Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Halloumi Bites


Thank you to Nigella Lawson for inspiring me to try these wonderful fried cheesy bites! They are my first submission to a fabulous new cooking club, I Heart Cooking Clubs! I am especially excited to participate in this new cooking club because we are currently celebrating Nigella Lawson. I adore her and think she is fun and unadulterated. This is a another great cooking club which allows you to chose your own recipe based on a theme each week. This week's theme is Party Treats! I poured and poured over my copy of Nigella Express. So many recipes to choose from and it really gave me something fun to think about. I decided on these Halloumi Bites. How can you ever go wrong with fried cheese?

Over the weekend I went to the Mousetrap, a fabulous cheese shop in Lexington. It's almost embarrassing to admit the sheer excitement I get when going to the Mousetrap. They have every cheese you can possibly imagine. They also carry all sorts of gourmet foods and cookware. I am truly inspired each time I go there. During this visit, I was able to buy four great imported cheeses: Halloumi, Camembert, Fontina, and Romano. So exciting!

Here is a picture of the Halloumi I bought. Halloumi is a cheese made in Cyprus and is used in Greek/Mediterranean cooking. It's very versatile and can be grilled, grated, fried or served in a salad or sandwich. It is a staple in Mediterranean cooking as it features the texture of mozzarella with the briney moisture of a feta. At my local store it was $8.99 for about half a pound (8.8oz). I urge you to try this cheese if you have not. It is worth the price, packs a punch, and can be used for many recipes.
This is what it looks like when you remove the packaging. I was expecting it to be fragile, like feta, but it was more smooth like a mozzarella. It was easy to slice for the Halloumi bites.

This is one of those recipes that you can throw together in five minutes. It was SO easy and very delicious. I ate some plain and then I put some inside a pita and it was awesome!

Halloumi Bites - Nigella Express by Nigella Lawson
1/4 cup garlic oil *(I used chili oil)
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 tablespoons lime juice
good grind of pepper
3 (8 oz.) blocks halloumi cheese, drained *(I used about 1/3 a package for 2)

Combine oil, parsley, lime juice, and pepper in a large shallow dish. Slice the drained (I didn't have to drain mine) halloumi into 1/4 inch-wide pieces, and then cut each slice in half again. Don't worry if they splinter as you cut. Heat a dry skillet and dry-fry the slices of cheese until golden on both sides. This should take only a minute or so in a hot pan. Put the fried halloumi into the shallow dish of other ingredients as you go, and then turn the halloumi about to coat each piece before turning into a serving dish.

I am excited to say that I have leftover Halloumi cheese and will be trying some more recipes later this week. I like the idea of making a Mediterranean pizza, putting the Halloumi on a skewer, and also grating it into pasta or even an omelet!

Enjoy!!

21 comments:

  1. i Loooooooooooooooooooove haloumi. Hubby and i buy loads of it from costco. I usually fry it and eat it on toasted bagel with tomatoe and fresh oregano. Its so good. I love your recipe :)

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  2. I have always wanted to try Halloumi, what an awesome app! I am a huge fan of cheese too.
    (I edited your link on Mr. Linky so that it would take people to this post, rather than your homepage)
    Thanks so much for cooking along with us, I hope to get mine up tonight.

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  3. A cheese shop called Mousetrap? I LOVE IT!

    I am a huge cheese lover, so anything with cheese gets my vote. And while I've never tried Halloumi, perhaps I'll breakout the adventurous spirit and buy some soon.

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  4. I totally love you right now! I have been dying to make this recipe...I'm so happy to see that you made it! I haven't been able to find any halloumi, so I'm having a rough time of it! But I LOOOOVE it so much...I always order it in Greek Restaurants! Great party submission :D

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  5. I love cheese! All with it is delicious!

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  6. I could exist on cheese. Never had Halloumi; it looks delish! I'm drooling. Somehow, 2% cheese just isn't the same.

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  7. I have never tried (or heard of) this kind of cheese. But I LOVE cheese! I'll have to look for it. And I have to come up with something for I heart cooking clubs too- busy busy....

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  8. Oh wow! This looks delicious! I love trying different types of cheese :) Thanks for the background on the cooking club. I joined up :)

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  9. Hi Kim, thanks for coming by my blog - I was so excited to find the I Heart Cooking blog and see so much Nigella!

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  10. I love haloumi, but can't get it here anymore!

    Also, I received the Lush giveaway! It is wonderful! I haven't even unwrapped any of it, just enjoying the way it makes my whole computer room smell fantastic!

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  11. Haloumi is not really easy to find here, but I can special order it. I love it especially with grilled eggplant and roasted red peppers in a grilled cheese on nutty whole grain bread. My mouth is watering! I'm enjoying visiting your blog and certainly will be back. I admire your determination to cook through this book. I seem to have attention deficit disorder when I try to do that! Come visit me at diningwithdebbie.blogspot.com and check out Crock Pot Wednesday.

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  12. Haloumi is a favorite of mine too and I am in cheese shop envy right now! ;-) A great recipe to kick off IHCC with. So happy you are joining us!

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  13. I totally understand your cheese excitement. Walking past the cheese counter at Whole Foods gets me giddy, so I would be ecstatic in a whole store full of cheese. There are just so many out there that I have never tried! Including halloumi! I have heard so much about it and you make it look so good - it's on my list.

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  14. this was a lot of fun because i've never even heard of halloumi cheese, but fried cheese? I'm there!

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  15. These are very unique!! There is soo many different cheeses it's CRAZY! However, I only like a few--cheddar, mozz, parm, and pepperjack and can never eat it plain! Weird I know!

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  16. You are so fortunate for a couple of reasons. One, you live in an area where particular items can be found and two, you have your family to feed☺ My family is grown so I have to either give food away or host a multitude of dinner parties when I'm trying out new things. This looks wonderful!

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  17. I have never tried this type of cheese but now I so so so want to. GREAT review.

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  18. I'm seriously afraid that if I made this, I would eat the entire plate full!! I have heard that this Halloumi cheese is unbelievable grilled, but fried cheese, it doesn't get much better than that!

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  19. Ciao ! I live much closer to Greece but I've never found halloumi !

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  20. I've never tried this cheese before, but you make it look and sound so good so now I want to.

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  21. Looks great! I've never tried halloumi but have always wanted to. This looks like a perfect recipe to try it for the first time.

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