Smile and Say Cheese: How to Make Halloumi at Home & Fried Halloumi Salad

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cheese, cheese making, cow's milk, fried halloumi, from scratch, halloumi, Homemaid, How to, How to make halloumi at home, making cheese at home, Mezze table, Middle East, Rennet, step by step, Za'tar

Why to pay high prices for halloumi cheese while you can make it at home? You will be amazed how easy it is!

I like making things from scratch, especially if it is much expensive to buy from stores. I know, mostly I don’t have time to do everything, but making thing from scratch makes me proudly happy. Being a middle eastern, I grew up eating cheese from that kind- the white and salty brined cheese, the twisted or Mojadallah, Kashkawan the creamy cheese. There were also many kinds of imported yellow cheeses, but not really my big fan.

The white brined cheese is a kind of cheese which is an everyday stable food on the middle eastern table in savory or sweet dishes, delicious and rich that you can’t stop eating.

Like the Nabulsi and Akawi cheese, halloumi is one of many kinds of traditional white Middle Eastern brined cheese. Originally from Cyprus and also known in various countries of the middle east, particularly in Palestine, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. It is produced mainly from goat and sheep milk, although cow’s milk is now widely used in making this kind of cheese(the one which I used with the addition of more fresh cream to the milk), or a combination of the sheep and cow’s milk.

I like to add flavors to the cheese, with mahlab (Prunus mahaleb) and mastic (Pistacia lentiscus) added to the boiling brine, or sometimes flavored with black sesame seed which added to the brine after boiling.

Halloumi texture is firm and rubbery until grilled or pan-fried, then It becomes crispy on the outside and soft and elastic In the middle. It is commonly used as a salty table cheese, it can be fried in oil, or grilled. The flavor is similar to mozzarella, only with more salt.

Generally, as a table cheese, I enjoy serving it as part of mezze with some fruits and crackers on the side.

It is also used as a filling in savory pastries, like in the Minted Cheese Stuffed Rolls 

Holloumi is wonderful when grilled or fried, served at breakfast or brunch. I like it fried in olive oil, sprinkled with Za’tar spice mix, served with some pita bread and some fresh vegetable. Serve it straight from the pan, as it becomes rubbery when cool.

Equipments to make the cheese:

No special equipment required to make halloumi cheese, but you need at least a large pot to heat the milk, thermometer, colander, sieve, cheese cloth or muslin cotton cloth

Step By Step on How to Make Halloumi at Home:

2 gallons vitamin D cow’s milk
2 cups fresh cream (whipping cream)
1 teaspoon pickling salt + 1/2 more for the brine
1/4 tablet rennet
1/2 cup cold milk
1 teaspoon mahleb
1/2 teaspoon mastic

I started with 2 gallon of milk, full-cream and not homogenized. In a spice infuser, place 1/4 teaspoon crushed mastic gum and 1/4 teaspoon crushed mahleb, immerse in the milk while heated. Heat milk to 85-90 f (use the thermometer) slowly on low heat in heavy stainless steel sauce-pan (do not use aluminum). Add the cream and the pickling salt, stir the milk. Add the dissolved rennet, I used the tablet rennet(follow the instruction on the rennet), dissolve 1/4 tablet (you have to crush it first)into 1/2 cup cold milk, stir then add to the heated milk, stir quickly for 1 min.

Let the milk rest for 45-60 minutes (or until a clean break), covering the pot with a lid and keeping the temperature constant on 85-90 f (you may like to place the pot into a bigger pot with hot water, or wrap it with a warm towel, or keep it in a pre heated oven (warm the oven for couple of minutes then turn the heat off).

To check for a clean break, use a knife to make a cut through the curd.

Cut the curd into 1/2 inch cubes.

Using a large hand sieve, take some clotted cheese, shake lightly to drain out some of the whey, place in cheese cloth lined colander. Fold the corners of the cloth over the cheese, and place a heavy weight on the top, let set to drain for 1-2 hours. Reserve the whey.

The cheese should be firm with spongy consistency. Take the cheese from the mold and cut it into 2″ thick strips, add sprinkle with salt and let aside.

Make a brine with 2 quarts of the whey and 1/4 cup pickling salt. Add the mastic and mahlab infuser ball. Bring to a boil, add the cheese pieces, let boil for 1 min, then take the cheese pieces into clean linen lined shallow dish.

