The BBB – Hints and Tips

The BBB is a large savoury dish – it will serve 4 huge appetites and 9 smaller – the small measuring 7.5/8 cms or 3”x 3” in old money.

You might be saying to yourself “I never have that much French bread/baguette left over, let alone stale”. That's fine – say hello to the latest addition to your Store Cupboard – the part baked baguette. If you've never used the product now might be a good time to start. Each pack contains 2 baguettes and weighs 300g, it takes 12 minutes to bake.

Let the baguettes cool, then cut into small slices – you'll get 12 per baguette. You won't use the ends, or heels as they are known.

You can make this dish what you want it to be – veggie as per the recipe, add ham hock, sausages, bacon or whatever you fancy for a mid week supper. If you want to be a little more fancy to serve as a brunch or a supper fry diced chorizo, set that aside and then use the oil to stir fry thin slithers of baby sweet peppers and fine asparagus (I blanch it for 10 seconds after having snapped the stems and discarding the woody unappetising ends).

Lets begin with the photo guide :

You could use a foil dish if you want

to save on washing up!

The sliced bread showing the heels to

discard

Whisk your eggs, cream et al

Add your finely sliced spring onions

I said it was a cheese fest!

Now we're ready to assemble!

The next WWS idea – the Strata …

… or as I call it “Bread and Butter Brunch” - “BBB”. Strata meaning layers is an American breakfast/brunch dish – a sort of savoury bread and butter pudding but not any old mush – this is a cheese fest too.

This dish has so many uses, I hope you'll find it invaluable for your collection in the “Crowd Pleasers” category. Use it for a working week supper but equally for a weekend breakfast, or as part of a larger brunch. The best part is that you prep this dish ahead and fridge it, ready to bake the following day. How easy is that!

All you have to decide is what to serve with it.

The late Spring Bank Holiday is at the end of May – I discover it's now called “Summer Half Term”, anyway if you want ideas for a weekend brunch, this is the recipe for you.

Here's my recipe :

BBB

(or Bread and Butter Brunch)

French stick (225/250g), preferably stale,

sliced

6 large eggs

200ml milk

200ml sour cream (or double will do)

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

salt and black pepper

Bunch spring onions, finely chopped

100g Mature cheddar

175g Gruyere

100g Red Leicester

(all cheese grated and mixed together)

Chopped chives to garnish

Your serving dish should be approximately 24cm square – greased if not non-stick.

Whisk together thoroughly in a large bowl the eggs, milk, cream, mustard, salt and black pepper. Stir in the spring onions.

Arrange half the bread in the dish, overlapping slices to fit. Pour over half the egg mixture and sprinkle with two thirds of the cheese. Cover with the remaining bread, again overlapping the slices. Pour the remaining egg mixture over the bread, gently press down to help the bread absorb the mixture. Sprinkle the top with remaining cheese.

Cover with cling film and fridge it overnight.

In the morning take the BBB out of the fridge and uncover so that it can come to room temperature, ready to bake at lunchtime.

Preheat your oven to 180fan/200c/Gas 6.

Bake for 40/50 minutes or until puffed and golden. Check after 40 mins.

Let it stand for 10 minutes to set the “custard” before serving. Sprinkle with chopped chives.

The first batch of photos plus hints and tips coming up.

Halloumi smash and grab – assembly photos

Here they are :

I would never recommend any dish that hasn't been tried and tested – this one was, by me - I assure you I'm my own worst critic – it was fab and I loved it - I've already passed it on. The success of any recipe is measured by how frequently you'll use it and how it morphs into variations on its theme – this is a keeper.

I hope you try it and love it too!

Halloumi smash and grab – final flourish!

Measure your frying pan – the one I used was 20cms/8” in diameter.

Turn on your oven to warm your bread – 160fan/180c/Gas 4. The bread takes 2 minutes to warm in the oven – you can dry fry for 30 seconds each side if you prefer – I think it's less faff to use the oven, no need to multitask if you don't need too. You might want to set your timer.

Heat your frying pan on a medium heat and then add a drop of rapeseed oil – don't walk away! Add a piece of the coated Halloumi to test – when it sizzles add the remainder and fry until it is golden and just crispy on all sides – like this :

looking good

It just occurs to me that you could warm and split pitta breads and stuff them with the avocado, Halloumi and dressing as a filling and add any other salad bits and pieces of your choice – a little more substantial me thinks!

Final assembly photos on their way – get ready to grab your snack.

The Smash – nearly ready for the Grab!

You'll need half an avocado per person, halved and stoned - place the avocado in a medium bowl and mash roughly, add a squeeze of lime juice and a sprinkle of salt and mix. Cover with cling film ensuring that the piece is large enough to actually touch the mixed avocado and then wrap the bowl, it'll stop it from discolouring.

Next, flat bread of your choice – the size is also up to you – I used mini piadas – you could use mini tortilla wraps or larger versions of either if you wish! Wrap them in foil ready to warm in the oven.

Finally, my trusted Pomegranate Dressing which I've been using for years!

Pomegranate Dressing

2 tbsp pomegranate molasses

juice of two limes

2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce

Generous pinch of nigella seeds

1-2 tsps sumac

Mix all the ingredients together. I use a small jar with a tight fitting lid and add the ingredients straight into the jar. Shake it like you mean it – fridge until ready to assemble.

Here it is :

Four elements only – the cheese is prepped, the avocado is mashed, dressing is in the jar and the bread is ready, the final flourish and assembly coming up together with more photos!

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!