Pretty halloumi

Posting this halloumi means admitting to the fact that I have watched Jamie At Home...but what the hell, it just looks too great to not rip off. Jamie Oliver used a basil leaf on his, but I've chosen to go with mint on mine because it echoes the mint flavour in the cheese nicely and basil isn't in season right now.

Cut 1 cm thick slices and squeeze with a little lemon juice. Shake some ground coriander over the top, turn and repeat on the other side. Lay a mint leaf over the top. Put a frying pan on medium to low heat, and splash in a little oil. When the pan is hot, carefully place the halloumi in the pan leaf side up. The key is to fry the cheese slowly over a low heat, allowing it to develop a delicious golden crust. When ready, carefully turn and repeat on the other side.

Cyprus.

Six months of inane bureaucracy ended last week with a trip to Cyprus to get my visa processed, and for those of you who don't know - I'M LEGAL NOW!

So onto food. Cypriots love their meat - so much so, that they think a vegetarian is someone who eats fish. I decided to remain optimistic and was rewarded with some amazing dishes. I'm going to try and replicate these over the coming weeks and will post them if they are successful.



Mushroom and Halloumi Pita with Salad
The halloumi in Cyprus is excellent. It was so good that I ate my own body weight's worth of the stuff. Grill it or fry it in a pan - it was soft, not too salty and even a little minty.
This is so easy and would be great for a BBQ, just make a big bowl of salad, throw everything else on the grill and let everyone help themselves.

Chop up some flat leaf parsley, mint, cucumber and good tomatoes - drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice to taste.
Slice halloumi.
Pan fry, grill or BBQ halloumi and mushrooms until brown (take care not to overcook the halloumi)
Toast some pita bread and fill it with the above.
* (Cooked or canned beetroot instead of the mushrooms works well too!)