Kids in the Kitchen: squeaky-clean fun with halloumi
Pic: iStock
Halloumi is a delicious and squeaky cheese that comes in firm rectangular blocks.Â
It originates in Cyprus and is traditionally made with sheep and goat milk, but now tends to have cow's milk added as well.Â
Some people know Halloumi as Hellim, which is its Turkish name.
You can eat Halloumi uncooked but tastes great when it is either grilled or fried until golden on the outside.Â
It has a very firm, almost meaty texture which makes it good for making into burgers or bundling into wraps.Â
One drawback is that Halloumi can be quite salty, so it is good to shop around to find a brand that contains less salt if young children are eating it.Â
I do find that children generally love the squeaky texture and have fun slicing the block carefully into slices.
There is quite a bit of chopping when making the tomato salsa, so it is best suited to older children.Â
The salsa can be added to the Halloumi burger or used with other things, like eggs for breakfast, or served with tortilla chips for a snack.Â
There are lots of flavours involved and it is nice when these are left to blend for an hour or so.Â
Smaller children can help with the mixing and seasoning, as well as washing and patting dry the ingredients at the beginning.
A good way to have squeaky-clean fun with halloumi in the kitchen! Servings Preparation Time Cooking Time Total Time Course Ingredients 1 tomato ½ red onion 250g halloumi cheese 4 burger buns rocket or lettuce leaves tomato salsa, hummus or tomato ketchup Method First very carefully slice the tomato so that you have four round slices. Tomatoes are more difficult to slice than you would think as the knife can slip on the shiny skin. Ask an adult to help you with this. If you find red onion too strong a flavour you do not have to include it on your burgers. If you do want to use it, carefully slice 8 semicircular slices from the half an onion. Cut each burger bun in two if they are not cut already. Wash the leaves and pat them dry. Carefully slice the block of halloumi into 8 slices. Place the slices onto your grill and ask an adult to grill them at a medium heat until they are golden. This will take two or three minutes. Use a kitchen-tongs to turn each slice over and grill it until that side is golden too. Spread your tomato salsa, hummus or tomato ketchup onto the bottom bun. Place some leaves, a slice of tomato and two slices of onions on top. Put two slices of halloumi on top then add a few more leaves. You can add mayonnaise to the burger as well if you like.Halloumi Burgers
Quick and easy - and a good exercise in chopping for junior chefs! Servings Preparation Time Total Time Course Ingredients 2 tomatoes ½ small red onion ½ red chilli – or as much as you like 1 lime a bunch of fresh coriander Method Dice the tomatoes up small. You can ask an adult to help you with this. Remove and skin and dice the red onion up very small. Use as much chilli as you think works for you. Some chillies are really hot so you will need less than others. Chop your chilli up very finely. Juice the lime and chop the coriander. You can chop the stalks and the leaves. Mix the tomato, onion, chilli and coriander together and season with salt and pepper. Add half of the lime juice and taste the salsa and then add more juice if you need to.Tomato Salsa
If you find Halloumi a bit salty, no matter what type you buy in the shops, there are two things that you can do.Â
The first is to pat the slices with a paper towel before cooking them.Â
If this is not enough, you can soak the slices in some cold water. Leave them in the bowl of water for about 30 minutes then pat them dry with paper towel or a clean tea towel.Â
Patting them dry is important because if you don’t you will not get a nice crispy finish on the outside of the cheese.
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