Halloumi Smash and Grab – the photo story so far

Here's a step by step guide of the Halloumi Smash and Grab cheese element :

The cubed cheese – before the flour shake

After the flour shake – you can see the difference -

the cubes are coated and they are dull in colour

Shaken in the seasoning

You can tell by the colour, these little beauties are going to be delish – nearly ready for the Grab!

We're still with the WWS …

...but now into a more flexible, less structured, relaxed mood. This idea and the one that follows would be a great supper for a Friday or Saturday evening. The flexible bit is that equally you could serve this recipe as a starter, scaled down to suit the appetites of your guests and eaten with fingers or forks.

Remember the Halloumi Fries recipe? Check out A bit of fun and a fab snack for chapter and verse and Halloumi Seasonings and dips to go with 3rd March 2018 – a big fat hint!

You'll need a strong box with a well fitting lid – the one

I used measured 17cms x 11cms x5cms/6½” x 4½ x 2” and it looks like this :

Halloumi Smash and Grab

You will need

A 225g pack of Halloumi cheese, drained and patted dry with kitchen roll, once drained you'll have 204g of cheese. As a guide the pack measures 9cms x 6 cms/ 3¼” x 2¼”. Place the cheese vertically on your cutting board – slice it into five then cut each vertical slice into two, turn lengthways in front of you and cut into cubes – you should get 44 approximately and as a rough guide they measure 2x2cms/¾” - don't stress – try to achieve a similar size for an even cooking – if you want larger that's fine.

I used half – 22 cubes in a batch, it's easier to coat evenly so you may need two boxes of the above size or a larger version – pop the cubes into your box and add 5g of plain flour. Secure the lid! Shake like you're having a really bad day or someone has irritated you – a lot!

Open your box and add 1 tablespoon of seasoning of your choice, secure your lid and shake again to coat your cheese.

Fridge your box until you're ready to cook and serve.

Coming up … the photo story so far!

Bombay Aloo photo guide

the beginning

the middle

the end

in an individual pot, ready to roll!

It's a win win – you use up any potatoes and produce a dish that will go down a storm – an added bonus - if you cook it on purpose it doesn't break the bank – I love it when an economical plan comes together especially when it tastes so good!

Whilst I'm on the subject of working week supper ideas

How about perfect potatoes – leftovers or on purpose.

Bombay Aloo – aka Bombay Potatoes

500g of cooked potatoes – I use Charlottes – whatever you use it should be a waxy potato that holds its shape, so any new potato will be just the job.

1 medium onion, finely diced

1 tbsp rapeseed oil

250g passata

1 tbsp tomato paste

1 tsp caster sugar

1 tsp ginger paste or 1” fresh, grated.

2 cloves of roasted garlic or 2 cloves of fresh, crushed

1 tsp each of ground cumin, coriander, garam masala and curry powder. Use a curry powder that best suits your palate and how much heat you like – mild, medium or hot

1 tsp salt or to taste

Use a medium size saucepan (21cms/8”).

Your potatoes should be cut to approximately 6-12 cms/¼” to ½” pieces.

Fry the onions in the oil until soft – 3-4 minutes. Add the ginger, garlic, spices and salt. Fry so that the spices are released. Add the potatoes and the tomato paste, fry gently so that the potatoes absorb the flavours and the paste cooks too – 3-4 minutes.

Add the passata and sugar and cook on a gentle heat for 10 minutes. Taste the Bombay Aloo, adjust salt and sugar to personal taste. Cool, box and fridge. The longer you leave this dish the better it will be. It freezes well.

Bombay Aloo is a dry Indian dish, usually served as a side. This recipe will give you 690g of scrumptious potatoes. If you are bored with leftovers then this is for you. Serve as much as you want, add whatever you want, be it leftover meat, veggies, a can of chick peas (drained and rinsed), poultry or mid week baked sausages, the world is your lobster!

Photo guide up next.

More ideas and photos too

Create a pizza with your tomato sauce as a base and load with meatballs and whatever else takes your fancy – don't forget to treat yourself to a generous sprinkle of grated Parmesan as well as the traditional mozzarella.

You could go the obvious route of spaghetti, tomato sauce and meatballs – traditional is good!

For the ultimate slob, why not a sub sandwich with the tomato sauce, meatballs then add veggies and cheese of your choice.

One thing is certain your sauce and meatballs give you flexible working week supper ideas and the cherry on top of the cake – all you have to do is pull the sauce and the meatballs from your treasure chest.

Here are the sauce photos :

Onions, garlic and spices in the pan with tomato paste

The sauce at the beginning of the cook

Check out the depth of colour at the end

What's not to love!

Little or Large?

Another thought held.

Whether you are wanting a meal for one or feeding your family the tomato sauce comes into its own and ticks all the boxes.

If you remember the It's Friday evening ...is it a burger blog it gives you the basic burger recipe which, in turn, doubles as meatballs too! You'll get approximately 25-30 meatballs from that recipe. I make them the size of a walnut – if you'd like measurements - 30x30 millimetres. You don't have to give yourself a hard time being exact – measure one then gauge the rest.

Freeze the meatballs in varying amounts according to size of appetites but do yourself a favour and bear in mind whether freezing a meal for one or for the family.

If you want speed and a veggie alternative to go with your veggie tomato sauce try Quorn Swedish Style Meals a 300g bag serves 4 – there are actually 18 in a bag – a strange number to serve 4.

So far so good.

More ideas and photos coming up.

The LSG tomato sauce

Some while back I asked you to “hold another thought” - I'm so sorry for the delay – you must be going blue by now!

You'll find this sauce invaluable – it lends itself to so many recipes – a perfect addition to your working week suppers list.

As with the curry sauce it is probably not convenient to make it when you're multitasking on a Sunday. It is not a complicated or challenging recipe but well worth the time it takes.

Here goes :

Tomato Sauce

500g passata

1 medium onion, chopped finely

2 cloves of roasted garlic or crushed fresh garlic

1 tbsp of rapeseed oil

knob of butter – 25g

1 tbsp of tomato paste

250g of vegetable stock

a generous sprinkle of oregano

black pepper to taste

1 tsp caster sugar

1 tsp of salt, to taste

Melt the oil and butter in a medium size saucepan (21cms/8” in diameter), add the onion and soften gently – 4-5 minutes, then add the garlic. Add the oregano and black pepper. Add the tomato paste and cook for 1-2 minutes. It's important that you cook the paste – if you don't it will be bitter and taste horrible! Add the passata, stock and then the sugar. The sugar is meant to balance out the acidity that one sometimes gets with tomatoes. Simmer the sauce for 30 minutes. The sauce will reduce and thicken. Taste the sauce before you add any salt – it's a matter of personal taste. The flavours in your sauce will develop and so will benefit from being made a couple of days ahead and fridged.

The sauce freezes well, bear in mind the size of portions – whatever suits you – smaller is more practical, you can always take out two – no waste.

You'll get 670g of sauce from the recipe.

Hold yet another thought!