a half decent hummous

Is it hummous, hummus, hommos, humos, hommus or hoummos even? It certainly isn't humus, we know that for sure. Weirdly my spellcheck only recognises hummus. It's now actually having a problem with my recognises, but I'm refusing to put a z in there.

Never tire of it, can eat it for ever, and it also does the business in so many other ways other than just jabbing some arabic bread into a pot of the stuff.

Hummous

Serves a few as just one element of a mezze (or is it mezzeh or meze even?) spread, but make sure it always features

225g tinned chickpeas
6 tblsp tahini paste
2 cloves of garlic, peeled
6 tblsp lemon juice
3 tblsp olive oil
cayenne pepper
freshly ground black pepper
salt
olive oil, for drizzling

Whizz up the chickpeas in a food processor or blender with a little of the liquid from the can until they are smooth.

Add the tahini, garlic, lemon juice and olive oil and work in the processor or blender until very smooth. Season with the peppers and salt. Turn into a dish, scraping out all of the hummous from the mixer bowl with a rubber spatula.

Flatten the top slightly, then drizzle over some olive oil and serve with warm pitta bread.

four birthday cakes and great sushi in Istanbul; everything's possible

If you don't expect it, you won't be blown away buy it. If you're not going looking for it, you really can't predict how you'll react to it. Really really good ethnic foods can and do sometimes travel outside of their comfort zone, and if we then declare the food in question here is Japanese, then this makes a wee discovery like this all the more remarkable.

 

The very best sushi I've ever had was in a place called Midori at the back end of an obscure shopping mall in Shibuya, where absolutely everything eaten was total heaven. Their sea urchin I can still remember today. The massive queue for a table was testament alone, and the fact it was in a location easily forgotten meant the treck there my the masses of fans made perfect sense after only those first couple of morsels. I do get a kick out of being the only non local in places like that, and to stand out from the crowd simply because its a local sensation makes it all the better.

 

Fast forward a few years and I'm in Istanbul, a city of no limits, no fears and no decent drivers on the roads! The well worn one foot in Europe, one in Asia tag couldn't be more clear as the city is a heady mix of absolutely everything international that you could imagine. And the passion...oh boy, now there goes a city leaking the stuff all over the place. They love their families, their fanatism for their football is like few other places on earth (and that is Glasgow included) tea is drunk like it's about to be wiped from the face of the earth (the very best is likened to the colour of rabbit's blood, but that's another story), and they drive their cars like they are all in indestructable bulletproof missiles. Oh yes, and they love their food. The very social aspect of it in particular. It is all very animated, social, loud and utterly energetic.

I'm actually writing this in Bangkok on my way back to Hong Kong, but my departure meal last night before I headed to the airport was a proper full on double header of tripe. A soup which was slightly milky and loaded with strips of tripe and some other bits of indsides, albeit a bit bland until it was then loaded with a ton of minced garlic and a sharp chilli sauce clearly meant to bring tears to the eyes. Follow that up with a brilliantly unexpected  tripe sandwich. You know the ones where you're not even half way through it when you want to order another two just incase they sell out. Think strips of stomach lining rolled up into logs about the size of a good fillet of beef and spit roasted over open coals until its charred and sticky. Sliced, chopped and re-fried on a griddle with chilli, peppers, onions and loads of local herbs. Stuff all that fatty crunchy spicy wonderment into a bread roll both crispy on the outside and chewy within and we're sorted for some time to come. Unbelievably good, and I'd go back to Turkey for this alone.

 

Anyway, the Japanese food. If you ever happen to be in Istanbul and in search of really really good sushi, I'd seriously reccommend tracking down Itsumi at İşkuleleri Kule 2 Giriş Katı No:43 4.Levent. In my humble opinion, this was the best all round Japanese food that I've eaten since Tokyo.

 

With Itsumi they seem to really know what they are doing, they keep the product true and un-fussed while concentrating on ensuring true flavours, textures and temperatures are at the forefront of everything they do.

