Baked halloumi with caramelised onions and tomatoes

Waitrose is running a 25% price reduction for their own Waitrose 1 range at the moment, with a wide selection of foods offered. While checking out what's on offer, I spotted a pack of halloumi with mint which I haven't bought before.
Just the day before I was recycling newspapers and saw a recipe for baked halloumi with tomatoes printed in The Observer magazine. This was one of Nigel's Midweek Dinner recipes.

I have adapted the recipe, if you want to see the original recipe, follow the link above.

Baked halloumi with caramelised onions and tomatoes
Ingredients:
a punnet of mixed baby tomatoes (220g)
1tbsp olive oil
1tbsp balsamic vinegar
1tbsp soy sauce
1tsp maple syrup
1 big red onion, sliced
2tbsp olive oil
1tbsp balsamic vinegar
1tsp maple syrup
1 pack of halloumi (250g)
a few sprigs of fresh thyme

First start by roasting tomatoes. Put tomatoes in a small roast dish and pour olive oil, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce and maple syrup over them. Place the dish in the oven preheated to 180C and cook for about 20 minutes.
I used mixed baby tomatoes, but any colour would do. If you have bigger tomatoes, just halve them and cook the same way.

In the meantime cut a big red onion in half and slice into crescents. Add oil to a medium sized frying pan, and fry the onions on low for about 10-15 minutes, stirring regularly. Add the balsamic vinegar and maple syrup, and a pinch of salt. The onions will turn a lovely dark colour. Once cooked, set aside. Take the tomatoes out of the oven.

Take two square pieces of foil, first layer the caramelised onions as a base. Cut the halloumi in half, then in half again. Put two pieces of halloumi on caramelised onions (two per foil pocket).
Add the roast tomatoes, any juice from the tomatoes and fresh thyme.

Pull the edges of the foil up together and slightly scrunch them to create a pocket. Place the pockets on a tray and into the oven. Cook at 180C for 20-25 minutes.
Serve hot, with a nice chunk of bread to mop up the onion sauce.

In this recipe I used Waitrose 1 traditional halloumi with mint. It has a firm texture, and is made from pasteurised ewe's and goat's milk. Flavoured with mint, it is hand folded the traditional way in Cyprus.

Baked cheese was tasty enough, though I do prefer halloumi fried or grilled.
I also recently cooked Foil-baked feta with caper berries and Greek basil, and prefer the texture of baked feta.

Which baked cheese is your favourite?

Adding this post to #KitchenClearout linky hosted by Cheryl at Madhouse Family Reviews, as I have conveniently used the end of the bottle of maple syrup in this recipe.

Roast quinces with vanilla syrup

Just a couple of weeks ago I was moaning that I haven't seen any quinces in the shops, when I suddenly came across the big box of quince offered for free by one of the kind neighbours and helped myself. Then a friend emailed me, asking if I want any quinces. So, I am now "quinced" for the season, making jelly and roast quinces. It is such a beautiful fruit, which inspired many old masters of still life.

As Nigel Slater wrote: "I love the quince's shape, its generous curves and bulges. It is a voluptuous, even magnificent fruit to look at, like a Rubens bottom. (There is one in my dish now that is the spitting image of his Bacchus)."
And though for the photo shoot I couldn't find any particularly bottom-resembling quince, they are certainly curvy.

This recipe is inspired by Nigel Slater's recipe for roast quinces. He suggests cutting the quinces in half (from the photos you can see I did both halves and quarters). He uses the maple syrup, while I added the Gourmet Vanilla syrup with Vanilla pod and Gourmet Ginger Syrup from Selsley Foods (not together, but on different occasions, and both syrups work brilliantly).
We didn't have it as a dessert but as a side dish to roast chicken. I would imagine it will be beautiful with the roast ham or gammon for Christmas.

Roast quinces with Gourmet Vanilla syrup
Ingredients:
4 smaller size quinces
4tbsp + sugar
water (enough to cover the quinces)
2 cloves
1/2 lemon
4tbsp syrup (either vanilla or ginger)

Halve or quarter the peeled quinces, remove the seeds. Take half a lemon and rub it over the quince pieces to stop them from browning. Put the quinces in a medium pan, add the cloves, sugar, a squeeze of lemon juice and water, enough to cover the quinces.

Poach the quinces for about 10-15 minutes until quite soft. Nigel suggests cooking them for longer, but the first batch I was doing started to go a bit mushy, so I would't cook them longer in water.

