Halloumi and Cranberry Bites With Puff Pastry – Easy Recipe!

cranberry and halloumi

Halloumi and cranberry wrapped in a puff pastry – if there’s a better combination out there for pastries, we don’t want to know about it!

Halloumi and Cranberry

This recipe is simply awesome. It will go well on its own as a snack or as a starter or even better a party food especially at Christmas. You can’t really go wrong with the salty taste of halloumi but when you add in the sweet tangy cranberry sauce as well allied with a crispy on the outside but gooey on the inside puff pastry, all bets are off.

Ingredients

  • Puff Pastry Sheet – 1x Roll (320g)
  • Halloumi Cheese – 2x Packs
  • 1 Tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 Tablespoon Oregano (Dried)
  • 1 Tablespoon of Black Ground Pepper
  • 2 Tablespoon of Whole Cranberry Sauce
  • 2 Eggs Yolks

Method

  1. Pre-Heat oven to 180°C
  2. Slice halloumi cheese blocks into bite size chunks
  3. Place halloumi blocks into a bowl and mix with the oregano, black pepper and olive oil
  4. Unroll puff pastry sheet.
  5. Spread the cranberry sauce evenly onto the puff pastry sheet.
  6. Cut the puff pastry into even slices.
  7. Place 1x halloumi block 1x puff pastry slice and roll evenly around the halloumi. Repeat until you have used all the puff pastry.
  8. Place each roll onto a non-stick oven tray.
  9. Place in the oven for around 20 minutes or until golden brown and evenly cooked.
  10. Remove and let them cool down to a safe temperature before serving.
  11. ENJOY!

This recipe was inspired by one created by the brilliant MOBKITCHEN. Checkout this recipe of toasted bagel!

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How Many Watts Does A 2 Slices Toaster Use?

How many watts does a 2 slices toaster use? How do toasters know when to pop up? How hot does a toaster get? These are some of the questions we will address in this article.

The humble toaster – it may seem small but this can often be one of the most important items in your kitchen.

It’s no wonder then you may have some questions about it. Its important to know power consumption of toaster before buying it. That’s why we’ve distilled some of the most common questions we see about toasters below and tried to answer them.

2 Slices Toaster & Uses of Watt:

The power consumption of an electrical appliance is meaured in Watts.

An average 2 slices toaster will consume around 1200 watts when in use. 2 slice toasters will typically use between 800 to 1500 watts in use.

To give you an idea of how that compares, consider that microwaves can typically be rated between 600W and 1700W whilst a food blender may be between 300W to 400W. Checkout what is the best 2 slices toaster to buy.

Should I Unplug The Toaster?

Whilst there is no hard and fast rule, it’s probably always a good idea to turn it off and unplug when it is not in use.

A lot of electrical products will consume energy when they are left plugged in even if they are not in use. Sometimes termed idle energy, this describes the electricity used when appliances are sitting in standby mode or simply just plugged in even if turned off.

It’s also generally a good idea to make sure that you monitor the toaster when it is in use.

In addition it’s also a good idea to ensure you clean the bread crumbs regularly from your toaster to avoid a potential fire risk.

Do Toaster Numbers Mean Minutes?

This question has been known to throw many the wrong way. Though you might necessarily think that the numbers on your toaster dial automatically translate to minutes, that’s not always the case.

This really depends on the type of toaster you have. As Business Insider explains this is because some models are based on a mechanical timer whilst others based on a circuit which times based on heat.

How Hot Is A Toaster?

Hotter than you might think!

To get your bread to the crispy brown you like so much an average toaster gets to around 600 degrees C; hot enough to glow.

To put that into context a typical electric oven might go to around 280 – 300 degrees C.

2 slices toaster

How Do Toasters Know When To Pop Up?

A pop up toaster causes the bread to “pop up” when it stops. Typically when you pull the lever down on your toaster to get a cycle started a few things happen.

Firstly, the action allows electrical current to start flowing which heats up the heating element.

Secondly, the cage holding the toaster half way out of the toaster is lowered bringing the bread down and into position. This cage is then held into place by a latch once you let the lever go. The action of pulling down on the lever also compresses a spring which will be used at the end of the cycle to release the latch and pop the cage back up along with the bread.

At the same time the heat generated is warming up a release mechanism for the latch.

