Salmon, Spinach & Haloumi

Layered & ready to cook

I was sitting in the hairdresser, flicking through AWFUL weekly women’s magazines, catching up on the celebrity gossip (as you do), when a recipe for a layered vegetarian “stack” gave me a pang for haloumi. OMG I just love squeaky cheese! As soon as I got out of there I went racing (well, walking actually) to my local Coles and thought hmmm what will I do with some haloumi tonight.

I ended up buy a salmon fillet (I’m sure that does not surprise you), a jar of tomato pesto, a bag of baby spinach and the block of haloumi.

So what did I do with these ingredients?

I was also making a slice to take to work for morning tea the next day, so I whipped that up and thought well I’ll use the oven while it’s on, one thing after the other, so I placed the salmon on a baking dish, with a little extra-virgin olive oil spray underneath to stop the fish sticking to the pan. I then layered a heap of baby spinach (knowing how much it shrivels when cooked), a few bits of lemon zest, then about 60 gms of chopped haloumi and a few small dollops of the pesto. Some cracked pepper and a drizzle of lemon juice, and it went into the oven at 180C for 20 minutes.

Ready to eat

The result was good – nice combination of flavours – except that I served it on a pile of rice stick noodles, which I adore, but in this instance they became too slippery and every forkful I put together just slipped off! It was a bit frustrating. Plus I couldn’t eat it all so there is half a fish piece in the fridge to have for lunch this week. I should cook smaller portions, but cooking for one person is not my idea of fun – I like to cook to share, as food is such a wonderful part of life.

Happy Fooding!

And The Winner Is…..

Despite my lack of decoration, and concern about the lack of sweetness, all of the gingerbread I made last weekend was chomped up and pronounced quite edible. Phew!

I’ve been very busy working a lot this week, plus attending a work Christmas breakfast and library Christmas party last night. I made spinach bites and vegetarian sausage rolls to take to the party, which was a casual bbq and loads of fun. Jane, who hosted, made some fabulous salads, including things like haloumi, roasted vegies, brown rice, and 3 dishes of potato bake that disappeared very rapidly! As a couple of people there could not eat eggs, I replaced the egg with milk, in the spinach bites, and it worked just as well, so that’s good to remember. As usual, everyone was surprised to find that the sausage rolls were vegetarian, as they taste so “meaty”.

I also made a batch of Christmas truffles – very boozy and rich – which I will share with you later.

Thank you to the 14 entries in my cookie cutter giveaway! I drew 2 names out this morning, and the lucky winners are….. Chris, from here in Perth, and Lindy, from Melbourne. I will be in touch with the winners privately to arrange their cookie cutter deliveries in time for Christmas.

I felt a bit post-Christmas-party-seedy this morning lol, but I’m sure I will have recovered by the time I get home from work tonight and be ready for a glass of wine again……

Happy Christmas Fooding!

Pizza Perfection!

I thought I’d show you some examples of the pizzas I love to make. I use my bread machine (omg I love that thing SO much), on the pizza dough setting. Each batch makes 2 large pizzas – I divide the risen dough in half, roll it out on a floured board and place each on a pizza tray (sprayed with olive oil spray).

Next is the tomato paste spread over the bases, and then I top with whatever takes my fancy (I am very partial to prawns these days, whole cloves of garlic, and lots of vegetarian toppings – asparagus, broccoli, baby spinach, haloumi and part-cooked cubes of pumpkin).

On top I sprinkle a mixture of grated mozzarella and tasty cheeses, but I don’t like TOO much cheese – I like to taste the toppings properly, and if there’s too much cheese it just tastes of oil (not to mention being serious heart attack material, especially if you also have high-fat meats like salami, on the pizza). Fresh basil leaves are awesome sprinkled on top too 🙂

The oven must be hot, as the pizza needs to cook quickly and be hot enough for the dough to puff up and rise properly – I usually do 10 minutes at 220C and then turn the trays around and also switch them over from top to bottom, to ensure even cooking. With my current oven I do have to be very careful not to burn them though.

Making 2 in one batch is good as you can make one with meat and one without, hence suiting all eating styles. Leftovers are good for lunch (or cold, first thing in the morning, if you need a post-booze-carbs-hit….).

Happy Fooding!

Mez – Greek Restaurant Review

Grilled Haloumi

Lots of garlic, tender chunks of mouthwatering meat, terrific presentation, HUGE portion sizes, great fast service, friendly staff and a $22 discount thanks to the Entertainment Card!

Grilled Calamari

That sums up my experience at Mez Greek restaurant in Northbridge. I have nothing negative to say about this place, which is right up there with George’s in Subiaco, my up-til-now favourite Greek place in Perth.

Lamb Kleftiko

Awesomely spectacular meal.

Happy Fooding!

Using Up The Rest of The Haloumi….

Well after my egg & haloumi easy supper, I still had half a packet of haloumi needing to be used up……no problem….I marinated it in cubes just like before, sauted it along with a salmon fillet, which I then cut into pieces (well it just flaked apart really). I then mixed both of these with some blanched green beans, a few slices of red onion, a large pinch of dried dill (couldn’t get any fresh today), cracked pepper and a splash of lemon juice and soy sauce.

Not bad for a delicious, healthy main meal salad, and ideal for the hot weather.

Happy Fooding!

Another Dinner For One….

