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Venison-Halloumi Stew
Venison-Halloumi Stew
This week’s recipe is going to be something that has long been requested by our readers. The infamous halloumi stew. This specific recipe deviates a bit from the traditional Cypriot stew, as it is inspired by the Russian cuisine, it marries a Russian stew with the Cypriot Halloumi . After all you will never find deers wondering the forests of Cyprus. And needless to say that this is a Michigan deer. This is a recipe with touches from across the globe. And for the first time we will be using fresh (soft) Lysiotiko Halloumi.
The ingredients:
- Fresh Lysiotiko Halloumi
- Venison steak
- Fresh onions
- Parsley
- Celery
- Red skin potatoes
- Carrots
- Black peppercorns
- Bay leaves
- Salt
- Extra virgin olive oil
Preparation:
Wash the ingredients and chop them. Fry quickly the venison in a well heated skillet (if you have the one with thick walls – even better) until it gets a crust to seal the juices in. Add onions and sear until golden brown. Next add the fresh halloumi and sear again for a couple of minutes. After that in layers add carrots, potatoes and celery. On the side put the bunch of parsley tails. Tie them in a bunch as you will remove them later. This is only for flavor. Add boiling water, salt, peppercorns, and bay leaves. Close the lid and let it simmer on low heat until the potatoes and carrots are tender. Add remaining chopped green onions and parsley leaves. Gently mix the stew, close the lid, switch off the heat and let it sit for at least 10-15 minutes, you can let it rest longer if you do not like too hot food. Now your internationally inspired venison-halloumi stew is ready. Serve in a deep dish or a bowl and enjoy!
What do you think?
Fried Halloumi Breakfast
Fried Halloumi Breakfast…
Today’s recipe is going to be something quick and very easy to do. As always employing Halloumi and we will be exploring one of its many virtues, frying it. This dish makes up a delicious breakfast to kick start your day with the taste of Meditterranean accompanying you along.
The ingredients:
- Halloumi. Either aged or fresh, both will do. Here we are using aged.
- Eggs
- Sausage links (I would recommend maple)
- Tomato
Quantities vary depending on the amount of servings so adjust accordingly.
Now to prepare. Slice the halloumi in pieces of about half a centimeter (1/5 inch) thick. Fry the eggs and sausage links. The amount of oil to use depends on you. If you can use multiple pans that would be advantageous in order to enjoy everything hot. Then is time to fry the halloumi. Do not worry about melting. Halloumi can be fried. So just put in the frying pan. Some people like to deep fry it. I just like to grease the pan bottom. Cook on each side for about a minute until it gets a golden-brown color and becomes soft to touch. DO NOT touch with the hand, it is hot. Remember cheeses have a high specific heat capacity so it can really put a burn on you. At the same time you can grill your tomatoes. Place on a plate and simply enjoy. And to complete the breakfast you can accompany it with a coffee In this case we are featuring Frape half and half (iced coffee with half milk half water by proportion) . Remember to enjoy it as soon as you get it out of the pan. Halloumi will get harder as it cools down. Do not sit around taking pictures! Some things are better to be remembered by taste.
What do you think?
Packaged aged Lysiotiko Halloumi
Here I though of adding some picture to show how the traditional Lysiotiko Halloumi can be packaged for travel across the oceans. Firstly we should recall that the traditional halloumi it is aged and preserved in whey, so travelling with it in that way makes it kind of difficult. The best way to travel with it is just pull it out of the whey and just vacuum seal it in a plastic wrapper. And that’s it… you are ready to roll. Of course after that you will have to refrigerate but the taste is preserved for quite some time. I will vouch for it for up to a year, as long as it is Lysiotiko. Beyond that I will need more time for experiments.
Halloumi-Rolo Dish
Here are some pictures from the restaurant at the University of Nicosia where they frequently incorporate halloumi in their dishes. This dish, halloumi-rolo, really caught me out of surprise. The traditional rolo is made with minced pork meat and spices and it is stuffed with hard boiled eggs. In this case the stuffing ended up being Halloumi! I hope this will unveil new pathways for experiments in the kitchen. Enjoy…
Halloumi-rolo dish with salad and potatoes
Halloumi-rolo dish with salad and potato
Halloumi-Trahana Soup
The Halloumi-Trahana Soup…
This time we will try a fully traditional Cypriot dish, trahana soup. Trahana is another traditional dairy product of Cyprus. We will put a page at a later stage describing trahana in detail.
For now, briefly, trahana is made from fermented goat milk and crashed wheat. The milk is fermented for 4-6 days, until the sourness reaches a desirable level, and then it is cooked with crashed wheat. Then it is rolled (as shown below in the pictures) and left to dry under the summer Mediterranean sun. It can be consumed just like that, or to make the trahana soup. Also the fermented milk can be consumed just like that, chilled though, with some mint. It is very refreshing in the hot summer days.
Now back to the main topic, the trahana-halloumi soup, and the most important of all, the ingredients. We will need…
- One aged Lysiotiko Halloumi
- Trahana, the amount depends on how many servings you want to do and how dense you want your soup. Experiment on the quantity.
- Chicken, preferably legs or thighs, here we will be using breast though. Legs or thighs have more fat and will release more juices when you boil them.
- One cube of chicken bouillon
- Lemon
- Salt and pepper
Preparation:
The first thing that you have to do when doing a Halloumi-Trahana soup is to plan in advance. The soup itself is not time consuming but the trahana needs to be soaked in water to soften, and this requires time, 4-5 hours. Once you have soaked the trahana then the whole process is relative quick. So to prepare the soup soak the trahana, put it in a bowl and cover it with water and let it soak. The trahana will absorb the water, get swollen and turn into a pale white-beige color, and become very soft. In the meantime boil the chicken. Once it is done pull it out from the pot, and let it cool down. Add the trahana and the chicken bouillon cube in the pot where the chicken was cooking. Cook it on medium heat for about half an hour. Once it is cooked, the trahana and water will have meshed into one mixture. Cut the chicken and the aged Halloumi in small cubes and add them to the pot. Add some more water to dilute the mixture and let it boil for another 5 minutes. Take it off the stove let it cool down a bit. Add lemon and pepper to taste and serve warm to hot… And it will definitely warm you up on a cold winter night. And with this dish you will have experienced an authentic dish from the traditional table of Cyprus/
Here are a few pictures of the Halloumi-Trahana… so warm…
Finally the poll…
Poll: What do you think?
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Halloumi Dishes
This category will feature pictures of dishes that include Halloumi. It will be an inspiration to explore new culinary frontiers… Feel free to include any pictures and briefly describe the dish… Get inspired…
Halloumi-Tuna Salad
The Halloumi-Tuna Salad…
Today’s recipe is a very quick and easy one, but still very delightful. It can be used for a snack, to replace a meal or as an appetizer.
We will be taking the well known tuna salad and infusing with halloumi and even more.
So the ingredients:
- One aged halloumi
- One can of chunk tuna
- Two eggs
- One tomato
- Two celery ribs
- Three table spoons of capers
- Two table spoons of mustard poppies
Preparation:
Hard-boil the eggs. Drain the tuna. Chop all the ingredients in small cubes. Then just place them in a bowl and mix them. Add lemon, salt and pepper to your preference… and enjoy. Your hunger will disappear but still feel light. And you have indulged your taste senses with another dish infused with Halloumi.
Here are a few pictures of the Halloumi-Tuna Salad… so indulging…
Finally the poll…
Poll: What do you think?
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