Posts by Jess

Amaretto Almond Brownies

June 14, 2015 Comments Off read Sweet Treats

hen my recent package of Green & Blacks experimentation chocolate arrived at my desk word soon transfused around the office that there was chocolate around. That said, with a weekend of chocolate haven on the cards, it wasn’t long before the first brownie request was publiszesd. Chocoaltes a perfect match for many wine ‘don’t you know’. All the more reason to open a bottle of something vintage then…?

Working within the wine industry my brownies naturally had to contain some form of alcohol! Amaretto and crunchy almonds to the rescue.

(Adapted from Brandt’s recipe)

Makes about 15 large brownies

185g unsalted butter
100g Green & Blacks ‘Butterscotch’ bar
100g Green & Blacks Dark chocolate
3 large eggs beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
260g caster sugar
65g ground almonds
40g plain flour
25g cocoa powder
50g toasted flaked almonds
8-10 amaretti biscuits, roughly crumbled

Preheat the oven to 170°C. Grease and line a brownie tin or tray (around 20cm x 20cm)
Melt the butter in a saucepan and then snap in the chocolate in small pieces and stir. Once the chocolate has thoroughly melted, whisk to combine. Leave to cool to room temperature
Combine the sugar, eggs and vanilla in a large bowl. Using an electric mixer, mix on high speed for a minute or so until pale, fluffy and aerated.
Sieve together the flour, cocoa and almonds.
When the chocolate has cooled whisk it into the sugar and eggs.
Finally fold in the flour mixture until well combined
Stir in the flaked almonds and all but a handful of the crumbled amaretti biscuits which you can save for the topping.
Pour into the prepared baking tin and scatter over the remaining biscuits.
bake int he centre of the oven. Timings are now a bit up to you. I baked mine for about 25-30 minutes (as I’m always scared of having a really raw brownie!) But these are a particualry gooey sort so won’t suffer too much from a few minutes longer and end up ‘cakey’ at the edges. Bake for 20-25 for a soft centre.
Leave to cool completely in the tin before cutting. Ideally (I know this could come as a shock) leave for a few hours or in the fridge overnight to firm up a little to make them easier to cut.
Devour with a rich strong coffee or amaretto shot. I’d suggest the former if its a Monday back at work in the office.

Roast Poussin, Creamy Leeks and Smoked Salt Fried Gnocchi

June 10, 2015 Comments Off read Poultry

I’m no pasta lover (sorry Italy…and Nigella) but I am an occasional fried gnocchi lover. OK I may have been a tad patriotic on the cooking method but it turns out that fried gnocchi are a bit like mini roast potatoes. Bitesized. Dangerous. But delicious. After a continuous dose of Thai and Asian inspired dishes recently, followed by a delicious and flavour packed trip to Morocco, I fancied a bit more of a classic this evening. French poussin and mustardy creamy leeks were a delicious and comforting contrast to my ‘Englishly’ cooked Italian potato dumplings. Crispy and golden and seasoned with smoked salt.

Serves 2

250g gnocchi
2 tbsp sunflower oil
1 tsp smoked salt (optional)
2 large leeks
1 large garlic clove, crushed
250ml single cream
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
Handful flatleaf parsley, chopped
1 x poussin
50g unsalted butter, softened
Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Place your poussin on a baking tray and smother the skin and legs with about 30g of the butter and season well.
Place in the centre of the oven and roast for about 40-45minutes until cooked. Baste with the juices a few times during cooking.
Once cooked, leave to rest before serving.
Meanwhile, melt the remaining butter with a splash of oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Slice the leeks in halve vertically and slice into chunks. Gently and slowly soften the leeks for about 15 minutes of so until really soft. Add the garlic and cook out for another few minutes.
While the leeks are softening and the poussin is cooking, cook the gnocchi. Boil in salted water for 2 minutes and then drain well. Leave to dry out a little for a few minutes.
Heat a frying pan on a high heat and add the sunflower oil. Fry the cooked gnocchi with the smoked salt in the oil until crispy and golden. Keep warm.
When the poussin is nearly cooked and ready, turn the heat up a little with the leeks and add the cream. Simmer a little to thicken.
Season well and add the mustard and all but a handful of parsley and stir thoroughly. Keep warm while you carve the poussin.
Remove the meat from the oven or from where it has been resting. Carve off the breast and wings.
Serve the creamy leeks in a warmed serving bowl and top with the poussin. Scatter round some fried gnocchi and sprinkle with the remaining parsley.
Drizzle with a dash of lemon infused or plain extra virgin olive oil and serve!