This mechanism is designed so that as it heats up, it changes shape eventually getting hot enough to release the latch. This is what makes the popping sound at the end of a cycle.

The release mechanism is designed so that it can take a lower or higher temperature to pop which allows the user to select how brown they want their toast. You can find further information here in this article.

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If all this talk of toasters has you thinking about getting a new one take a look at some of the best 2 slice toasters we’ve found.

3 Great Kitchen Hacks To Save Time

Kitchen Hacks To Save Time

Managing your kitchen when you have so many other priorities and issues soaking up your time and energy can feel like an uphill battle. That’s why we’ve put together a list of the of the best 3 kitchen hacks to save time.

At Power To The Kitchen we believe that the kitchen is the heart of the home; it provides nourishment and the fuel needed for everyone to be at their best. 

When your kitchen is running well, the whole home has a better chance.

The thing is though, the kitchen is not always an easy place to manage especially if every adult in the home is working and/or you also have kids to look after. It can be a significant drain on your time and energy. Both of which would be better spent with friends and family or simply just eating and resting after a long day at work.

If you get the kitchen right, everything else has a better chance of flourishing. It helps to keep your health, your energy and, to an extent, your happiness in check.

But with so many conflicting priorities how can you keep everything in order and save time doing it?

Top 3 Kitchen Hacks To Save Time

There are many kitchen hacks that we’d love to share with you but in this post we’ve put together the top 3 hacks focusing on saving time in the kitchen. These hacks will help you improve the health and wealth of your kitchen and hopefully make life a bit easier.

1 – ONLY USE ONE SET OF UTENSILS AND DISHES PER PERSON: This first idea is so simplistic in nature yet so effective in practice. Everyone in the home is given one set of utensils and general kitchen items. You then select one of each other type of item that would be needed for cooking and preparing food.

So for example in a household with a couple, each partner would get a plate, bowl, spoon, knife, fork, glass and mug. Then the common items might be a sauce pan, a frying pan, a serving spoon, a wooden spoon etc (you get the idea). The basic idea being you only have one of each type and you only use what you need.

After you’ve allocated the items however, it is then critical that you then stick to them and do not go into the cupboards the first time you find your plate has already been used and needs a wash. Here another key principle comes into play; you have to wash and re-use the same set of stuff. If you don’t, the system does not work.

This system can be highly effective if used correctly because it cuts out the majority of the time you would spend washing up dishes that you would still be using.

It also means that you avoid the dreaded dish pile up next to the kitchen sink especially during the working week when you’re in much more of a hurry; if there are no dishes to use, there are no dishes to pile up. (Sidebar; my wife and I, who have 3 kids under the age of 3, tried this system after finding we were spending too much time managing the kitchen and it completely changed our evenings – it freed up so much more time and made the job of managing the kitchen a lot easier).

2 – TIDY UP EACH NIGHT BEFORE YOU EAT DINNER: This second idea is much easier said than done – it requires that you commit to tidying up the kitchen every single night not when you feel like it but before you sit down and eat.

If you’re like most people you probably tidy up the kitchen at some point in the evening when you can, sometimes this might be after dinner or before going to bed. The issue with these slots however, is that once you’ve eaten and settled on the sofa to enjoy/binge on your favourite shows it becomes much harder and even less enjoyable to get up again and head back to the kitchen to tidy up. 

It might seem counter-intuitive but if you can get into the habit of tidying up once your dinner is ready but before you’ve served this will mean you get the hard stuff out of the way but still have the pleasure of eating and relaxing to follow. Once you get started you’re more likely to continue as the next night the last thing your brain will have to associate with the kitchen is the pleasure gained from tucking into your well prepped dinner.

3 – TIDY UP AS YOU GO: When you keep pace with tidying up in the kitchen as you go, you make the whole process of managing it so much easier. Whenever you can squeeze in a minute or two at the kitchen sink or wiping a worktop, do so as it will ultimately mean you have less to do in your daily tidy up time before dinner. 

If you manage to implement ideas #1 and #2 from above (particularly #1) tidying up as you go will be even easier as you’ll have far less stuff in the kitchen to keep on top of.

The kitchen hacks to save time presented above may seem simple but the most effective solutions often are. There are some more useful kitchen hacks we can recommend. Also you should checkout some useful tips and tricks to organize your pantry and 33 kitchen hacks that will make you love cooking.

