Haloumi is a magical cheese. It grills and fries, but doesn't melt like, well, almost every other cheese out there. I'm sure you could melt haloumi cheese if you really really tried and added some moisture, but its non-melting attributes make it a perfect choice for a fried cheese recipe.

I'm a big fan of good cheeses paired with herbs and I chose to accompany this fried cheese with a little fried basil. Hey, thank god it's fried day here on Too Many Chefs. OK, it's Tuesday, and maybe I should have held that joke for a few more days so it actually worked with the day of the week, but I couldn't. It was bursting to come out, but was having trouble since it was so weak.

This would be a great dish as a starter for a dinner party. It can be made in front of the guests who inevitably congregate in the kitchen, and doesn't take any time at all to put together. I haven't tried it, but I'm sure you could keep the fried cheese warm in an oven as you finished off another batch.

I won't put a formal recipe together here. Start with about three tablespoons of olive oil and about 25 basil leaves for a four ounce cube of haloumi. Slice the haloumi into broad flat slices of 1/4" thick. I get 5-6 slices per block.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan over high heat. When the oil is hot, but not smoking, toss in the basil and stir lightly, making sure the leaves get coated with oil on both sides (and thus, fried on both sides). After about 60 seconds, remove the leaves from the pan with a fork, leaving as much oil behind as possible.

Lay the cheese slabs into the skillet carefully. Fry on one side until flecked with golden brown, about 2-4 minutes. Flip carefully and fry on the other side until the other side is also flecked with golden brown spots. Remove from the pan, do not blot, and serve with the basil leaves distributed over the top. Serves 2-5 as an appetizer.