WINE: This dish being creamy and weighty is delicious served with a classic wine pairing. Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc with some oak ageing and some natural acidity. Try this Mulderbosch, 2013 Faithful Hound White from Stellenbosch available at Armit Wines.

Stuffed Sweet Potato Skins

June 4, 2015 Comments Off read Vegetables and Salads

A recent speedy meal before an evening out for cocktails with my sister. Cocktails are pricey so it was a ‘use up the fridge’ meal….cheap, and always pleasantly surprising I find. What started as a quick bite consequently and unsurprisingly turned into my need to photograph and blog the whole scenario resulting in me having to wolf them down and then jump out of my running gear and into something more bar worthy….

Speedy meal for one!

Serves 1

1 large sweet potato, stabbed all over with a knife
1 red onion, sliced into half moons
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp cumin seeds
Handful flat leaf parsley, chopped
Zest of half a lemon
A few slices of goats cheese, crumbled
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 200°C.
Heat a frying pan to a medium high heat. Add a splash of oil and soften the onions for about 10 minutes until soft and just beginning to brown. If they are catching, turn the temperature down.
Meanwhile, cheat cook your potato in the microwaves for 7 minutes or until the middle is soft.
Cut in half and leave to cook slightly. It will be very hot!
When the onions are soft, turn up the heat and add the balsamic. Simmer gently until the onions are sticky and syrupy. Add the cumin seeds and remove from the heat.
Scoop the flesh of the potato into a large bowl.
Place the skins on baking tray and drizzle with a little oil and season. Crisp them up in the hot oven for a bout 5 minutes or so (check to make sure they don’t burn!)
Meanwhile, season the potato flesh in the bowl and add the chopped parsley, onions and crumble in the goats cheese.
Mix thoroughly. When the skins are crisp, remove from the oven and stuff with the mixture.
Place back in the oven for 5 minutes or so to warm through.
Devour with a crisp fresh salad.

Fillet Steak, Red Bordeaux and a 60th Birthday

May 27, 2015 Comments Off read Meat

What a truly fantastic and relaxing week. May is my favourite month. Not only is it is filled with selfish Birthday treats but my favourite ingredients are coming into season! The days are light and longer, a natural prescription for the post February Vitamin D deficiencies we all seem to develop if my fellow London commuters are anything to go by! So, a May holiday break back to my favourite place in the world down at Lands End. I’ve been visiting this little village haven since I was seven where I ironically celebrated my own birthday. I will never forget the patio bbq and days spent thrashing around in the surf. Was it warmer in May 16 years ago or was I just better at embracing the cold!? However I am not the 60 year old this year that this post proudly boasts. This year, it only seemed natural that we’d return here to my pa’s mutual favourite home-away-from-home to celebrate his 60th Birthday. Smooth beer, fresh fish and chips, sea air by the lungful, feisty surf and the stickiest chocolate cake….what could we all want more!? Well….fillet steak and a flashy red bordeaux would go down nicely…?

RECOMMENDED ACCOMPANIMENT: Mellow music, sunsets dog walks on the beach, lighthearted chatter, slurping, chewing, all topped off with a competitive and crude (at times) game of scrabble. Followed by coffee and chocolate cake! Seemed to work for us anyway!?