Why not try them out and give us your feedback below? We would love to hear from you.

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What Goes Good On A Toasted Bagel? (7 Great ideas)

What goes good on a toasted bagel?
What Goes Good On A Toasted Bagel?

Quite possibly the only thing that beats a great toasted sliced bread sandwich is a toasted sliced bagel packed with the juiciest fillings you can rustle up from the kitchen. What goes good on a toasted bagel? Just about anything you want but we’re sharing our best toasted bagel fillings. We’ll discuss below all possible recipes and combinations that goes great with Bagel.

There are many reasons to like bagels. We especially like them for their versatility and help with breaking up the every day routine. Whether it’s for breakfast, lunch or as a snack, a good bagel combination can really hit the spot.

To elevate them even further we always prefer them toasted (take a look here for plenty of toasters with bagel settings). 

Bagels for dinner, lunch, breakfast or simply a snack – we have ideas to suit any time of day.

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What Goes Good On A Toasted Bagel?

1 – Bacon, Brie Cheese, Sautéed Mushrooms and Scrambled Eggs

bagel filling

The great thing (and there are many) about this combo is the fact you can eat it open or as a sandwich. The combination of bacon, Brie and sautéed mushrooms would be good enough for any sandwich but allied to toasted bagel and mixed in with scrambled eggs makes this our top pick for the sheer awesomeness in flavours. For a nice twist we like to add Mahi hot sauce into the mix as we’ve found it’s one heck of a sauce but you can just as easily use ketchup, mayo or keep it plain and simple.

Ingredients

Toasted bagel of your choice, bacon, brie cheese, sauteed mushrooms, scrambled eggs

2 – Tuna, Mayo and Sweetcorn

Tuna, mayonnaise, sweetcorn is a classic combination for a reason – it tastes delicious. But add a toasted bagel into the mix and suddenly a nice regular sandwich is upgraded to a great one. If you want to jazz things up even further feel free to throw some sliced avocado.

Ingredients

Toasted bagel of your choice, tuna, mayonnaise, sweetcorn, tomatoes and a spread (e.g. butter) of your choice.

3 – Cream Cheese and Smoked Salmon

Cream cheese and bagels go so well they almost need no introduction but if you’ve never tried it, this may be a good starting point. The addition of smoked salmon takes this combination to another level.

Ingredients

Toasted bagel of your choice, soft cream cheese, smoked salmon, ground black pepper

4 – Goats cheese and Smoked Salmon

This is a slight twist to the awesome recipe presented above. In addition to the stuff included in the last recipe here you mix in some goats cheese to your cream cheese to give it an extra layer of depth.

Ingredients

Toasted bagel of your choice, soft cream cheese, goats cheese, smoked salmon, ground black pepper, tomatoes

5 – Tomato, Avocado and Cheddar Cheese

This is a great option for vegetarians or if you’re simply not in the food for any meat or fish. The avocados and tomatoes give it a smooth tasty quality whilst the cheddar cheese brings a welcome kick to the texture. Add black olives for an even bolder taste.

Ingredients

Toasted bagel of your choice, avocado, tomatoes, cheddar cheese, black olives, black pepper

6 – Bacon and Cream Cheese

It had to be done. The simplicity of this combination is only surpassed by the sheer pleasure you derive from the taste. We personally like this even better with a glass of fresh juice (it may be the sweet and salty combination that makes taste so good). This makes a great breakfast bagel.

Ingredients

Toasted bagel of your choice, bacon, soft cream cheese

7 – Ham and Cheese

It’s difficult to talk about the best toasted bagel fillings without including this classic combination – simply because it’s so good. You can make the ham as colourful as you like (we like ours smoky) and feel free to experiment with your cheese selection. You couldn’t go wrong with a nice mature cheddar cheese.

Ingredients

Toasted bagel of your choice, ham, cheese, tomato, lettuce

8 – Simply Toasted

One of the best things about bagels is the fact you can enjoy them in so many different ways. Sometimes all you need is a sliced toasted bagel, your favourite butter and a cup of coffee.

Ingredients

Toasted bagel of your choice, butter/spread of your choice



What Goes Good On A Toasted Bagel?: Tell Us Your Thoughts.