Category: Breakfast

Halloumi Cheese Waffles with
Tomato Jam & Balsamic Syrup

I am UBER excited about today’s post, I’m even using the word uber! You see, I dreamed up these halloumi waffles a couple of weeks ago and I wasn’t quite sure how they would turn out. Sometimes when I think up something really outside the box, it can be a bit much, but this, this just worked so harmoniously, I am still dreaming about it!

If you’ve never heard of halloumi before, it’s a semi-hard sheep’s milk cheese that’s like a cross between feta and mozzarella. Because of it’s high melting point, it’s one of the few cheeses that you can actually grill (or in this case, waffle iron). And I don’t mean grill between two slices of bread. You can grill this cheese on it’s own and it retains it’s shape and texture!

Many people don’t know this about halloumi. In fact, I decided to do a little Instagram contest to see who could guess what kind of waffle this was (using the picture below). There were 57 guesses and only one person guessed haloumi (chanazweiss won a copy of my ebook!). Some of the others were really intriguing (like fluffernutter, tofu, tahini, coconut flour, cottage cheese, cauliflower….). I guess I’ve got my fill of waffle ideas for a while.

You can find halloumi in the cheese section of most supermarkets nowadays, but it is most popular in Israeli cuisine. I’ve seen it grilled and fried, but my favorite preparation is the halloumi salad at Blueberry Cafe in Brooklyn. It’s got grilled peppers, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms and onions with crispy breaded cubes of fried halloumi and a sesame teriyaki dressing. They call it a salad, so I convince myself that it’s healthy, because it’s JUST. THAT. GOOD.

In keeping with the Middle Eastern spirit of halloumi cheese, I created a silan-sweetened tomato jam as well as a balsamic syrup that’s kissed with the amazing flavor of date honey. Silan is one of my favorite Middle Eastern ingredients and it works so well in these condiments (well in anything, really).

I know this is one of those recipes where you roll your eyes and think, “Looks good but it’s too much of a patchke“, but do yourself a favor and go for it anyway. Once you plate this baby up, the marriage of salty cheese with a crispy exterior, sweet tomato jam, acidic balsamic and bitter arugula will dance on your palate and hit every note!

With Nine Days of dairy coming up soon, we can all use a little something different, so get outside your comfort zone and grill up some halloumi. You can thank me later.

Halloumi Waffles

1 14oz. pkg halloumi cheese
olive oil
arugula
tomato jam (recipe follows)
balsamic syrup (recipe follows)

Method:

Remove the halloumi from the package and pat dry. If the cheese is thick (this depends on the brand you purchase), divide it in half. Brush the halloumi with olive oil and heat up your waffle iron. Grease your waffle iron well and add the cheese. Cook until the the cheese has developed a brown crust (resist the urge to open your waffle iron too early or the cheese will fall apart).

Serve immediately with arugula, tomato jam, balsamic syrup and a drizzle of good quality olive oil.

VARIATION: If you don’t have a waffle iron, you can also grill the halloumi or pan-fry until crispy.


Tomato Jam

1.5 lbs. ripe tomatoes
2 tbsp silan
salt and pepper, to taste

Method:

Roughly chop your tomatoes and place them in a saucepan with silan and spices. Bring the mixture to a boil and reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook the tomatoes until they begin to fall apart and break them up with a fork. Continue to cook until the mixture thickens, about 45 minutes total.

NOTE: if desired, you may strain the jam through a fine mesh sieve to remove the skins.

Balsamic Syrup

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tsp silan

Pour the vinegar and silan into a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until reduced by half (or more, for a thicker syrup).

Related Recipes:

summer tomato feta salad
roasted eggplant parmesan with feta

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Garbanzo Shakshuka with Labneh & Za’atar

I might be a blogger, but the truth is, I don’t read many blogs. Sure I frequent them, and I drool over the mouthwatering dishes, but actually read them? Not really. Between work and family, there’s not that much time to get acquainted with the lives of fellow food bloggers. It’s a shame, really, but there’s only so much time in the day!


Confession #2: I don’t really cook things from other blogs either. Sure I pin the recipes, bookmark them, screenshot them, and even email some to myself. But I never quite get around to making them. Yeh.


There’s one exception though and that is the JewHungry blog. Not only do I read Whitney’s posts, I actually make some of her food. Like this, and these, and of course this! Whitney is a girl after my own heart. She loves sriracha and anything Middle Eastern, and her recipes are no fuss. She’s also a mom, a social worker/school counselor and a southern girl with lots to say! I love to read her articles on motherhood (and anything, really!) for The Huffington Post. Whitney’s writing is as good as her food, but today, I’m filling in! I’m happy to do a guest post for Whit, and since she’s pregnant, I wanted to make one of her favorites – shakshuka!