Serves 4

Green vegetables and some hearty homemade potato wedges are a great accompaniment here! The sweet, slow cooked juicy onions act as a delicious sauce that doesn’t detract from the flavour of the steak. Fillet steak, with very little flavoursome fat, is not the most notorious for being full of flavour hence why classic blue cheese or peppercorn sauce are often used. But I wanted a sauce here that wasn’t too powerful!

4 fillet steaks
2 large white onions
2 red onions
Thyme leaves
1-2 garlic cloves, chopped finely
Salt and Pepper
Vegetables to serve
Hand cut potato wedges to serve

If you can, remove the steaks from their packaging/wrapping in the morning and place on a wire rack or plate to ‘dry’ a little in the fridge.
Start with the onions. Heat a frying pan to medium low heat. Slice the onions in half and then slice into think half moons. Heat 1-2 tbsp of light oil in the fry pan and very gently soften the onions for about 15 minutes. Keep the heat low and make sure they don’t begin to catch. You want to end up with lovely soft, sweet onions that are just begging to brown.
Season with salt and plenty of black pepper. Add the chopped garlic and the thyme leaves and cook for a further 5 minutes or so. Once ready, cover and set aside but keep warm.
Remove the steak from the fridge about 30 minutes before cooking. Season all over well with salt and pepper and drizzle over a little oil. If you like, slice a garlic clove in halve horizontally and use it to rub over the steak flesh. It just adds a subtle flavour. When ready to cook, heat a frying pan to a high heat. Fry the steaks on the below timings to your liking. As the last few seconds come around, spoon over about a 1tsp of butter per steak and baste.
Its really important to rest the steak after! I cannot stress this enough especially with fillet steak! Don’t be tempted to just slap on the plate and eat. The meat needs to rest so the juices that are forced to the centre during cooking can settle out and diffuse out within the meat. This is where the flavour is! It also provides you with those all important juices for adding to your onions.
Once cooked to your liking, place the steaks on a large piece of foil and wrap up tightly to rest and collect the juices. Rest for at least 10 minutes.
Reheat the onions if needed and cook any vegetables you wish to serve with this
After 10 minutes, open the foil and steaks. Pour and resting juices into the warm onions. Serve the steaks topped with a generous spoonful of juicy sweet onions to act as a sauce!

Cooking times:

I’m a medium rare steak lover so I always go for this timing so I’ll admit I’ve never tested the others accurately! But I presume they do the trick! All based on a 2cm thick steak. As a rough guide, add 1 minute for another cm.

Blue: 1 minute each side
Rare: 1½ minutes each side
Medium rare: 2 minutes each side
Medium: 2¼ minutes each side
Medium-well done: 2½ – 3 minutes each side.

Steak Choice:

Everyone seems to have their favourite steak cut and there are many that are simply not popularly seen especially in supermarkets. Each cut has a purpose and is great for different occasions, recipes or side dishes and sauces. Below is a very brief guide to help with some of the more well known and eaten cuts. First, a few things to note when choosing.

FAT: The fat content is important for two reasons. It is where the flavour is! When it cooks, the fat melts into the meat. This not only adds flavour but helps keep the steak succulent!

LOCATION: The more tender the steak, the less work the muscle has done. Therefore, a relatively unused muscles such as the loin will be more tender, and therefore usually more expensive

Sirloin: melt-in-the-mouth and succulent with some fat marbling. Lots of flavour but lacks flavour compared to a rib eye for example.

Rump (and my favourite cut): A large steak with huge flavour. It needs a long time to hang and a good cooking time as it can be tough if rare.

Fillet/Loin: Buttery tender and soft. Little or no fat so therefore very little flavour. It also cannot be hung and aged for long. My advice on a day to day basis is to opt for any other steak for economical and flavour reasons as you’ll be much more satisfied!

Rib eye: Lots of fat marbling provides a rich flavour.

Minute steak: Thin, cheap, can be cooked quickly. It can be tough however but if often seen for use in sandwiches!

