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The Bluenosers

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Marinated Halloumi Sliders

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While I slowly lick my wounds over the Brexit vote, I took the opportunity during a spat of rare British sunshine to enjoy some BBQ. On Monday, our household has tried to embrace the idea of Meatless Monday, so we didn’t want to race out to the shop to get some ground beef. Instead, we went for some lovely squeaky marinated halloumi.

Halloumi is the perfect grilling cheese, as its high melting point means it is unlikely to melt quickly. Just grilled on its own, it is perfectly delicious. Actually, I lie. It is very delicious.

In this case, we wanted some sliders, so counter the rich butter buns we needed the halloumi to punch above its salty weight. So we marinated it. A combination of oil, lemon juice and herbs and garlic did the trick. Especially as it gave the cheese a light zingy tang.

‘Putting the marinated halloumi sliders togethers’

Putting now marinated halloumi sliders together, start with perfect butter buns. Grill’em so they have some texture, and spread on the bottom with a bit of hot pepper jelly. Top with the grilled halloumi, some fresh tomato and lettuce. Make a lot of em, pile them high, and see them disappear from the tray!

 

halloumi sliders
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Marinated Halloumi Sliders

Author: Matt

Ingredients

  • 1 package Drained halloumi cut into half-inch slices.
  • 4 Tbs Olive Oil
  • 2 Tbs Lemon juice
  • ½ tsp black pepper
  • ½ tsp dried oregano
  • 1 clove of garlic pounded into a paste
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • ½ red onion cut into thin slices.

Instructions

  • Put all ingredients, except for halloumi, into a bowl. Whisk vigorously to combine.
  • Place halloumi slices into the mix, and leave to marinate for at least 45min.
  • When ready, preheat a bbq or grill pan. Slightly brush with oil, and place the halloumi slices directly onto the grill. Wait until suitably browned, and then flip.
  • To serve, place in some mini butter buns, top with some spicy pepper jelly, crisp lettuce and tomatoes. Serve quickly.

Southern Cornmeal Waffles

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With all the talk in the UK in recent days being about Brexit, I got frustrated enough to turn off the TV and my laptop. Which is quite unnerving given my normal desire to follow anything political. Anyway, last weekend I did indeed switch off, and turned to the kitchen.

Last year I finally bought a waffle iron, and since then about twice a month for breakfast we have waffle on lazy Sunday mornings. They are good, but this is a bit of a twist of my normal recipe with a bit of a heartier and spicier edge to it. Which means that these cornmeal waffles stand up better than most to more inventive toppings.

‘Cornmeal Waffles demand accompaniments’

Southern Cornmeal WafflesUnlike a normal Belgian waffle, cornmeal waffles are more savoury than sweet. That and they demand accompaniments. With Belgian waffles you could easily just cover them with butter and maple syrup. With cornmeal waffles, you need toppings that work with the spice and heft. This rich egg yolk, spiced sausage, or fresh herbs. In the past I’ve loaded these with scrambled eggs and pico de gallo, fried eggs and chimichurri, and most recently I turned them into a sandwich with poached eggs and sausage. Oh they are good, even my spice aversion husband liked these crispy nooks.

So, there you have it. You want a good way to switch up a classic breakfast?, then give these cornmeal waffles a shot.

Southern Cornmeal Waffles
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Southern Cornmeal Waffles

Southern Cornmeal Waffles, heartier and spicier than your standard Belgian waffle. Which means these stand up better than most to more inventive toppings. That and they need fresh accompaniments.
Prep Time20 mins
Cook Time5 mins
Author: Matt

Ingredients

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup ground cornmeal
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup milk
  • 2 large eggs separated
  • 1/4 cup honey or Maple Syrup
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter melted and slightly cooled
  • 2 teaspoons Cayenne pepper
  • ¼ teaspoons cumin
  • 1 teaspoons Hot paprika

Instructions

  • Mix all dry ingredients together, including spices. In a separate bowl, place all wet ingredients except for the egg white.
  • Using a whisk, whip the egg whites until they are light and fluffy with peaks.
  • Add all the wet ingredients (except for egg whites) with the dry, and then slowly fold in the egg whites. This will help the waffles be a bit more airy, especially when the cornmeal will make them heavier.
  • Finally, let the mixture sit for about 15-20 minutes while you heat up the waffle iron. When hot, lightly grease with butter or nonstick spray. Pour a bit of batter onto the iron, and cook until golden brown. Top with poached egg and sausages.

