Making Halloumi Cheese at Home

Great Fun & Very Easy

Whenever we camp we have a tradition of starting our meal with griddled Halloumi cheese - sometimes we serve it with a side salad, occasionally it is on skewers, often it is just griddled and served with a squeeze of lemon juice or some sweet chilli sauce. I find it a really useful thing to have in the fridge for impromptu trips because it has such a long shelf life. It does have to be refrigerated or kept in a cool bag with ice blocks but that doesn't really pose too much of a problem.

The other day, our love of 'the squeaky cheese' as my kids called it when they were younger, got me thinking. Is it possible to make Halloumi cheese at home? It turns out it is not only possible but really very simple. It is also great fun and it will leave you feeling like a slightly mad professor as the milk reacts with the rennet, turning the milk into jelly which then turns into cheese!

I should say that it probably works out more expensive to make Halloumi at home in small batches than it does to buy it from the supermarket, but where is the fun in that? Also, if you make it yourself you know what has gone into it (no added preservatives for instance) and you will feel unbearably smug when you serve it up!

The one thing to remember when you make cheese at home is that everything you use must be very very clean. For the most part this just means pouring boiling water over utensils and muslin cloth before you use them. That is about as complicated as it gets.

Before I get started, I should mention that, until you actually get to the point of cooking your cheese, it will look very unappealing and you will start to question your efforts and your sanity - have faith, it will all be worth it!

So, here goes with the recipe.........

INGREDIENTS

Halloumi Cheese

2L Whole Milk (can be pasteurised but mustn't be homogenised - it needs to have a layer of cream at the top like milk used to)

2 tsp Rennet (available in vegetarian or animal-based versions from good supermarkets and Lakeland Ltd)

1 tsp salt (or to taste)

Dried herbs (optional - we like mint and oregano)

Brine

1/2 L Whey (left over from the cheese making process)

1/2 L Boiling water

100g Salt

METHOD

In a wide-bottomed pan gradually brink the milk up to 32-36C. I use a meat thermometer for this part.

Add the rennet and stir gently. Cover the pan with a tea towel and leave it alone for an hour. It will set like a jelly - amazing! The 'jelly' is called curds.

Cut the curds into 1 inch cubes with a knife by making a grid pattern.

Leave it for another half an hour to settle. The curds will come away from the watery whey and you will feel like a genius!

Next, bring the entire mixture up to 38C over a gentle heat over a period of about half an hour.

The next step is to scoop the curds into a perforated container such as a sieve lined with muslin. Make sure you have another container underneath to collect the whey. At this point, add any herbs you want to use, sprinkling them in as you go, along with some salt.

Leave it all to drain for about an hour (longer won't hurt).

Now you will need to poach the curds. Heat the whey to 85C in a large saucepan or deep frying pan. Add 1 tablespoon of salt.

Turn the curds out and cut them into slices about 2in thick (please don't measure them though - it isn't that critical).

Once the whey is at 85C, add the curd slices and watch and wait. When they rise to the top of the liquid, they are ready. Remove them with a slotted spoon and put them back into your draining container (sieve). At this stage, I use a plastic takeaway tray into which we have poked some drainage holes because it is rectangular and so it creates a block of halloumi that is easier to slice.

 It will feel very wobbly at this stage but it will firm up as it cools down. Make sure you pack the soft cheese in and squash it down a bit.

Once cool and firm, it is ready to cook.

 Put a little oil in to a hot pan and fry slices of the cheese for a couple of minutes on each side until it is brown. Alternatively, cook it over a hot griddle pan or a BBQ. Sometimes, if I can be bothered, I lightly coat the cheese slices in seasoned flour before frying them as this makes them a little crispier, giving you both crunch and squeak in each mouthful!

Brining the Cheese

If you want your cheese to last for longer, you will need to brine it. It will then keep for about a month in the fridge. Just add the 1/2L of the whey to 1/2 L of boiling water and 100g salt. Stir to make sure the salt has dissolved and then leave to cool. Pour the cooled brine over the cheese and keep it immersed in an airtight container in the fridge.

Best served with a large glass of chilled white wine!

Spatchcocked Chicken on the BBQ

This is another favourite camping recipe in our family. It is one that I often prepare before we leave (I often have a couple prepared and in the freezer, we like it so much!) but it can just as easily be made at the campsite. We like it as a change from the ubiquitous bangers and burgers which we love to eat but sometimes it is nice to have a change.

Whether you make this on site or at home before you leave you will need to prepare one element of it in advance - the chicken seasoning rub. I make up a jam jar of this every so often and I always have some in the cupboard. I use it for a lot of things at home but I think it works particularly well on chicken.

Chicken Seasoning Mix

• 2 tbsp Herbes de Provence mix
• 1 tbsp paprika (hot, mild or smoked - your choice)
• 1 tbsp sea salt (I use Maldon, but use whatever you have to hand)
• 1 tbsp cracked black pepper
• 1 tbsp English mustard powder
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder

I simply bung all of these into my mini food processor and blitz for about a minute. I don't mind the odd lump of peppercorn but, if you want it finer, keep going for longer. You can do this in a mortar and pestle but I am too lazy to bother.

Store in a screw top jar. Slap it over roast chicken along with some olive oil and a squeeze of lemon and you will think you are in deepest Provence.