Arrange the cheese in the jars, add the brine to fill the top, sprinkle some nigella seed. Reserve in the refrigerator.

Some tips:

Using the Rennet

You can use the tablet rennet, follow the directions on how to use it. Usually found at cheese making stores, or at the internet. I bought mine from a pharmacy in the middle east. There is also liquid rennet available. When purchasing the rennet, just make sure to ask about the source, especially if you are seeking kosher.

Flavoring the Cheese

Halloumi has a distinctive flavor. In middle east most white cheeses flavored with mastic and mahlab, or nigella seeds, anise and caraway seeds might be used too, those can be found in middle eastern stores. Some other flavores used is mint, olives, or dried tomato. If you don’t have spice infuser, you can put the mastic and mahlab in small piece of cloth and wrap it around like a purse.

Brine Concentration

Brines used to store these cheeses are normally 16% salt, the minimum for minimizing unwanted bacteria growth.
Higher % salt can be used, but is not required and will make the cheese taste very salty.
Lower % salt will result in a more immediately edible cheese but with shorter shelf life due to unwanted bacteria growth

Base Fluid

Base fluid options for making brine for ripening cheese are water, a mixture of water and whey, or all whey from making cheese.
Using whey gives the brine a higher calcium component, also makes the brine ripened cheese more flavourful.

Before Serving
Because of being reserved in salty brine, soak the cheese in warm water for 1/2 an Hour, to get rid off some of the salt and this will also make the cheese more soft.

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How to Make Yogurt Cheese Balls

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breakfast recipes, dairy food, Homemade yogurt, How to, labne, middle eastern breakfast food, middle eastern food, middle eastern pantry food, milk products, step by step, toast sandwich ideas, كيفية عمل اللبنه بالمنزل, لبنه, لبنه مكوره, لبنه بالبندوره المجففه والنعنع, لبنه بالزعتر, Yogurt, yogurt cheese, yogurt cheese balls, yogurt cheese spreed, yogurt cheese with sun dried tomato and fresh mint, yogurt cheese with zatar spice, yogurt recipes

Yogurt Cheese Balls “Labneh”, makes one of the middle eastern stable breakfast dish and a quick standby for a snack spread on pita bread or crackers.

Preserved in oil, “Labneh Mokawara” yogurt cheese balls, is one of the old and essential middle eastern pantry food. Stored in a special storage room  alongside with other foods like brine cheese, dried legumes and beans, wheat, spices and pickles. That was an old way to store middle eastern food items. Nowadays everything is  available in stores and ready for quick pick up.

Making yogurt cheese at home is very easy, it’s no more than yogurt that has been strained to separate it’s whey component, usually by hanging the yogurt in cloth bags. To make the cheese balls, you need to shape them into pearly little balls, then stack in olive oil. As the natural bacteria present in the yogurt ferment, the flavor is slightly modified.

To make yogurt cheese spread:

Yogurt (homemade recipe here)
salt

Pour the cold yogurt into a cloth or cheese cloth bag, sprinkle with salt and mix. Tie and let hang to drain for 1 day (I found that my kitchen cabinet door knob is a good hanger, you may try that).
Remove yogurt from bag and place in a mixing bowl. Add more salt if need it. refrigerate in a covered container. It’s prefered to spread the top of the yogurt cheese with some olive oil to store for long time and prevent the mold from forming on the top.

To make the yogurt cheese balls:

the same for the cheese spread, but in order to be able to roll the yogurt into a ball you need to let the yogurt hang to drain for more time until it becomes the consistency of cream cheese.
Remove yogurt from the bag and place in a large bowl. Add salt if need it and mix. Make balls the size of a walnut, using a little oil on the palm of your hands to prevent sticking. Place the balls on a clean towel for about 2 more hours to drain more of the moisture.

To make yogurt cheese balls flavored with fresh mint and sun-dried tomato:
chop some sun-dried tomato and some fresh mint leaves, mix together. Roll the yogurt balls into the mixer, then in olive oil. Drop into sterilized Jars, covered with oil and seal.

to make za’tar coated cheese balls:
Roll the yogurt balls into za’tar spice mix, then in olive oil. Arrange the balls into the cleaned jars, add more oil and seal.

