pseudomonas: Small Round Orange Citrus Fruit. (scorf)

Challenge #29: Fried Things: halloumi & orange salad

Yes, this is far too simple, and also late. also my dog ate my homework. But it turned out totally party-in-my-mouth gorgeous so I thought I'd share.

One serving:
Three slices, maybe 4mm thick, from a block of halloumi.
Half a large orange.
About 5cm of pickled cucumber (I like the brined sort, not the vinegary sort; recipe here).
Sprig of dill.

Fry the halloumi in a frying pan with a tiny drop of oil, until it's got some dark brown patches on it among the white, on both sides. Then cut the slices in halves or quarters.

While that's doing, halve the orange pole-to-pole and (carefully!) pare the peel, pith, and membranes off the outside. Slice into thin slices (3mm-ish). Segmenty-bits will separate.

Slice the cucumber thinly (I went for long thin slices rather than rounds)

Arrange the orange, cucumber, and halloumi on a plate; sprinkle with finely-chopped fresh dill.
davegodfrey: Marvin: ...and me with a terrible pain in all the diodes down my left hand side... (Marvin)

Thai Sweet and Sour Vegetables

Today I followed a recipe.

Ingredients:

1 can water chestnuts, drained
4 Spring onions, roughly chopped
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 tomato, eighthed
250g Mange tout
1 cucumber, halved deseeded and diagonally sliced 5mm thick
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
Groundnut oil
4 tablespoons vegetable stock
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon Thai Fish Sauce or Soy Sauce
5g sugar

What you're supposed to do:

Heat the oil in the pan, add the garlic and fry until golden brown.
Add all the ingredients except the spring onions and fry for 2-3 minutes turning continuously.
Add the spring onions and fry for 30 seconds.

Serves 4

What I actually did:

Decide there wasn't any protein, so buy some prawns.
Forget to buy the onions, and rushing out at 8pm to get them, decide not to bother with the ordinary onion.
Heat the oil in the pan, add the garlic and fry until golden brown.
Boil some noodles with a stock cube and use this instead of vegetable stock.
Add all the ingredients, replacing "a tablespoon" with "a slosh" and "4 tablespoons" with "probably too much but I don't care".
Decide not to bother with the extra onions at the end.
Realise you've forgotten to add the water chestnuts until after you've served.
Stir fry these for about a minute in the rest of the stuff you haven't served.

Serves 2.

Photobucket

Verdict:
Needs more garlic and more vinegar. Goes quite nicely with DBC's "Chesil", a "straw-blonde Pilsner-style real ale".

ETA:

5: Discover cucumbers don't count for this week's challenge, cry.

Apple Challenge: Fruit Curry & Apple Salad

Two entirely improvised apple dishes (the nigh-only times I cook from pre-existing recipes is when I'm making something I developed myself in the first place):

Fruit curry )

Apple salad )