Now unlike Whitney, I’m a total cheat. Instead of slaving over a sauce, I make my own quick and easy version, and I’ll show you how. Head on over to Jewhungry for the deets!

Related Recipes:

spaghetti squash shakshuka
baked portobello shakshuka
quick and easy shakshuka

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Nutella Banana Ice Cream

Now that I’ve made my homemade nutella, I’ve got to find uses for it, right? As if eating it off a spoon isn’t good enough for me…

The truth is, I am in love with banana ice cream, and I really wanted to share it with you in time for Passover! I made it for the holidays last year, and I’ve been making variations ever since.

There’s not too much to banana ice cream, and that’s precisely why I love it so much. You can say goodbye to the dozen-egg-homemade-passover-ice-cream and say hello to this no-machine, easy, healthy and no-guilt variety that’s tastes just like soft serve.

All you have to do is just slice up some ripe bananas and freeze them until a solid, just a couple of hours. Then, you pulse the bananas in the food processor until they’re very finely chopped. Keep going until the bananas are creamy and add in your flavors of choice! I love adding nut butters – like my homemade nutella – for Passover. During the year, my favorite combo is banana, peanut butter, cinnamon and maple syrup. It’s so so good.

I mean would you just look at that creamy consistency? Don’t you just want to grab a spoon and dive right in?

The best part about banana soft serve is the possibilities. Blend with strawberries, top with coconut whipped cream, stir in some chopped macaroons, or add in your favorite candied nuts!

Nutella Banana Ice Cream

4 ripe bananas
½ cup nutella (use my easy homemade 4-ingredient recipe)
¼ tsp vanilla extract

Method

Peel bananas and slice into pieces. Place on a baking sheet and freeze until solid, a few hours or overnight. Place the frozen banana slices in a food processor or powerful blender and blend until smooth and creamy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. If the bananas are hard to blend, let them thaw for a few minutes to soften. Add the nutella and vanilla and blend until incorporated. Serve immediately for soft-serve ice cream consistency. If freezing for later, store in an airtight container and remove from the freezer to soften before serving.

NOTE: If you’re making your own nutella from scratch, make sure it cools completely before adding it to the ice cream, or it will freeze on-contact and won’t incorporate as well.

VARIATION: For a fun frozen banana treat, you can dip the banana slices into melted chocolate (before you freeze them) and top with shredded coconut, chopped nuts or sprinkles.


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Homemade Nutella

Making my own nutella has been on my list forever. It’s just one of those things that I’ve always wanted to make, but I never got around to it. Now that I finally made a batch, it’s going to be a regular here – it’s just that easy and that good.

If you’ve never made your own nut butter, you don’t know what you’re missing. It’s so much better than the store-bought stuff that’s loaded with additives! You can make nut butter out of just about any nut, and there’s nothing to it! You just let it go in the food processor until it’s creamy. It goes from chopped to a sort of greasy chop, then it turns to a creamy consistency with lots of pieces in it, and finally it reaches the beautiful consistency of butter.

There are so many things you can add to nut butter too. Maple syrup, honey, molasses, cinnamon, gingerbread spices, pumpkin spices, and of course….CHOCOLATE.

Chocolate nut butter is definitely my nut butter of choice. Last year, I made chocolate walnut butter for Passover and put it on just about everything. Now that California Gourmet has come out with soy-free kosher for Passover chocolate chips, I’m so excited about all the chocolate nut butter possibilities!

This incredible new brand has 48% cocoa for a rich chocolaty flavor that’s not too sweet. It’s non-GMO, gluten free, nut free, dairy free and with just 3 ingredients, you know you are eating clean. The kosher for Passover chips are made with just cane sugar, unsweetened chocolate, and cocoa butter – that’s it!

I love that California Gourmet’s new product makes eating nutella feel guilt-free! You can eat it with fruit, drizzled over yogurt, mixed into cookies or cake, and smeared over matza (if your custom allows). Me? I eat a spoonful right out of the jar for a decadent treat!

Now if you want to pick up a bag of kosher for Passover California Gourmet chocolate chips, they’re making it into stores nationwide (view the list here). If your store carries the red bag (which contains soy and is not kosher for Passover), you can ask them to bring in the Passover variety as it is available through the same distributor. If you are unable to get the chocolate at a store near you, you can also order it online here or replace it with some good quality chocolate instead.

Now that we’ve got our nutella ready, stay tuned for some banana nutella ice cream, coming to the blog real soon!