Snacky Sunday night can’t-be-bothered meal here……I read recently an idea for adding feta cheese to egg dishes and thought hmmmmm I’ll try adding haloumi to some scrambled eggs. Great idea – I cut 90 gms of haloumi into small cubes and marinated them for an hour in a bit of lemon juice, with a generous sprinkling of dried thyme and merken (use chilli powder if you can’t get merken).  Then I simply dry-fried the cubes in a non-stick omelette pan, for about a minute (tossing about), added 3 eggs (beaten with a little milk, cracked pepper and some fresh garlic chives) and stirred until it was 3/4 cooked. Took off the heat, stirred through a few drops of truffle oil, served it on toast and YUMMO there was my easy supper.

Actually, it was very filling, so probably 3 eggs was too much for one person, but I don’t eat eggs very often so it was a nice treat. 2 eggs and a little less haloumi would be good next time. I couldn’t waste it though!

Enjoyed it with a glass of vino, of course…..

I know it looks a bit “grey” but thats because the herbs and spices kind of get into the egg mixture. It certainly wouldn’t win any prizes for looks, but then I only made it to please ME so who cares.

Happy Fooding!

Travel Food Fare 6 – Pleasures Both Sweet & Palatial

I’ve just been to Brighton for 2 days, and visited the Royal Pavilion, built by George IV in the early 1800s. Wow, it was SO impressive, especially the banqueting hall and music room. No photos allowed inside but above is the outside of the building. I bought some postcards of the interior, but they just do not do justice to the spectacular ornateness (my word!) of this marvellous pleasure palace.

As well as the palace itself, there is currently an exhibition of Regency costumes, dotted through the various rooms. As I am a very keen stitcher, and my boyfriend’s mum used to be a seamstress, we were both really excited to see the costumes, which did not disappoint.

The weather was very similar to Melbourne (our lovely hot days have come to an end, but we have been extremely lucky so cannot complain at all) – cold and windy – but as long as you are rugged up, quite comfortable walking around.

We had a lovely lunch on the first day – I had a yummy grilled haloumi & hummus sort of burger thing on foccacia bread. Then for dinner that night the 5 of us went to a place called Bill’s in the Lanes part of the city (lots of alleyways full of antiques, junk shops, hippy clothing etc – great character). Bill’s is a rustic, home-y looking place with shelves of homemade produce (for sale) and baskets all around the walls, and mismatched, distressed tables and benches. Also a good choice of vegetarian dishes on the menu, important as we had one vegetarian in the party.

I had a roasted vegetable tart with salad (trying to be as healthy as possible, not always easy on holiday), but the most impressive meals were the desserts! I didn’t have anything, but here you can see two choices that others in the party had – a very rich chocolate brownie, and a stunning meringue nest with strawberries. It isn’t obvious from the photo, but the meringue was enormous! It was shared between two and they still couldn’t get through it all.

Absolutely delicious, and a lovely evening all round, ending with G&Ts in the hotel bar.

Happy Fooding!

Haloumi & Avocado Fingers – Update

With grilled truss cherry toms on the side

Today I got around to making the Haloumi & Avocado Fingers, that I mentioned the other day.  Actually I just used the basic idea of combining those two ingredients, and did it in my own way. It was so delicious!  I’ll call it a snack rather than fingers, as I didn’t cut the haloumi into strips, but rather just into 2 thin slabs.  Perfect for lunch, and in fact it would make a yummy special breakfast as well.

I know the pumpernickel toast I’ve served it on is not the most attractive thing, but it tastes better than it looks!

Haloumi & Avocado Snack

180g pkt haloumi cheese

1/2 ripe avocado, sliced or chopped

few drops truffle oil

merken (or chilli powder), to taste

cracked pepper, to taste

alfalfa sprouts, to garnish

toast, to serve

Slice the haloumi right through the centre, to form two thin rectangular slices.  Place on an oven tray and cook under a medium grill for 3 minutes.  Take tray out, turn haloumi over carefully with an egg slide. Top with avocado and sprinkle with merken (or chilli powder) and a few drops of truffle oil. Place back under the grill for about 5 minutes until cheese is browned around the edges and avocado is cooked.

Serve on toast, with pepper & an alfalfa sprout garnish.  Serves 2.

Merken, which I’ve talked about before, is not available anywhere that I can find, here in Australia (if anyone ever does come across it in shops or online please let me know), so unless you buy it from the US online, or know someone going to Chile (you can bring it in as long as you declare it), just use any spicy or smoky condiment that you like.

Happy Fooding!

Haloumi…..I Love Squeaky Cheese!

Haloumi is awesome!  As is saganaki, kefalotiri….all those yummy Greek cheeses that squeak in your teeth and are so juicy. Marinated in lemon juice & herbs and cooked in a pan for a couple of minutes, or cubed and grilled/bbq’d on skewers……

Here’s a really easy idea for a Vegetarian snack or nibble…..just soak some wooden skewers in water for a couple of hours, then load up with cubes of haloumi (one normal sized pkt cut into 16 pieces is about the right size) and any other quick-cooking bits, because haloumi cooks really fast.

These ones I did with just haloumi, vegetarian sausages and cherry tomatoes, sprinkled with dried thyme. I grilled them for about 10 mins altogether – brushed with a bit of light soy sauce.  You have to keep an eye on them and turn them a few times to brown the cheese on all sides.

At times I have also included mushrooms, green/red capsicum, spring onions (2″ lengths), snow peas, halved baby corn spears – anything that will hold on to a skewer and not need too long too cook.  You can marinate them in lemon for a while if you have time, too.

Use whatever herbs or spices you like, and serve with any dip, sauce or raita of your choice – in this case I just used a bought tub of beetroot, cashew & parmesan dip, because I happened to have that in the fridge.

Happy Fooding!

PS: That beetroot dip is also really nice spread on toast for breakfast! – sounds disgusting, but have a try……