Wednesday 17 October 2012

Warm Halloumi and Harissa Salad

 













 

Here is a very simple recipe for a tasty warm halloumi salad that I think is just right for the weather, rather cold  but with some lovely sun!

Halloumi sliced ( I had 4 slices But I'm greedy)
One Red Onion
Sweet long Red Pepper
Small Vine Tomatoes
Harissa
Chopped Mint


It's just a case of pan frying the onion and peppers in a spoon of the harissa, using some of the lovely oil you get in the jar with it and cook for around five minutes before adding the tomatoes, which I sliced in half. You want the onions to almost caramelise so they get that lovely sweet flavour and when this has happened put the contents of your pan onto a plate and put the sliced halloumi in the same pan and fry on both sides. When the halloumi is all crispy on the outside and a but soft in the middle, lay it on top of your onion, pepper and tomato mixture and sprinkle over some chopped mint.















My lovely friend bought me a jar of home made harissa from a lady at her local farmers market in Lewes, East Sussex.














The harissa give the halloumi a lovely golden colour a bit like saffron, very pretty.

Sunday 14 October 2012

Chilli Jam





I know it's only October but I have started to think about Christmas already and how I can be a bit more frugal this year with the whole present buying thing. I always tend to go over board and so have decided to make every ones presents in the form of little food hampers.This is a really easy recipe for chili jam that I got from Nigella Lawson and this the first addition to food hampers!

  • 150 grams long red chilli pepper
  • 150 grams Red peppers
  • 1 kilograms Jam sugar
  • 600 ml cider vinegar

 First thing you need to Sterilise your jars and leave to cool, I did this by washing them in boiling hot water and washing up liquid and then put them in the oven for around 10mins on a low temperature.
To make the chilli jam first cut-up the chillies and put into a food processor and pulse until they are finely chopped. Next add the chunks of red pepper and pulse again.
Dissolve the sugar in the vinegar in a pan over a low heat without stirring and although it is tempting to stir you must make sure you don't!
Next you need to add the chilli-pepper mixture into the pan and bring to the boil, then leave it boiling for ten minutes and after that take the pan off the heat and allow it cool-
After about 40 minutes or when you can see the jam is beginning to settle ladle into your jars and seal tightly.
It's a really easy recipe and looks gorgeous, when it's closer to the time I will cover with fabric, tie a ribbon around them and attach a tag with the date I made the chilli jam.