T bone: The cut is part sirloin, part fillet so the cooking time is hard to judge…and then there is the cumbersome bone…

Charred Broccoli, Almond, Lentil Salad

May 18, 2015 Comments Off read Vegetables and Salads

Using up leftovers is one of my favourite challenges! And hence where my suitability for Masterchef would come in….ahem. If anyone reading this is from the admissions team (fat chance) then PICK ME! Anyway, my yearly voyage to my most favourite place in England, Sennen Cove at Lands End, is fast approaching and with only two more sleeps and two more meals I was challenged to use up the innards of the fridge in a creative yet tasty way.

Charred purple sprouting broccoli and almonds tossed with earthy lentils and balsamic red onions. Healthily delicious.

Serves 2

4 oz Puy lentils
1 large red onion, sliced into slithers
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 garlic clove
Large handful flat leaf parsley
Handful flaked almonds
Purple sprouting broccoli for two

Simmer the lentils in boiling water for about 18 minutes until tender.
Meanwhile, heat a frying pan to a medium-hot and toast the almonds gently for a few minutes until just turning golden. Remove from the pan and set aside when done
Heat 1 tbsp of light oil in the pan and turn the heat down. Gently and slowly soften the onions for about 5-10 minutes until sweet and soft and just beginning to colour. Add the chopped garlic and fry for a few more minutes. Season.
Turn the heat up and add the balsamic. Simmer until reduced for about 1 minute and the onions are coated in a sticky sweet glaze. Remove from the heat and set aside.
Par-boil the broccoli for 1-2 minutes and drain well. Heat a griddle pan until hot and charr the broccoli on all sides for a few minutes on a high heat.
Meanwhile, drain the cooked lentils and season well. Add the onions and parsley and stir. Finally add in the charred broccoli and finally some of the almonds, reserving the majority for the topping to keep them crispy and crunchy!

Spanish Lamb Shanks

May 13, 2015 Comments Off read Meat

adore slow cooked dishes especially as it usually involves a a budget friendly cut such as lamb shanks. My favourite way to cook meat, besides the barbeque obviously…But while the first May bank holiday weekend delivered us a beautifully sunny and fresh evening, the morning hadn’t been as promising for a barbie. My sodden raincoat and squelching trainers sat drying in the sun were evidence enough. With not much time in my working week to knock out a slow cooked creation, the bank holiday offered the perfect opportunity. So a slow cooked, tender, succulent lamb shank in a glossy, sticky sauce studded with manly chunks of chorizo and vege was a definite good alternative. Scattered with fresh mint served on some creamy silky parsnip mash we went to bed with happy stomaches. Oh and we might have finished the meal with some bank holiday brownies. Ahem….

Serves 4

4 lamb shanks
300ml hot beef stock
350ml red wine (Rioja is suggested)
200ml balsamic vinegar
4-6 garlic cloves
2 bay leaves
Handful of fresh rosemary, leaves picked
125g chorizo, sliced
1 red onion, cut into wedges
2 carrots, sliced into chunks horizontally
Fresh mint to serve
Olive oil
Freshly cracked black pepper and salt

Preheat the oven to 150°C. Heat a large casserole dish on a medium high heat and add a good splash of olive oil. Season the lamb shanks well and brown on all sides in the pan until golden and crisp in places then remove to a plate.
Using the same pan, heat the wine and vinegar and boil for about 5 minutes to simmer off the sharpness of the liquids.
Add the bay leaves, rosemary, some seasoning and the hot stock. Peel the garlic cloves and crush lightly with the back of a knife. Finally add these and the lamb shanks submerged in the liquid.
Place in the oven for 2 hours with the lid on.
After 2 hours, remove from the oven and baste. Add the chopped onion, carrot and chorizo and turn the oven up to 180°C. Remove the lid and place in the oven for a further hour to brown and reduce the sauce.
After this time the meat should be deliciously tender and falling off the bone. Remove the dish from the oven. Place the lamb shanks onto a warm plate and cover with foil while you deal with the sauce. Bring the liquid to a boil on the hob and simmer for about 5-10 minutes to reduce and thicken the sauce (Add 1 tbsp of cornflour mixed with 1 tbsp of cold water if needed and whisk this in to thicken further). Taste and adjust the seasoning.
Place the lamb shanks back in the glossy sauce and pop in the oven to keep warm while you prepare the side dishes. I served mine with creamy parsnip mash and purple sprouting broccoli.