 

The Miso soup was delightful. Nothing more than was needed, although personally I like a little red miso paste and maybe a bit more tofu in mine. The Unagi and Horse Mackerel were superb, texture wise was as good as it gets, and the subtlety of seasoning very good indeed. The sauce with the Unagi was just right for me.

 

Tepmerature of all pieces on the sashimi plate were perfect. The Otoro (I think it was Otoro due to the incredible fat content and as such being served so much colder, and it was incredible) the Scallop and the Uni in particular were very good, and the temperature of their rice was perfect, seasoning very very good and the quantity of wasabi on their Nigiri was superb. The Toro alone was one of the best single things I’d eaten all week until I discovered the tripe roll!

 

The birthday cake too was absolutely perfect, and as it was one of four I was incredibly lucky to have, I could afford to be choosy... If Istanbul is a bit of a hike for something Japanese, a comfortable miso soup might still hit the spot wherever you are.

 

Miso soup for a quiet moment of reflection

 

Enough for 4

4 cups water
1 1/2 teaspoons dashi granules
1/2 cup red miso paste
1 tablespoon dried seaweed (for miso soup), soaked in water
1/2 cup cubed tofu
2 tablespoons chopped green onion

 

Pour the water into a pot and bring to a boil. Add the instant dashi and whisk to dissolve. Turn the heat to medium-low and add the tofu. Drain the seaweed and add the seaweed to the pot. Simmer for 2 minutes.

 

In the meatime, Spoon the miso paste into a bowl. Ladle about 1/2 cup of the hot dashi broth into a bowl and whisk with chopsticks or a whisk to mix and melt the miso paste so that it becomes a smooth mixture.

 

Turn the heat off, add the miso paste to the pot and stir well. Top with green onions and serve immediately.

 

Nasi return Goreng

Traveling is simply the one thing I need to do to survive. If I don't have a trip on the horizon, I get the fidgets. If I haven't got an e-ticket number, or a booking reference to refer to, I'm anxious.


It's times like these, right now anyway, where I return to a place of familiarity and am reminded why I move around so much, why I do what I do and what kicks me on and off those planes. In a nutshell, this destination has a fabulous Nasi Goreng written all over it.


The ironic part of where I've hit landfall, is in that it isn't some beautiful corner of Indonesia where the humble nasi is as part of the fabric as shortbread is to my youth in Scotland, but rathe where I think 'we' perfected this dish.
It's been a year since I was here, and let the boys loose. But I haven't returned to be disappointed. Delighted more like.


Here's pretty much what we're working off - give or take a splash here and there, and a chicken skewer or two.


Serves 4


2½ tblsp vegetable oil
6 small shallots, finely sliced
250g long grain rice, freshly cooked and cooled
A handful each of stir-friable greens, such as asparagus, mangetout, sugar snaps, beansprouts 
Salt and pepper
Handful of prawn crackers, deep fried in vegetable oil
4 fried eggs

Paste

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 tsp shrimp paste, toasted

2 mild red chillies, chopped

1 tblsp kecap manis or dark soy sauce

½ tblsp sweet chilli sauce

For the dressing, in a mortar, pound together the garlic, shrimp paste and chillies, then mix in the kecap manis and chilli sauce.

Or just chop and crush everything. Heat 2 tblsp oil in a wok and large frying pan and fry the shrimp paste mixture for 2 minutes.

Add the shallots and stir-fry for about half a minute, then add the rice and stir-fry together for about 3 minutes.

Divide between serving bowls or plates. Stir-fry the beansprouts and greens in ½ tblsp oil with salt and pepper for about 1 minute and pile on to the nasi goreng.

Add rice crackers, fried egg, and serve.

