CYPRIOT SALAD WITH HALOUMI AND TZATZIKI

Dear Dave
 
Yesterday was a sunny and fairly warm day, I was pretty busy around town with weekend type chores so I wanted a quick delicious dinner that suited the weather. I put this together and will absolutely be making it again.

I had made quite a big trip to the Italian supermarket and more on that another time. Helpfully they also sold much of what I needed for this dish and the rest had been delivered early Saturday morning. The whole thing took 25 mins in my ill equipped kitchen so expect that even with the difference in our prep speed it will be about the same for you.

It was delicious the tzatziki was creamy and very slightly sweet against the warm salty cheese and all the juices and dressing from the salad soak into the bread at the bottom, in a cross between panzanella salad style and greek salad flavour.

It was great despite the terrible pictures - they won't be that good until my camera and table arrive!

INGREDIENTS (serves 1)

CYPRIOT SALAD

150g mixed tomatoes, cut into 1cm dice - I was using mixed cherries so cut them into quarters)
1 Lebanese cucumber, cut into 1cm dice - these are the small cuces, you need about 200g if you're using a big one
6-8 kalamata olives, pitted and roughly chopped
clove of garlic, crushed - use 1/3 here
1tsp oregano leaves
2tbsp mint leaves, torn
2tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
Splash of red wine vinegar
2 slices of haloumi (125g)  - 3 if you're really hungry
Slice of sourdough - can be a bit stale that's okay
Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper

TZATZIKI (this makes more than you need but I am serving the rest with lamb cutlets tonight)


Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper
2 Lebanese cucumbers, finely grated
300g Greek yoghurt
2tbsp mint leaves, torn or 1tsp dried mint
The rest of the crushed garlic clove
1tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1tsp honey

To make the tzatziki add a pinch of salt to the grated cucumber and leave to drain for 10 minutes in a sieve, squishing it now and then to get rid of as much of the cucumber liquid as you can.

While that's happening, mix together the tomato, cucumber, olives, oregano and mint in a bowl. Stir together the 1tbsp of the olive oil, vinegar and garlic and season well, pour this over the salad, stir together and set aside.

Finish the tzatziki by combining the drained cucumber and the remaining ingredients, season with lots of black pepper (it already has salt in it but taste test if you need more, be cautious as the cheese is salty).

In a frying pan over a medium heat, add 1 tablespoon of oil and fry the cheese on each side until beautifully bronzed.

Pop your slice of bread (toasted if you like) on a plate and pile the tomato and cucumber mixture on top, followed by the haloumi slices, then spoon over a few big dollops of tzatziki. Finish with a drizzle of oil and cracked black pepper.

Sit with the doors open onto your garden and enjoy.

Love Bekky


 

Setting up your ingredients store from scratch part 1

Dear Dave

Moving to another country is a fun and exciting experience from many points of view, as a committed foodie it is particularly thrilling - so many new things to buy, try, cook and experience. The small downside of my move to Australia is that the entire tightly packed contents of my fridge, freezer and store cupboards couldn't come with me, Aus has VERY strict bio laws on imports. I ended up giving all of it away; the majority of the most interesting things went to you and I look forward to seeing them pop up on this blog from time to time. 

A lot of things got thrown away and I hated doing it, so much waste made me upset and uncomfortable. Things were out of date or had grown a special kind of green fuzz (perhaps I had even inadvertently discovered a new antibiotic and then binned it) but in a household that eats eclectically, you end up trying things that you might use once a day or once a year. Its hard to predict which will become new favourites, a passing obsession or a never to be repeated experiment.

I have moved into my new home in South Yarra and I am waiting for my belongings to arrive, sitting on my one borrowed chair and using my loaned pots to cook in. A small rubbish knife and a tiny chopping board make up my prep tools. My cooking is sparse and carefully planned around what I do have.

I am planning on restocking my kitchen with staples that I know I will use regularly and thought making a note of them here might help others in similar situations. I will also try to reduce the number of random things to try that I purchase or at least attempt to use them up.

I am planning on making some food shopping trips over the next week or so and in planning them I started making lists. Italian and Asian basics are first, only because I have worked out where I can get them (the Mediterranean supermarket and Footscray market)

First up absolutely essential spices:
Coriander and Cumin - I buy these whole and grind them myself, they are fresher and retain better flavour that way.
Cinnamon - Ground and quills, I buy the ground as its very hard to get the quills fine enough for baking, bits of wood in your cinnamon buns is not pleasant, I get the whole quills too as they are beautiful and add flavour in a different way - think subtle rather than dominant. I also buy cassia bark for Indian cooking, its woodier and stands up to the cooking without flaking apart.
Turmeric - gorgeous and yellow, dyes everything it touches that same lovely colour. I am really excited to see fresh turmeric easily available here, I will get some of that too as I want to try it as a tea (its supposed to be very good for you - however I am suspicious of what the taste might be like!)
Cardamon - no self respecting Dane would be without this, I also like them in curry particularly this one
Nutmeg - again whole, its absolutely pointless to buy ground, it's as taste free as dust.
Paprika - I am not bothering to get the standard stuff again just the gorgeous Spanish smoked sweet and smoked hot ones.
Chili flakes - I love the Aleppo ones but I can't see them being available for a long time after what has happened to the place (so sad but a small thing among the humanitarian, cultural and historic devastation caused by the conflict). I'll be looking for a bright burgundy coloured flake that is very slightly oily. These are not too hot but have a lovely sweet warm flavour. I am not so fond of chili powder as it brings heat but not much depth.
Fennel - this might not make everyone's list of essential spices but they do for me. The delicious aniseed flavour is brilliant in so many dishes from roast pork to couscous.

I also invested in some good black peppercorns the day after I got here (and a pepper mill) and some sea salt flakes. I chose after a taste test at Gewurzhaus in the Queen Vic Market with some lovely pink salt from the Murray Darling basin, it's different in flavour to Halen Mon salt I used back in the UK but it tastes delicious and has the added benefit of being quite pretty.

That's all for the moment
love
Bekky