Serve one shank per person in a warm bowl a top some creamy mash with some vege and sauce. Scatter over some fresh mint and enjoy!

WINE: Nothing seems more appropriate here than a native Spanish vino and something substantial to complement the lamb. Try a Rioja such as the La Rioja Alta, 2008 Viña Alberdi Reserva available at Armit Wines.

Sticky Soy and Sesame Pork

May 9, 2015 Comments Off read Meat

peedy and delicious. If you get embarrassingly excited at the idea of sticky sweetly glazed tender strips of pork on soft oozing coconut rice then I suggest you give this recipe a try. Another long week at work, Friday nights recipe choice had high expectations to satisfy a variety of needs. I craved nothing more than comfort, flavour and relative speed. If you serve this on plain rice then you’ll have an even speedier dinner in minutes but I can never resist a coconut infused creation. Except coconut water. Whats the fad about? Dishwater disguised in a eco-friendly carton. Having been found on numerous occasions unashamedly desperately corkscrewing a hole into a fresh coconut only to slurp the fresh juicy ‘milk’ from inside with a straw this is a far healthier (economical) and dramatic way to get your coconut hit! Its fresh and delicious. Plus you get the joyful task of angrily throwing the empty coconut onto a hard floor (outside recommended) to crack it open to access the meaty pure white flesh. Perfect for grating into curries, porridge, use in cakes (see here) or into your coconut rice!

Serves 2

Sticky Pork

1 pork fillet, sliced into thumb sized slices
1 knob ginger, chopped
1 small red chilli, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 spring onions, chopped
1 bunch coriander, stems and leaves chopped separately
1 heaped tsp cornflour
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp runny honey
1 tsp sesame oil
½ tsp rice wine vinegar
Sunflower oil
2 tbsp sesame seeds
50g salted peanuts, crushed lightly

Coconut Rice

4 oz brown rice
1 can coconut milk
Good handful desiccated coconut
1 lime, zest
Handful chopped coriander to serve
Green vegetables to serve

Begin with the rice. Warm the coconut milk in a saucepan with about ½ cup of water (you may need to add more water as it cooks). Bring to a light simmer but be very careful as the milk will boil over if left unattended on a high heat.
Let it simmer on a fast simmer for about 25 minutes. You want to end up with cooked rice that has absorbed mostly all the liquid but is still loose so it oozes on a plate. Keep an eye out and add more water if it dries out before fully cooked.
When cooked and still oozing, add the desiccated coconut, chopped coriander and lime zest and keep warm.
Start on the pork which is a pretty speedy process so have your green vege and warming plate ready to go not soon after!
Combine the cornflour with 2 tbsp of cold water in a jug. Add the soy sauce, sesame, vinegar and honey and mix well.
Heat a frying pan or wok on a medium high heat. Quickly flash fry the chopped chilli, spring onion, garlic, ginger and coriander stalks in a splash of sunflower oil until softened. Add the pork and turn up the heat to get a nice colour on the outside.
Fry for about 5 minutes or so until the pork is just cooked but still soft and not dry. Immediately add the soy mixture and stir quickly.
This will thicken and bubble and glaze the pork. If it turns too thick too quickly loosen with a splash more water!
Remove from the heat to prevent it overcooking and add the chopped peanuts and sesame seeds.
Serve atop your coconut rice scattered with extra coriander, any spare sesame seeds alongside your green vegetables with a wedge of lime.

Coffee and Walnut Brownies

May 3, 2015 Comments Off read Sweet Treats

Leftover Easter eggs. Still you cry! Yes, as a dark chocolate lover you don’t need much hence why I have a vat of the stuff still sitting patiently in the pantry. Brownies anyone?