To make a humble quick breakfast yogurt cheese sandwich:

This is my favorite breakfast sandwich, just be creative, you may add whatever you want. Love it with some pickle on the side.
1`small cucumber, grated coarsely
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint leaves
1 tablespoon chopped black or green olives
2-3 tablespoons Labneh (yogurt cheese spread)
olive oil

Mix all, spread on toasted bread slices, and enjoy.
Highly recommended 🙂 : Serve with your choice of pickles on the side.

Granola Yogurt Parfait

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almond, breakfast, Fruits, granola, grape molasses, grapes, healthy breakfast, oatmeal, quick breakfast ideas, roasted grapes, snacks ideas, step by step, storing granola

For robust breakfast, add these granola bites on top of your fruit and yogurt for extra flavor and more fiber in your diet, or for snacks enjoy it plain.

Oat is one of my favorite breakfast food ingredient. I love a hot bowl of oatmeal in the morning and I often use oats in my baking, as well. It give the cakes the softness like this pillow soft muffins. But most of all, I like using oats in this quick and easy granola recipe.

No time for making or eating breakfast?
Make your granola in a batch and enjoy it throughout the week. I like to sprinkle it over my yogurt for a sweet start in the morning, or you can zip it in less than 5 min and take it with you.

Why should you make your own granola instead of buying ready made?
Because homemade granola tastes twice as good and costs half as much. You also can cut the fat down considerably when you make it at home and by using small amounts of canola oil, add the flavors you prefer, or load it with nuts and fruits of your choice.

What is grape molasses?
A Very healthy middle eastern thick syrup extracted from grapes. Anyone who is not familiar with grape molasses, it is very healthy and beneficial, very rich in antioxidants, well known for it’s high contents of iron and used widely in treating iron related anemia. You can find it at middle eastern stores.

The key to making delicious granola is to bake it at low temp or a long time.
Store in an airtight plastic container with lids on in the cupboard, where it will await breakfaster or afternoon muncher. For long storage , keep it in the fridge or freeze it.

In this recipe, I used my homemade yogurt recipe, does not need to strain it because it is thick enough, smooth it a little with a whisk. Served loaded with oven roasted black grapes, then topped with some sweetened the granola and almond clustered that is coated with generous amount with grape molasses for additional healthy diet then toasted to nutty flavors.

Grape Molasses Almond Granola

1/2 cup chopped almond
2 cups old fashioned oat
1/4 cup grape molasses
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 tablespoon canola oil

Preheat the oven at 275 f. Coat an oven pan with a little oil.
Place all ingredient in large mixing bowl, and stir very well until combined, make sure all coated with the molasses.
Spoon the entire mixture into the baking sheet, spread into a single layer, so they have room to get toasty.
Bake for 10 min, then rotate the pan and bake for another 10-15 min, let cool.
Once cool, break clumps into smaller parts, store in plastic jars.

Yogurt Granola Parfait with Roasted Black Grapes

Baked granola
Roasted black grapes plus juices (recipe coming next in separate post)
Homemade or store bought yogurt or greek yogurt(Recipe here)

With a whisk, whip the yogurt until creamy and smooth, top with the roasted grapes or you have the choice to use any kind of fruits. Then top it with granola clusters, enjoy.

Easy and Nutritious Homemade Yogurt

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authentic recipes, breakfast, Dairy products, Homemade yogurt, How to, laban recipes, middle eastern recipes, step by step, Yoghurt, Yogurt, yogurt recipes, Yogurt starter, اللبن, عمل اللبن بالمنزل

Yogurt or Yoghurt, or Laban (arabic name mostly known in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Palestine), or may be Zabadi (Egyptian version) is all refers to what is called the “Wonder Food”.

Yogurt, for long time ago, has formed an essential part in the diet of most middle eastern household. Making yogurt from scratch is regular activity and tradition, and until todays, even if it is easy to find at stores.

Yogurt simply is fermented milk which varies in taste, texture, and appearance depending on the specific bacterial culture used in fermenting, and the type of milk used. That’s why it considered naturally sour.

Making Yogurt

Making yogurt from scratch is easy and economic, only two ingredients are needed to make yogurt: milk and starter (yogurt culture)

Starter –Yogurt from previous homemade batch can be used as starter, it must have the active bacteria known as Lactobacillus acidophilus (some store type yogurt doesn’t have the active culture, it made by adding gelatin and starch as thickening agent, so try to avoid these type when choosing the starter to make yogurt).

