Our Arab Breakfast (With Gluten Free Option)

This is what we often eat for a regular days breakfast.
- Ready In:
- 25mins
- Serves:
- Units:
1
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ingredients
-
BREAKFAST TEA
- 3 orange pekoe tea bags (I use Tetley tea bags)
- 2 1⁄2 cups water
- heavy cream (or half-and half)
- 6 teaspoons white sugar (to taste)
- 7 cardamom pods, crushed slightly
-
CHEESE PREPARATION
- 1 tablespoon olive oil (A good quality please!)
- halloumi cheese (Haloom, Arabic, hellim -Turkish)
- 1⁄4 cup all-purpose flour (to be gluten free I use white rice flour or a mix with tapioca starch in 1/2 the amount)
- 1 lemon, cut in half
-
THE REST
- 1 large pita bread (1 bag, Do NOT use if gluten free)
- rice crackers (optional, for the gluten free)
- 1⁄4 cup butter, sliced
- yogurt cheese balls in oil or goat feta cheese, sliced
- assorted gourmet olive
- hummus (homemade or store bought, ours tends to be the later)
- assortment fresh fruit, cut up into chunks (lovely sprinkled with orange blossom water & sugar if needed)
directions
- Heat water & cardamom pods covered in a pot until boiling.
- Drop in tea bags and simmer covered for about 1 1/2 minutes add sugar to taste along with the cream and keep simmering and adjusting cream to your desired amount not worrying about the fat content, only the taste :) This is called breakfast tea or you could use, Recipe #286617. Serve in regular tea cup/mugs.
- Now slice the haloumi cheese into thick slices and rinse with water. Do not dry.
- Place the flour on a flat surface and dip each piece of haloumi cheese to coat all sides in a light fashion. You may use just half the package.
- Heat the olive oil on medium high and fry cheese slices until lightly golden reducing the heat as needed.
- Remove to a plate and place halved lemon around it to squeeze on top while eating.
- Place butter, cheeses, gourmet olives, hummus drizzled with some extra virgin olive oil, the fruits (lovely sprinkled with orange blossom water & sugar if needed if wished) on their own plates or in bowls.
- Lay this all out on a low table or blanket/newspapers on the floor. This is both traditional and Islamic to sit on the floor while eating.
- Lay out spoons for the fruit and heat the bread until warm with your preferred method just before serving.
- Scoop up cheeses etc in bread pulled in half. (That's the way to do it traditionally) I serve rice crackers to as we are gluten free.
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This was an interesting change from our normal breakfast. I couldn't find halloumi cheese so I used queso fresco instead - I found it to be very heavy compared to the rest of the meal. The tea was lovely! I cut our pitas in to quarters (easier for little hands to eat) and added some tomatoes. I liked having the olives, cheese, and fruit for breakfast, and will probably do it again. For ZWT6 N.Reply