but you wont
mind.
And if you
are hesitant about using a salty cheese with something sweet, just replace in
your mind the Halloumi with Camembert and the honey with cranberry sauce and
you have the well beloved 70`s dish Deep Fried Camembert and you know it will
work.
Despite
the deep fried component this is a lightish dish, but just perfect when the
rain, storm and snow beat the windowpane and your body screams: Cheese, Cheese,
Cheese.
Halloumi saganaki
4 tbsp
olive oil
1 block
halloumi cheese
1 small
egg, beaten (remember quail eggs?)
4 tbsp
fine semolina
A sprinkle
of salt and white pepper
2 tbsp
strong honey (I quite like the dark Alpine version with pine, but any honey
will do= incidentally the honey above is from Guatemala. Not because it is
superior, but I just happen to have it. Dont ask, it is a family thing, a kind
of running joke)
1 tsp nigella
seeds
1 sprig
fresh oregano
freshly
ground black pepper
Heat the
olive oil in a non-stick frying pan.
Mix the
semolina with the salt and white pepper. Cut the halloumi horizontally through
the middle. Take one slice and use the rest for another dish. Cut it again
vertically so you end up with two slices which are finger thick. Dip the
halloumi slices in the beaten egg then roll in the semolina mixture. Fry on a
medium heat for a couple of minutes on each side until golden-brown.
In the
microwave, warm the honey. Serve the Halloumi squares drizzled with warm honey
and sprinkled with Nigella seeds, oregano and black pepper.
A slight
bitter salad, like radicchio or rocket, drizzled with either balsamic syrup or,
even better, fig balsamic syrup (Aldi!) complements it perfectly. If you want
to make it a bit more substantial, use my Pide recipe and
mop up the juices.
Enjoy, G. And I feel deeply honoured about your acknowledgment in your
PhD. And congrats. You rock!
And enjoy everyone else. Καλή όρεξη! (Kali orexi)