Milk–Yogurt can be made with any animal milk (cow, goat, sheep), and nowadays there is the none dairy product milk that is using the soy milk to make the yogurt.

The cow’s milk is the most commonly used to make yogurt, it’s considered medium in thickness and flavor according to the other types of milk, also cows milk yogurt can be made with any level of fat content–whole, 2%, 1% or skim. Whole milk will always yield a better overall taste (richer) and texture (thicker) than lower fat versions.

In middle east, the sheep milk is widely used, it’s considered more sweet than cow’s milk, it is more thicker because the fat content is higher and more nutritious as Vitamins A, E, D, and K are found in milk fat.

The goat milk is the less in thickness and flavor than cows milk, more soar too, it has more water content compared to fat and protein.

temperature – The process of making yogurt require a suitable certain temp between 110-120 f for the milk to activate the bacteria and set it to work, also maintain the same warm temp for the whole incubation period to help ferment the milk.

Incubation Methods – Yogurt need between 8-10 hours to ferment in warm temp, this process called incubation. There are many methods that can be used to achieve the constant warm incubation temp that insure a thick yogurt:

I normally use the oven to incubate my yogurt, after adding the starter wrap the bowl with clean cloth and put it in the oven, preheat the oven to 5 min and then turned it off and let the starter do the magic. To keep the yogurt in constant warm temp I turn the light of the oven on and preheat the oven every 3-4 hours and turn it off.

It is very important too to keep the yogurt from any disturbing during the process.

Sometimes I use a cooler filled with warm water to incubate the yogurt especially if making the yogurt over night, the cooler will keep the water temp suitable enough to keep the yogurt warm to ferment.

Other methods found over the net is by using:
A food dehydrator
A crock pot
A heating pad

Health and Nutrition:

Yogurt is more nutritious than milk, a cup of yogurt a day keeps the digestive system healthy as it is utilized by the body as twice as fast as milk. No wonder it is called a natural antibiotic.

Yogurt is an excellent source of:
Probiotics (great for digestion and immunity)
Protein (content varies from batch to batch)
Calcium, phosphorus, potassium, and magnesium (great for bone and teeth strength and overall health)
vitamins A, B, D, and E (for skin health)

Uses  

In middle eastern cuisine, yogurt is used in everything from appetizers to salads to drinks. It’s customary to place on the table a bowl of fresh yogurt. It’s eaten on it’s own or spoon it over salads  like Roasted Eggplant with Pomegranate and Yogurt or dishes of cooked vegetables or grains, mixed with herbs to make thick sauces like Mint and Cucumber Yogurt Dip.
Cooked yogurt is very well known as many dishes use it as cooking liquid or sauce like Cauliflower and Beef stew with Yogurt Sauce.
It’s also used to make the yogurt cheese, a middle eastern well known thickened yogurt dip, and yogurt cheese balls (the recipe comming later).

I love the way my yogurt always turned out! Nice thick and creamy, smooth, sweet and tangy. It’s really magic.

I used whole milk, and add some cream for more fat content, heated it and brought it to about 115 f, added my starter yogurt (usually Dannon-plain) wraped it with towel and put it in preheated oven then turned it off with the light turned on. Every 2-3 hours reheated the oven for 5 min and turned it off.

Let the yogurt set and incubate from 8-10 hours depends how sour you like the yogurt, also long incubation make yogurt more thick texture and more sour. Then put in refregerator to cool and set.

Always save some yogurt as it can be used as the starter for your next batch.

Homemade Yogurt:

1/2 gallon whole milk
1/4 cup fresh cream (liquid whipping cream)
1/3 cup yogurt starter
Dash of salt

Place milk in heavy saucepan (not aluminum) over medium heat. Bring to about 120 f, being careful not to let milk scorch (no need to stir).

Remove from heat and let cool until lukewarm. Milk is ready if you can count to ten comfortably when you immerse your little finger into the milk, about 110-115 f.

If milk is too cool return to heat and warm slightly, if too hot leave aside for a while longer to cool down. Blend yogurt starter with some warm milk, add it to the rest of warm milk, stir well.

Yogurt mixer may be left in the same pot to set. Cover with lid and a blanket. Place in a spot where mixture will not be disturbed for 8-10 hours, or until set.

Place in refrigerator to cool, taste will vary according to age of starter.