Imam Bayildi

Serves 4

This aubergine dish is said to have been named after the priest, the Imam, who first tasted it and swooned at the flavour and amount of olive oil in it. Here, I have created a much lighter effect, but it’s still bursting with spice and Middle-Eastern promise. Simple to make and great served with warm pitta bread and pre dinner drinks in the garden. Made in exactly the same way but stuffed into some little baby aubergines for a bit more fancy pants stuff is exactly how dinner began at the Embassy this evening. There's been some thunder in the air these past few days, so this tropical feeling we're experiencing made this dish work all the better.


1 aubergine
Olive oil
1 large onion, finely diced
3 large vine tomatoes, skinned, deseeded and diced
2 tsp cumin
Juice of half a lemon
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
50g sultanas
Handful of fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped

Trim the ends from the aubergine, then cut lengthways into 1cm slices. Stack the slices together and cut into long strips, then cut across the strips to create neat, even dice, about 1cm in size.

Take a large frying pan and pour in olive oil to a depth of 1cm. Heat the oil and, when hot enough to turn a small piece of bread instantly golden, add half the aubergine cubes. The aubergine will quickly absorb most of the oil. Stir with a metal spatula and continue to fry until the aubergine is golden brown.

Remove the aubergine from the pan with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper. Add more oil to bring the level back to 1cm and repeat with the rest of the aubergine.

Place the onion in a large bowl and add the tomatoes, cumin and lemon juice. Season well. When the aubergine has cooled, add it to the bowl along with the sultanas and basil. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour to allow the flavours to infuse.

Bolani flatbread

Makes 6-8

Bread seems to be the bomb right now, after a myriad of Lebanese treats last week, here's something so easy, but just that little bit different. Bolani is a delicious flaky flatbread, originally from Afghanistan, but is something popping up all over the shop now. Can be cooked and served just as it is, but is also pretty fine stuffed with anything from cooked and choppe spinach to some gorgeous simmered lentils.

500g plain flour
1 tsp salt
3 eggs, lightly beaten
150ml olive oil, plus extra for cooking

Sift the flour and salt into a bowl. Make a well in the centre, and add the eggs, olive oil and 250ml water. Bring together to make a ball of dough. Knead on a floured work surface for 10-15 minutes until very soft and elastic. Roll the dough into balls, each roughly the size of a tennis ball.

Cover with a damp cloth, and leave to rest for 30 minutes. Oil the work surface and spread out one of the balls of dough, gently pulling the edges to stretch it as thin and wide as possible.

Dust the surface with a little flour, and pleat the pastry over and over like a fan. Roll up this pleated piece of dough to make a curled ball. Repeat with the remaining balls of dough. Leave to rest for another 15 minutes.

Heat a heavy frying pan over a medium-high heat. Use your hands to pat a curled ball of dough into a circle 20cm in diameter. Add a little oil to the pan, and cook the flat disc of layered dough so that it is golden brown on each side. Repeat with the remaining balls of dough.

Serve the flatbread warm, either as they are with dips such as hoummus or tzatziki, or with pickles and yoghurt. Alternatively, folded and filled with anything that comes to mind.

Manakeesh

Having just come back from the most amazing weekend in Beirut, I can now safely say that a properly made manakeesh for breakfast is one of the true culinary finds I've made this year. If you don’t have time to make your own bread, I guess you can use a pita instead, but trust me on this one, if close to perfection is sought, you might as well gloss over this recipe and plan your next holiday in Lebanon, the only way to do this kind of food justice is to go to the source.

250g all purpose flour
20g fresh yeast or 2 tsp dry yeast
2 tsp sugar
½ tsp salt
about 125ml warm water
2 tblsp olive oil

In a large non-metal bowl, mix together the flour and salt. Form the mixture into a mound and create a well in the centre. Pour the warm water and sugar into a bowl and when the sugar has dissolved, crumble in the yeast.

When the yeast is frothy, pour it into the well in the flour. Mix it together with your hands or a wooden spoon. You’ll end up with a dry, crumbling mixture that isn’t much like dough. Cover and set aside in a warm place for 10 minutes.

Now add 2 tblsp olive oil and knead it into the dough. Add a little more warm water and knead it in to create a more dough like consistency. You’re done when the dough no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl.