Without doubt the best, most trusty brownie recipe and one I’ve always gone back to time after time. My only concern each time I make it is the sugar content. But we are talking about brownies here which come with a certain set of health flaws anyway. Courtesy of Green & Blacks but highly adapted here to reflect one of my favourite cakes, walnuts for crunch and coffee beans for surprise.

Makes about 20

200g unsalted butter
100g dark chocolate (70%) Green & Blacks
350g dark brown soft sugar
4 eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
200g self raising flour
1 tbsp instant coffee granules
Pinch salt
100g chopped walnuts
2 tbsp coffee beans, ground into chunks in a pestle and mortar

Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a 28cm x 18cm brownie tin with parchment (or a similar size)
Melt the butter and chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water until melted and combined. Remove from the heat and leave to cool slightly.
Stir in the sugar and instant coffee granules until combined.
Whisk the eggs and vanilla well in a bowl and then whisk these continuously into the chocolate mixture until well combined and glossy.
Gently fold in the flour and salt.
Finely, stir in the chopped nuts and crushed coffee beans.
Bake for 25-30 minutes until crispy on top but still soft inside. The edges may cook quicker leaving the middle pieces gooey and dense.
Leave to cool completely (yes I know…amuse yourself here) until cold. Then cut into enormous pieces. Serve with some cool creamy ice cream.

Asian Crab Bon Bons with Miso Sweetcorn Puree

April 24, 2015 Comments Off read Seafood

Finally an evening to experiment in the kitchen! As much as I adore feeding dinner party guests, I am always far to scared to experiment on their adoring high expecting tastebuds. With the need to please and deliver some delicious food, I always default to my staple flavours and ingredients. But tonight…with only myself to potentially disappoint I tried out a new dish. After a long week, some downtime in the kitchen was hugely appreciated. And the good news is it did not disappoint! When I create new recipes in my head they morph and change throughout the day as I change my mind or get inspired by the those Portobello market stalls. So what started out on my morning commute as a typical French styled and flavoured fish and crab dish was quickly violated by those tempting devious Thai and Asian flavours I adore. Earthy miso spiked sweet corn puree, savoury soy glazed warm kale, dangerously crispy chilli crab bon bons a perfect accompaniment for some plump sea bass.

Serves 2

Miso Sweetcorn Puree

1 can sweetcorn drained (about 250g)
1 tbsp miso paste
1 lime
1 tsp sesame oil

Heat the sweetcorn in a saucepan just to warm through.
Place in the bowl of a food processor with the miso, ½ the lime juice and the sesame oil
Blitz to a very fine paste for 2-3 minutes. Taste and add more lime juice if needed
Keep warm while you make the rest of the meal.

Crab Bon Bons (makes 4 golf ball sized)

100g crab meat, mixed white and brown
½ small red chilli (heat strength dependent on taste), chopped finely
Small bunch coriander, chopped finely
Zest ½ lime
Small bowl of fine brown breadcrumbs/panko breadcrumbs
2 tbsp desiccated coconut
1 egg, beaten
Around 50g plain flour
Sunflower oil for frying

In a large bowl, mix the crab together with the chilli, coriander, lime zest and a small handful of the breadcrumbs and season.
Shape together with your hands to form into 4 tight balls. They mixture might be quite wet and delicate so be careful. You can add more breadcrumbs here to help.
Combine the coconut and the breadcrumbs in a bowl.
Place the flour, beaten egg and breadcrumbs in 3 separate bowls.
Now roll the crab balls first in the flour then delicately coat in the egg. Finally roll in the breadcrumbs. Repeat with the rest and place them on a plate. Cover and chill in the fridge for at least 20 minutes to firm up.
When ready to cook, heat a pan of oil to about 4cm high or enough to just cover the bon bons. Heat the oil and test the temperature by dropping a small piece of bread into the oil. If it sizzles and begins to turn golden brown – its ready! Make sure it isn’t too hot though or the outside will brown and burn before the middle is hot.
Fry the bon bons in the hot oil until golden all over. Once ready, drain on kitchen towel and keep warm until needed.

