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Tag Archives: spring onions

Gordon Ramsay’s Halloumi, Zucchini and Herb Cakes

IMG_3905These interesting halloumi and vegetable cakes are delicious and a nice vegetarian option to make for a simple lunch or supper.

The recipe is based on Gordon Ramsay’s recipe from his app:

Gordon Ramsay Cook with Me: https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/gordon-ramsay-cook-with-me/id394892688?mt=8

I used 250g of halloumi rather than the 500g in the recipe for a more “vegetable” cake.

Ingredients

2 medium carrots, peeled and grated

1 zucchini (courgette), grated

250g halloumi cheese, grated

2 spring onions, finely chopped

1 tbsp chopped coriander

1 tbsp chopped mint

2 free-range eggs lightly beaten

2–4 tbsp breadcrumbs

Olive oil, for frying

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Put the grated carrots and zucchini (courgettes) in a colander and sprinkle with a large pinch of salt to draw out the moisture.

Place over a bowl to drain for 5 minutes, then tip into a clean tea towel and squeeze out all the excess water.

Put the haloumi, carrot mixture, spring onions, coriander and mint into a bowl, season and mix together. Add the beaten eggs and mix well, then stir in 2 tbsp of the breadcrumbs. The mixture should be firm enough to form into patties, if it’s not, add some more breadcrumbs. the moisture content from the vegetables can be variable.

Shape the mixture into 6-8 large cakes or smaller of you prefer. To help shape the haloumi cakes place a large spoonful of the mix onto a spoon and press against your hand and squeeze out any excess liquid. Leave in the fridge uncovered for at least half an hour to firm up.

Heat a large heavy-based frying pan over a medium heat. Add a dash of oil and fry the haloumi cakes until dark golden and crisp on either side.

Serve with some coriander to garnish and a dash of sweet chili sauce.IMG_3922

 

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Pumpkin and Persian Feta Salad

IMG_9307This is essentially a Jamie Oliver recipe with a couple of tweaks in the changing of some ingredients. I have made it a little bit Middle Eastern, using soft Persian feta and a little of the wonderful spice sumac.

The recipe is one of series that Jamie has created for Woolworths in Australia, and is available as a leaflet in store. As always, the recipe has simple ingredients, an easy to follow method and the result is a tasty, colourful salad.

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Ingredients

1/2 pumpkin (any variety, but butternut is sweet and easy to roast)

Olive oil

Sea salt and black pepper

1/4 tsp each ground chili, sweet paprika, sumac

1 avocado

Juice of 1/2 lemon

I tbls extra virgin olive oil

4 spring onions

100 gms Persian feta

Method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Scrape the pumpkin seeds out of the pumpkin, reserving for later. Cut the pumpkin into 3 cm chunks, place in a large baking dish with a good lug of olive oil. Sprinkle over the salt, pepper, chili, paprika and sumac. Toss well to mix.

Bake for 40-45 minutes or until cooked through. Remove from oven to cool for 10 minutes.

Toast the pumpkin seeds in a hot, dry pan until slightly coloured. Remove to cool.

Halve, destone the avocado and cut into chunks. Place in a bowl with the lemon juice and olive oil. Finely slice the spring onions, leaving some longer green tops for garnish.

Add the pumpkin and seeds to the bowl and toss well to make sure the dressing is distributed. You could leave in the bowl or spread over a larger bowl or serving platter.

Crumble the feta into large and small chunks and scatter over the salad, with the remaining green spring onion tops.

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Pear, Artichoke and Blue Cheese Grilled Pizza With Rosé and Cranberry Dressing

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Making pizza on the barbecue is really easy as I discovered when I made one for the first  time. I make lots of pizzas – home made is always nicest – but I was delighted with how quick and easy grilling the dough on the barbecue is!

This recipe was inspired by Bobby Flay’s recipe from his Barbecue Addiction television program: http://m.foodnetwork.com/recipes/551582

You make a normal pizza yeast dough – then grill it for a minute each side on the bars of a very hot barbecue. Then dress the grilled pizza with your toppings of choice, place on a baking tray and heat on the barbecue on medium heat, with the hood down to simulate an oven.

Fresh, hot, grilled pizza made right in front of your friends! You could even do “make your toppings” with everyone customizing their own pizza!

Ingredients
Dough

2 ¼ tsp dry yeast
1 cup warm water (40.5 – 46 degrees C)
2 to 2 ½ cups Tipo 00 flour, plus more for dusting
1 tsp sea salt
Extra-virgin olive oil

Toppings

1 cup grated cheddar cheese
2 spring onions finely chopped
1 pear, sliced
2 -3 artichoke hearts, sliced
A handful of crumbled blue cheese (to taste)
Rosemary sprigs

Method
Pizza
Dissolve the yeast in the warm water in a large bowl and let stand for 5 minutes. Stir in most of the flour and the salt, stirring until smooth. Continue adding the flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring until the dough comes away from the bowl but is still sticky.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead with lightly floured hands. Knead the dough until it is smooth, elastic and soft, but a little sticky, about 10 minutes. Shape the dough into a ball and transfer to bowl lightly oiled with extra virgin olive oil, turn to coat. Cover with cling wrap and let rise in a warm place until it doubles in volume, about 2-3 hours. Press it with your finger to see if it’s done; an indent should remain.

Remove the dough from the bowl, divide in half and shape each half into a ball. This quantity makes 2 small pizzas. Or leave as 1 ball for 1 large pizza.

Brush with more oil and set aside for 30 minutes.

Heat your barbecue to very high.

Stretch and shape the ball/s of dough into a rectangle or round – or any rustic shape! Brush the top/s with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Let rest for 15 minutes. Place on the grill directly on the bars, oiled side down, and grill until lightly golden brown, about 1 minute. Flip over and grill for 1 minute longer.

Place the pizza/s on a baking tray and apply your toppings:

Scatter over cheddar cheese, spring onions, sliced pear, sliced artichoke hearts and crumbled blue cheese.

Return to the barbecue, turn down the heat  to medium, close the cover and cook until the cheese has melted and the pears are heated through, about 5 minutes.

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Remove from the barbecue and drizzle with the rosé and cranberry dressing and garnish with rosemary sprigs. Cut and serve immediately.

Rosé and Cranberry Dressing
Combine ¼ glass of rosé with a splash of caramelized balsamic, 2 tbs extra virgin olive oil, 2 tsp of cranberry sauce and sea salt and black pepper to taste. You can vary these proportions to achieve the desired taste.

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