Toasted Muesli

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Breakfast is easily one of my favorite meals, and it is a great way understand a culture. Wanna understand NYC, go have breakfast, wanna understand the English have a fry up. If you want to understand our family, try our toasted muesli. It represents a lot about us. 

Back in April we decided we needed a holiday, and took off to Salzburg for a week. It was one of our best decisions, it is a stunning place to visit. The mountains we amazing, the people very friendly and the food. Oh the food. A rich combination of Viennese and Bavarian food, and it works so well.

Beautiful Salzburg!

Salzburg

It reminded me a lot of food from down in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, which as a the name suggests has a history of Germanic immigration. Reminded me even more when I tucked into a plate of bratwurst and sauerkraut.

I could go on about the goulash, or the schnitzel, but the real treat was the breakfast spread. Our hotel, Bloberger hof, had an excellent continental breakfast. Pastries and cakes, fresh cheese, wide variety of breads and meats. All that, and sweet muesli bar. Every morning it was my go to dish.
Here in the UK, we have tons of brands of muesli in the shops. Some good, some not so good. It might have too many oats, or the mix of fruit/nut to cereal is weak. Really, the only way to get a mix that is right is to do it yourself. My toasted muesli is very representative of our family. It is a constant, and reminds us of lots of our travels. Plus is a great way to enjoy the start of the day.

So my recipe is for a toasted muesli, inspired by our visit to Salzburg. A mix of oats, almonds and other grains with a higher toast. Finally a large amount of dried fruit gets chucked for good measure.

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Toasted Muesli

Author: Matt

Ingredients

  • 250 g Porridge oats
  • 25 g Wheat germ
  • 75 g Rye flakes
  • 100 g flaked almonds
  • 200 g raisins sultanas and dried papaya.
  • ¼ tsp cinnamon

Instructions

  • Turn the oven up to 170C. Spread oats, wheat germ, rye flakes and almonds onto a baking sheet. You may need two, and you want a wide surface area. Lightly dust the top with the cinnamon. Toast in the oven for 10-15min. You will want to shake to shuffle about halfway through. You want a good aroma, and a slight golden tinge to it all. Take out and let cool.
  • Once cool, mix in the dry fruit and store in a airtight container. Use with milk, or yogurt and some fresh fruit.

Summer Roast Potatoes

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The English are obsessed with roast potatoes, and who can blame them. They complete the traditional Sunday roast. A good roast potato will literally make or break the meal. You can slightly overcook the beef, undercook the carrots or make a gravy far too weak, but a stunning roast potato will overcome all that. Equally, even with perfect pink beef or lashings of righteously stunning gravy, a poor spud will be the sole thought going through your guests minds.

So, how do you make it perfect? Well, anyone who has every watch Nigella Lawson knows that the best roasties are made with Goose Fat. The result is super crispy, and downright delicious spuds. They were a key feature of both my Christmas and Easter roast dinners. Although, goose fat is a bit too pricey (and frankly, artery clogging) for an everyday roast.

Except, they have one other problem, they are very much a cold weather food. As much as a roast dinner is probably my favourite meal, on a sunny warm spring/summer day they just don’t fit as well. A  problem accentuated by a recent warm afternoon. To accompany the roast chicken in the oven, I set out to retool our spuds to make them suitable as summer roast potatoes.

Hot and savoury spices and a bit a tang.

For the crispness, stick with good’ol veg oil. It is actually better than goose fat for creating crispness, but less flavour. Then, it is about building more flavour. Get those potatoes singing with some hot and savoury spices and a bit a tang.
Pull together a combo of chicken stock cube, garlic, oregano, cayenne pepper, and a bit of salt and pepper. Rather than just sprinkle this spice dust over the potatoes, they need to be fully coated. Mix these spices with a combo of olive oil, veg oil, cider vinegar and a squeeze of lemon. Slather some parboiled potatoes in this lovely mix, and shove it in a hot oven. Roast for about 45min, and serve warm. Be bold, these summer roast potatoes don’t even need a sauce.

