Sweet Chili Sauce With Grilled Halloumi

Most of us have our go-to chef resources; my sister is currently relying on Giada and the barefoot contessa. I tend to bounce around a bit, lately coming to appreciate Giada’s work, also lately coming into a deep respect and trust of the work and recipes of Emeril. barefoot contessa has long been a favorite, and, of course, for the classics, Julia Child cannot be beat in my book; but… right up there, in front of just about everybody else?

01aFresnoPeppersbfLONigella Lawson.

I base so many recipes I use everyday, and feature on this site, on hers that it is just not 02aPeppersChoppedbfLOfunny; everything from Guinness Cake (not to be missed) to a couple of wicked cool ways to marinate chicken before grilling or roasting, so, when I came across her recipe for a quick sweet chili sauce paired with grilled halloumi cheese, I knew it was gonna be featured soon on our table.

INGREDIENTS
•12 red chiles
•1/2 cup honey
•4 tsp fresh lime juice

De-seed and roughly chop four of the chiles, then simply chop the remaining eight and place in a two quart pan.

02cAddHoneybfLONote: Nigella just specified “red” chiles, and the market I was at that day didn’t have a lot to choose from, so I went with Fresno chiles, which are not that spicy, so feel free to leave the seeds in all of the chiles if you’re going mild, or, if you’re fretting about the heat, go ahead and de-seed more of the chiles to suit your personal preferences. For us, the balance of four seeded Fresnos to eight chopped seeds and all produced a slightly zippy chili sauce that no one around our dinner table considered “hot” so, next time, 03dChiliSaucebfLOI will more than likely leave all of the seeds in, or use another type of pepper. I will also more than likely let my chili sauce bubble on low – closely watched, of course – for six to eight minutes, as I think the ‘raw pepper’ flavor could be mellowed a bit.

Add the honey and lime juice to the chiles in the pan, then cook over the slowest burner you have – use your simmer burner, if you have one.

Bring to a bubbling boil over medium-low heat, then give it all a good stir, set the heat to low, and cook for four minutes.

03bHalloumiGrilledbfLORemove from the heat, transfer to a lidded jar, and store in the fridge until needed; it’ll last about two weeks.

When ready to serve, cut the halloumi into strips (I misunderstood Rich for this batch and cut the cheese into chunks. It made for messier grilling, but it was all still pretty darned tasty), and grill without oil for 30 to 60 seconds per side, until each strip is nicely grill marked.

Serve with chili sauce and fresh lime wedges. Nigella suggests serving this over chopped salad greens as a salad course, which would work, too.

This entry was posted in Appetizers/Munchies, Cheese, Salad Dressings, Sauces/Jellies/Condiments and tagged , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

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