Stick with dairy for a nutritious al fresco dinner
AS SHAVUOT is so fashionably late this year (almost in summer), why not celebrate with a barbecue?
Outdoor grilling does not have to be all about the meat; you can make a flavour-filled, colourful feast without so much as a chicken leg, leaving plenty of room for a delicious slab of festive cheesecake or a melting vanilla cone. Dairy foods can play more than a supporting role. Halloumi and manouri cheese both stand up well to barbecuing. Caterer Simone Krieger ( kriegerskitchen.com) suggests skewering chunks of courgettes and halloumi. Cook for five to 10 minutes, turning often and brushing with the olive oil, until the cheese is going golden and the courgettes are cooked through. Serve garnished with a mint vinaigrette, made from olive oil, lemon juice, chopped fresh mint, salt and pepper.
Salty goat’s cheese is ideal with sweet roasted peppers, especially Romano peppers — willowy, tapering cousins of the squatter, plain old bell. Halve them, scoop out the seeds, brush with a little oil and char-grill directly on the barbecue. They should soften and blacken slightly in about 10 minutes.
Turn them over and cook for a couple of minutes more before filling with a mixture of soft goat’s cheese, a few finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes and black olives and some finely shredded basil. Eat as they are or return them to the grill for a couple of minutes to warm the cheese.
Denise Phillips, a cookery writer, ( jewishcookery.com), grills sticks of halloumi and serves them alongside peppers griddled until soft and sweet. She also stuffs peppers with mozzarella, basil and tomatoes, while Krieger advises stuffing them with a mixture of cooked rice, lentils, caramelised onions and couscous. She recommends precooking the pepper shell in the microwave or boiling water, to give them a good start before they go on the grill.
Feta also goes well with griddled courgettes. Slice the courgettes lengthways into strips no more than a couple of millimetres thick, brush with seasoned olive oil and barbecue until softened and slightly charred. Pile into a serving dish, dress with plenty of chopped mint, red wine vinegar and olive oil and crumble a handful of feta over the top. Flavoured butters can be used to add taste and moisture to foods and can be made in advance and chilled or even frozen until needed. Try combining 100g softened, unsalted butter with 2 to 3 tbsp of chopped fresh mint, basil, dill or parsley and season. Tip on to cling wrap and roll into a sausage shape. Chill