Summer Roast Potatoes
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Summer Roast Potatoes

Author: Matt

Ingredients

  • 4-6 Roasting potatoes such as Rooster or Maris Piper
  • 1 organic chicken stock cube crumbled
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp cayenne pepper
  • ½ tsp dried oregano
  • 1 Tbs White wine vinegar
  • 1/2 Tbs Olive Oil
  • 1 Tbs Vegetable oil
  • Black pepper
  • Maldon Sea salt

Instructions

  • Pre-heat your oven to 220C. Peel potatoes and chop into desired size, I opted for smaller chunks. Place in a pot of boiling and heavily salted water. Boil until you can stick a fork into the potatoes easily, but not so much that the potato disintegrates. Drain and place into a large heat proof bowl.
  • Place ½ Tbs veg oil onto a baking sheet and put into the pre-heated oven. This is to heat the pan and oil to give the potatoes a good crisp.
  • In a separate bowl, mix the stock cube and spices as well as the oils (except for ½ Tbs veg oil). This should look like a very thick soup with no lumps. Pour this over the potatoes, and stir to combine. Carefully put the potatoes onto the hot sheet with the hot oil, watch out for any splatter.
  • Roast in the oven for 40-50 min, turning occasionally. When finished, season with some black pepper and sea salt.

Smores

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There are so many things that I love about the UK, but one area where North Americans clearly have an edge is in outdoor food. I’m talking about BBQ, I’m talking about campfires, and in this post I’m talking about smores (or s’mores).

Talk to anyone who has ever camped, or been a scout or guide, in North America. They will have experienced those delicious, and diabetes inducing, s’mores. They are sweet, sticky and crunchy – all enhanced with the heat of a fire.

I must emphasise here smores are a North American ‘food’, as Brits just don’t have the right ingredients. First, it needs crisp and sweet honey graham crackers. They are nearly impossible to buy over here, even the graham flour I purchased to make some was from Sweden. Before you think about it, no digestive biscuits cannot be substituted here. There needs to be big, gooey marshmallows. Again, only in the ‘American’ food section of grocery stores might have these, as marshmallows in the UK only tend to be miniature. Finally the chocolate, and it is contentious. The classic variety to use in smores is Hershey, which is nearly every way inferior to British chocolate. Except its high sugar content means it melts much easier.

So, how to overcome this deficit?

Make it from scratch. I sourced graham flour from Sweden, and raided American food stores for the Hershey chocolate. The marshmallows, well those are completely homemade. The recipe is below, and while it takes time the outcome is worth it. The only downside, not great weather for a fire. So, instead the marshmallows were blowtorched. To be fair, I’m in the UK, it would not be correct if they were just like home. In any case, they made for a brilliant dessert.

 

smores
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Graham Crackers

A Great adaptation of graham crackers. Adapted from http://www.browneyedbaker.com/homemade-graham-crackers-recipe/
Author: Matt

Ingredients

  • 1½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1⅓ cups graham flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 cup softened salted butter
  • 2/3 cup dark brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 1 Tablespoon Golden Syrup

Instructions

  • 1. In one bowl, whisk together both flours, the baking soda and salt; set aside.
  • 2. In a large bowl, combine the butter, brown sugar, syrup and honey, and beat at medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed just until blended and the dough comes together.
  • 3. Transfer the dough onto a piece of plastic wrap, press into a disc, and wrap tightly. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
  • 4. When ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
  • 5. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a 1/8-inch thickness and cut into 3-inch squares. Transfer to the baking sheet, spacing the crackers at least ¾-inch apart, gather any scraps, re-roll, and cut out more cookies. Use a fork to make some indents in the top of each cracker.
  • 6. Bake the cookies for 10 minutes and then rotate the baking sheet. Bake for another 6 to 8 minutes, or until the cookies are dark golden brown and just firm to the touch. Let cool for a minute on the baking sheets, then transfer to a cooling rack. Let cool completely (they will crisp up as they cool).