Take the quinces out of the pan and put in a deep baking dish or tin. Add some of the liquid from the pan and pour the syrup. Roast in the oven preheated to 180C for about 25 minutes.
Serve as a side dish to roast meat or as a dessert.

I should also add that both Gourmet Vanilla syrup with vanilla pod and Gourmet Ginger syrup work exceptionally well with the roast quinces. What I love about Selsley foods syrups is their superior quality. The vanilla syrup actually has a vanilla pod inside, and the ginger syrup has a long piece of ginger. They are delicious, and until 15 November you have a chance to win a selection of beautiful syrups from Selsley Foods on my blog (see Selsley syrups giveaway).

You could also try this recipe with the maple syrup.

For the original Nigel Slater's recipe and other quince recipes, check the link Quince recipes.

I am entering this recipe in the Dish of the month linky created by Farmersgirl Kitchen blog and hosted this month by A little bit of heaven blog.

Cod in soured cream sauce

Back in May I was glad to discover that my favourite food writer Nigel Slater cooks the fish almost the same way my Mum does, with creme fraiche (soured cream) and herbs.

You can find his recipe for Lemon Tarragon Cod on the Observer site. And while I haven't followed his recipe exactly, that short feature made me revisit my old memories and cook something in between his and my Mum's recipes.

Place 350g of cod fillet (two biggish chunky pieces) into a deep frying pan or wok. 

Add the juice of one lemon (or two, like Nigel suggests, if you prefer a more distinct lemon flavour, but one is plenty), 1tbsp of butter and half a handful of chopped herbs. Nigel Slater suggests using the tarragon.

Add a bay leaf and a few black peppercorns. Add 5 heaped tablespoons of the plain thick Greek yogurt (for example, Total Greek or supermarket own) or soured cream and more chopped herbs (coriander and chives).

Once the sauce starts to boil, cover the pan with the lid and lower the heat. It has to be simmering for about 10 minutes. The fish is ready when it goes opaque.

Maestro himself is very flexible with the ingredients and mentioned that you could try the same recipe but use a different fish, for example, salmon instead of cod, as well as use the chervil instead of tarragon. Or keep it plain and simple by using flat-leaf parsley.

My Mum would most likely make this recipe with hake or pollock, rather than cod.

I couldn't find any fresh tarragon or chervil, and used a mix of fresh coriander and chives that grow in pots in my garden.

Serve with the mashed potatoes and green beans.

Squid romesco

Mention Nigel Slater, and my heart is all a-flutter. He is a genius in the kitchen, and I love his writing style: he's unpretentious and curious about the world. He sees the beauty in simple things. And cooks like a God. He's the main reason why I buy The Observer every Sunday. Last Sunday The Observer Magazine featured a beautiful piece on a culinary trip to San Sebastian and a short recipe for Squid Romesco. To read the article including the recipe in full, please follow this link.

I wanted to try this recipe with pasta. As someone who's been "enduring" pasta dinners for years, I am always on the lookout for new ideas, and I thought Nigel's Squid Romesco would be fab served with pasta. And so it was. I have adapted the recipe as I didn't have canned peppers, anchovies or sherry vinegar.

Squid Romesco
2 medium Romano peppers
olive oil for brushing + sauce (about 4 tbsp)
4 baby squid
a slice of white bread
smoked paprika
balsamic vinegar
a dash of sherry
salt
2 cloves of garlic, crushed

Start by roasting the Romano peppers in the oven at 180C for about 30mins. Brush them with the olive oil before roasting. Once ready, remove the skins, and whizz the peppers with the olive oil, crustless white bread (I used the inside of a slightly stale baguette), paprika and balsamic vinegar. You will get a lovely bright red sauce.
Add the chopped/crushed garlic to a frying pan with a bit of the olive oil. Once it is softened, add the squid which you need to clean and score a bit. Add a dash of sherry. Cook quickly, or it will get rubbery.
Serve with the pepper sauce which has to be warmed in a small pan. And pasta too if you like.

I must say, it was absolutely delicious, I will be definitely cooking it again.

As it is my blog, I am allowed to boast. Ain't I? I have tweeted the photo of my pasta to Nigel himself. Imagine how thrilled I was to receive this reply:

And for that, Nigel, I'm forever yours. ;)

Lovely Janice from Farmersgirl Kitchen blog is running a monthly Dish of the Month challenge. She is inviting bloggers to cook any recipe from Nigel Slater's The Kitchen Diaries (or any online sources).