Homemade Nutella

8 oz. skinned* and roasted hazelnuts (unsalted), about 1 1/2 cups
1 8 oz. bag California Gourmet KFP chocolate chips
½ tsp vanilla extract
pinch of sea salt

Method:

Melt the chocolate chips over a double boiler. While they are melting, add the hazelnuts to a food processor and blend until smooth and creamy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the melted chocolate, vanilla and salt and blend until incorporated. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week or refrigerate for up to 1 month.

*If you cannot find skinned hazelnuts, purchase raw nuts and roast them at 400 degrees for about 8-10 minutes, until the skins begin to crack. Remove from the oven and add to a kitchen towel. Rub the nuts vigorously to remove the skins and set aside to cool.

NOTE: When the nutella comes out of the food processor, it will be liquidy, like the consistency of melted chocolate. As it sits, it will firm up to the texture of nut butter, as pictured on the matza. If you refrigerate the spread, it will harden, but you can just bring it to room temperature so it’s easier to spread.

EQUIPMENT NOTE: You will need a powerful food processor in order to create the hazelnut butter. If your machine is not that good, the process may take longer, just be patient and let the machine do the work.

TIP: if your nutella is difficult to spread, place your sealed container in a bowl of very warm tap water to soften.

This post is sponsored by California Gourmet Chocolate Chips. Follow on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.  

Related Recipes: cinnamon honey walnut butter

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Gelt Hot Chocolate

I’m super excited for this Chanukah blog post because WE’RE HAVIN’ A PARTY! Albeit a virtual one, but we can still have fun, right?! And all parties have to have prizes, so there’s a great GIVEAWAY too!

I got together with a few other bloggers to create a virtual menu and I was assigned the drinks. Now when I think of Chanukah, I imagine sitting by the lights of the Menorah, snuggled up under a warm blanket, sipping hot chocolate and singing Chanukah songs. The kids are around me playing draidel (ok, fighting over draidel), and my husband is frying latkes in the kitchen. Yes, Chanukah is just about the only time I let him take over and make a mess! He learned to make perfect crispy fried latkes when he was in Yeshiva in Israel and I don’t mind getting a little break from cooking so the kitchen’s all his (for at least a night..or two).

While hubby hosts a fryfest, I like to mix up a warm drink – some mulled wine, spiced apple cider, or gelt hot chocolate, obviously. I came up with this fun Chanukah version of hot chocolate based on a drink that my friends and I used to order at a place called Cafe K, back in the old days. Cafe K is still around, and they might still serve it! It was called “Torino Hot Chocolate”, after the chocolate bar that was used to make it. They’d take a whole bar of this chocolate and pour hot milk over it, and that was it! It was a dreamy confection and we’d save up our calories to splurge on it in the winter. It would warm us up from the inside out and we’d relish each and every sip!

I thought it would be fun to do the same with some chocolate Chanukah gelt! It makes a great party drink – just put out a vase filled with chocolate gelt, an urn of hot milk, and an endless selection of toppings and you’ve got yourself an amazing hot chocolate bar that will be the talk of  your Chanukah party!

And now for the rest of our virtual party menu, check out the mouthwatering dishes from these talented bloggers:

Appetizer:  Turkish Lentil Soup by Samantha from The Little Ferraro Kitchen
Main: Roasted Jalapeno and Cheddar Strata by Melinda from Kitchen Tested
Side: Mac and Cheese Latkes by Miriam from OvertimeCook
Dessert: Deep Fried Rugelach by Amy from What Jew Wanna Eat

Gelt Hot Chocolate

3 bags (3 oz.) good quality chocolate coins (I use Belgian chocolate gelt)
1 cup whole milk (or half cream, half milk)
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
whipped cream, for topping
cinnamon stick, for serving
additional chocolate gelt, for serving

Method:

Unwrap the chocolate gelt and place on the bottom of a glass. Bring the milk up to a boil and pour over the chocolate. Add sugar and cinnamon and stir until chocolate is fully melted and incorporated. Top with whipped cream and serve with a cinnamon stick and chocolate gelt.

VARIATIONS:

For coffee hot chocolate, omit cinnamon and add 1 tsp coffee and an extra tsp of sugar
For vanilla hot chocolate, omit cinnamon and add 1 tsp vanilla extract or heat up milk with 1 vanilla pod, scraped

TOPPING IDEAS:

whipped cream, marshmallows, crushed cookies, crushed graham crackers, brownies, coconut, candied nuts, candied citrus rind, crushed peppermint candy, sprinkles, fresh mint.

And now for the exciting part – the prizes! We’re giving away 2 separate packages – a cookbook package sponsored by Artscroll and a Gourmet Kosher Foodie Package sponsored by Nomoo cookies and California Gourmet. Enter to win below. Happy Chanukah!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Other Festive Hot Drinks: Mulled Wine
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