To serve

2 sea bass fillets
Kale
1 tbsp soy sauce
Coriander for garnish

When ready to cook, boil a large pan of water. When boiling remove from the heat and add the kale. Let it cook for a minute sitting in the hot water before draining. Let it drain well. Season and then coat in the soy sauce. If there is too much water retained in the kale, pop back on the heat and glaze the soy over the kale.
Heat a frying pan on a medium high heat. When hot, add 1 tbsp of oil. Season the fish and fry for about 3 minutes skin side down, turning for the last 30 seconds or so until cooked.
To serve, spoon a generous spoonful of the sweetcorn puree onto a warm serving plate. Top with some soy glazed kale and the fish. Add your warm crispy bon bons and scatter with coriander. Drizzle with a little soy if you like!

WINE: Asian food is thought to be hard to match with food and is not the natural go to for some – beer you shout. With the food being a mix of savoury, sweet or spicy elements, Asian flavours benefit from a lower alcohol wine and often one with a little residual sugar. The fried and powerful Asian Crab bon bons here need a rounder wine with a bit of weight. A perfect match here or for other hearty Asian dishes would be a Demi-sec Vouray. Try the Domaine Huet, 2009 Vouvray Demi Sec, Le Haut-Lieu available proudly from Armit Wines.

Saganaki Kefalotyri

April 21, 2015 Comments Off read Vegetables and Salads

This evening I tried Saganaki. No its not a new yoga pose or a miso based cocktail but a Greek cheese. As a halloumi addict I felt a nagging pinch of betrayal to the Cypriots as I experimented with this new ingredient that has recently landed on our English shelves. Yet another speciality that we have been spoilt with access to!

I can only describe the taste as that which you get from the fried, crunchy, cheeky and gooey cheesy bits you get from the side of a cheese toasty which has managed to leak provocatively from the inside and burn and fry on the hot metal of the toasty machine. Saganaki in Greek is said to mean ‘frying pan’ so this was exactly how I cooked it. And this cheese pan fries amazingly, crispy on the outside but gooey in the centre. Fried with a little oil, floured first if you like, and some toasted sesame seeds. The only thing that would have made it better is a drizzle of runny sweet honey. This is often served as a dessert in this way too. However I served mine here with a simple fresh salad to counteract the fried cheese.

Serves 2

1 x packet of Saganaki (see here for where to buy)
1 tbsp sesame seeds
1 tsp runny honey (optional)
2 avocados
½ red chilli, chopped finely
½ small red onion, sliced finely in pinwheels
2 spring onions, chopped
Handful rocket leaves
2 gem lettuces
1 large lemon
1 large sweet potato, chopped into wedges
1 tsp cumin seeds

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Drizzle the sweet potatoes wedges with a little oil and season. Add the cumin seeds and toss to coat. Roast for about 35 minutes until crisp and tender.
Meanwhile assemble the salad. Chop the avocado into slices and place in a large serving bowl. Add the chopped chilli, red onion slices, spring onions and season well. Squeeze over a good amount of lemon juice, about ½ the lemon, and set aside.
Heat a frying pan to medium high heat and add 1 tbsp of a light oil. Cut the slices of cheese in half on the diagonal. When the oil if hot, fry the cheese for about 1 minute on each side until a golden crust forms. Just before removing from the pan, drizzle over the honey and sesame seeds and heat for a few more seconds before taking off the heat.
Use a spatula to remove the cheese to a paper towel to drain some of the excess oil.
When ready to serve add the salad leaves to the avocado mix and add a touch more lemon juice. Drizzle over a little extra virgin olive oil and toss the salad to combine. Check the seasoning,
Place a heaped pile of salad in a serving bowl. Add a few potato wedges and top with the cheese, sliced again if you like.