Food from Cyprus - Recipe for Rustic Bread with Olives and Halloumi cheese.

From my food from Cyprus book.
I spent this morning trying out the above recipe and it works a treat. Very easy to make and the end result is delicious. The photographs show my efforts before and after baking. If you decide to try it out, please let me know, I would love to hear your comments. Here is the recipe.

1 kg Self raising flour
3 tbsp Yeast
1 level tbsp Salt
1 Teacup (5fl oz) Olive oil
15 fl oz Warm water
1 teacup kalamata olives
Small bunch fresh parsley
1 tbsp fresh mint or 1tsp dried mint
110 grams Halloumi cheese ( half a halloumi cheese )
1 medium sized onion.

Pour the flour, yeast, salt and olive oil into a large mixing bowl. Add the warm water and mix until you have a bread dough consistency and knead for 5 mins on a floured surface. Place the dough back in the mixing bowl.

Cut the hallouni cheese into small cubes. Peel, wash and finely chop the onion. Rinse and chop up the parsley and mint. Add these to the mixing bowl with the olives and fold all the ingredients into the dough. Pour the dough into a well greased large baking dish or tin. If you prefer, you can divide the mixture into two smaller dishes. This mixture would make great savoury muffins as well.

Cover the dough and place in a warm place to rise for 1 hour.

While the dough is rising, pre heat the oven to gas mark 5 or 180 for electric cookers. Place dish in the oven on the top shelf and bake for 45 - 50 mins ( less if you have divided the mixture).

My drawing for the day features some of the ingredients from this recipe.


Halloumi Cheese

Recipe Book update

I have been busy researching and gathering recipes and information for my book and writing them up. There are so many delicious recipes for starters, pastries, breads, and main courses. Starting this week, I will start posting some recipes here on my blog. The first recipe will be a lovely, healthy rustic bread with olives, hellim or halloumi cheese and parsley. It is so sustaining, you could climb a mountain on this bread alone!. I am going to bake it myself today, to make sure I have the correct ingredients and measurements. Basically, if I can bake it anyone can!

This week I will be working on my painting for the book cover. I have also decided to start a new regime of one drawing a day no matter how many other things I have to do. I will post some of them from time to time.

Raw Business - Edition 9

I was recently featured in Raw Business magazine, a bi-monthly magazine featuring high profile Entrepreneurs and business based content. Here is the link to my feature on page 21 of Edition 9. http://www.nxtbook.com/nxteu/Million_Impossible/RawDec09/#/20

Raw Business magazine is available online and as a hard copy. All details on how to subscribe are on the Million Impossible website at http://millionimpossible.com/default.asp

My thanks and gratitude to Entrepreneur, MD and Publisher Bradley Chapman.

On the way to the village shop

With Schools closed for several days lately and people unable to get to work or the supermarkets due to the snow, we have been relying much more on our two local village shops for provisions and I am so grateful to them. It was good to see so many people out and about in the village, stopping for a chat, walking their dogs and playing or sleighing in the snow. The large igloo built several days ago in the middle of the park, is stil standing.