This recipe is my variation of a recipe that appears in a lovely book about preserving food called 'Preserved' by Nick Sandler and Johnny Acton.

So, you have made your chicken seasoning mix and it is ready to go. Onto the rest of the recipe.

Spatchcocked Chicken with Lemon, Garlic, Onion, Herbs and Seasoning

• 1 chicken (the size will depend upon the surface area of your BBQ - don't buy a huge chicken if you only have a little one!)
• 1 tbsp Chicken Seasoning Mix
• 1 tbsp good quality oil (Rapeseed is my choice)
• Zest and juice of half a lemon
• 2 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1 onion, sliced (optional)
• Some fresh mixed herbs - whatever you have to hand - I like a mix of Thyme, Rosemary and a couple of Bay leaves

First you need to spatchcock your chicken because it will cook more quickly and evenly on a barbecue this way. This is really easy to do but, if you don't want to tackle it, just ask your butcher to do it for you. Firstly, remove any string that is keeping the chicken together. Then turn your chicken breast side down on the chopping board and, starting at it's bottom, cut up either side of the backbone and remove it. I use poultry shears because I find it easier but a good pair of kitchen scissors will do the job too.

Once the backbone is removed, turn the chicken over and press down, with the heel of your hand, in the middle of the two breasts to flatten it. Et voila!! You have a spatchcocked chicken.

Next, you need to bash together the garlic, herbs & lemon jest with the lemon juice and the oil. At home I use my mini food processor, on site I either use a mortar and pestle if I have one or I just chop the garlic, herbs and lemon zest on a board, tip into a spare jam jar and add the oil and lemon juice before giving it all a good shake.

This mix needs to be poured over the chicken, making sure that the skin is covered.

The last thing to do is to sprinkle over the chicken seasoning, the onion if you are using it, and leave it all to marinate somewhere cool.

When I make this in advance I put the chicken in a vacuum bag and use my vacuum sealer to keep it fresh. It will happily keep in the fridge for  up to 3 weeks or I often freeze it.

When you are ready to cook, take the chicken out and brush off any onion that is clinging to it. Put it on the BBQ for about 10-12 minutes each side, turning once or twice. If you like you can fry the onions in a pan alongside the chicken on the BBQ if there is room or fire up a camping stove.

Serve with salad, maybe some new potatoes or garlic bread and a very large glass of your favourite tipple. Bloody lovely!!

Vacuum Food Sealer - you might not know it but you need one of these!

I have a ridiculous amount of camping equipment that I have accumulated over many years of happy camping. Much of it is to do with preparing and cooking food because this is something I really enjoy.

When I know we are going away camping I get a lot of pleasure from planning some meals in advance. That isn't to say that we aren't spontaneous - if we discover a wonderful farmers market or a little roadside stall we will always stop and buy something - I just like to know that I have a couple of meals ready to go to make life a little easier on site. Much as I enjoy cooking, I am on holiday too and I don't want to miss out on any fun just because there are spuds to peel!

One of the most useful gadgets I have is my vacuum food sealer. There are many makes available on the market, ranging from ones suitable for professional kitchens to ones for the home cook. Mine was about £40 and it does the job beautifully.

Basically, you put your food into a special bag and the machine sucks all of the air out. The result is that it takes up a lot less space in your fridge/freezer and  the foods keeps for longer without spoiling. I use it at home all of the time but I also use it for campsite grub. I marinate some meat or add a spicy rub and then vacuum seal it. You can then leave it in the fridge or freeze it, allowing it to defrost slowly in your cool box or camping fridge.

I often prepare the meat for chicken fajitas like this, chopping it into strips and coating it in the spice mix before vacuum packing it ready for a first night meal. When my son goes away on his Duke of Edinburgh expeditions we vacuum all of his stuff because it keeps it fresher for longer and it takes up much less space.

Another family favourite is Balsamic Steaks from Sara Buenfeld from the BBC Good Food website:-

Balsamic Steak Recipe

Ingredients

2tbsp balsamic vinegar (not top of the range stuff but not drain cleaner either!).
2tsp concentrated liquid beef stock (I use Knorr)
3 garlic cloves, finely grated
1tbsp whole grain mustard
1tbsp clear honey
2tbsp oil (I use local rapeseed oil, the original recipe said olive oil)
6 sirloin steaks (as thick as you like - if they are very thin just reduce the marinating time - if there are only four of you you probably won't need six steaks but I wouldn't bother reducing the amount of marinade)

Method

First mix together the vinegar, stock, garlic, mustard, honey and olive oil and add some pepper but no salt. Add the steaks and turn to coat on both sides. At this point I vacuum seal my steaks but they can be left, covered, in the fridge for at least an hour or overnight.

 After the marinating time you have a choice. You can remove them from the marinade, wipe off any excess, chuck them on the BBQ and serve with salad, garlic bread, new potatoes or whatever else takes your fancy.

Alternatively, the steaks can be frozen, in their vacuum bag if you have a vacuum sealer or in an ordinary freezer bag, for a month. If I know I am going camping I freeze them, taking them out of the freezer before we leave home. I can then cook them on the first or second night away. Delicious! Crack open a bottle of wine and enjoy!