Form the dough into a ball, place in a lightly greased bowl and turn it over again to make sure the top is greased. Cover and leave in a warm place to rise for 1 hour.

When the dough has risen, turn in out onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently until the dough becomes firm again. Now you’ll need to decide whether you want one big manakeesh or several small ones. Take the amount of dough you want (a small section or the whole thing), and roll it out with a rolling pin until it’s a little less than half an inch (about half a centimeter) thick. Move the dough rounds to a lightly greased baking sheet and pinch all the way around the edges to form a raised edge.

Now add your toppings, place in an oven pre-heated to 200c and bake for barely a few minutes.

Manakeesh toppings should be applied fairly thinly, for an authentic taste, don’t pile them on thick.

Olive oil and za’atar. Spread a thin coating of olive oil over the top of the bread and then spread on a layer of za’atar.

Cheese - jibne and akkawi or ricotta will work fine. Avoid Greek feta, though, as it tends to be too salty. Another option is to spread on some labneh after baking, while the bread is still warm.

Vegetables - a mixture of tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, onions, and olives.

Minced lamb - sauté the lamb in vegetable oil until lightly browned, then add finely chopped tomato, along with pepper and parsley if you like, spread it on the bread, and pop it in the oven.

Seafood falafel with chermoula dip

Makes about 25 canapés, or serves 5 as a main course

Comfortable and satisfying - falafel making sits in the same category as fishcakes and scotch eggs for me. Something you can get all the messy work out the way nice and early, then as and when you're ready to eat it's 10 minutes worth of cooking and you're good to go...

Falafel

125g dried chickpeas, soaked in cold water overnight

¼ large onion

1/8 bunch parsley

1 spring onion

1 garlic clove, peeled and chopped

1 tsp cumin

2 tsp ground coriander

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda

75g prawns, finely chopped, plus extra, whole and cooked, for canapés

50g scallops, finely chopped, plus extra, whole, for canapés

4-6 tblsp vegetable oil, for frying

Chermoula dip

50ml olive oil

1 large onion, finely chopped

3 large tomatoes, roughly chopped

2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped

1 chilli

¼ bunch coriander

Juice of 1 lemon

First, prepare the falafel. Drain and rinse the chickpeas. Roughly chop the onion, parsley and spring onion. Place in a food processor, along with the soaked chickpeas and garlic, and pulse for 30 seconds.

Place the chickpea mixture in a large bowl and add the spices, salt, bicarbonate of soda and chopped prawns and scallops. Mix gently for a minute. Roll the mixture into small balls, each about 3cm in diameter.

Next, make the chermoula dip. Place a large saucepan over a medium heat, add the olive oil and onion and cook for 10 minutes to soften. Put in the tomatoes and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes. Then add the chilli, coriander and lemon juice and 250ml water and cook for 35-40 minutes, until the mixture has been reduced by two-thirds. Purée with a hand blender or in a food processor, then, if you want it particularly smooth, pass through a sieve.

Heat 2 tblsp of the vegetable oil in a frying pan over a high heat and cook the falafel in batches (with fresh oil as needed) for about 3 minutes per batch, until browned. Serve the chermoula either warm or cold, with the warm falafel and pitta breads.

If making canapés, cut the extra scallops in half and sear for a minute on each side. Skewer together a scallop, falafel and prawn, arrange on a plate, then serve.

Another Iftar

Breaking the fast at sunset has never been so much fun! Actually, as I'm joining in with my neighbours this year, the feeling of finally having something to eat after the best part of 18 hours with neither food nor drink has honestly become quite exciting... For someone so used to handling food all day long, feeling, touching, smelling and above all tasting - not being able to have a flavour sensation for such a long time really does heighten the senses to an amazing degree. my taste is sharper, the identity of subtle seasonings clearer and the understanding of carefully blended combinations so much more appreciative.

Since many of the people I'm working with, and the vast majority of our guests, have not eaten at all during the day, they are more often really cranky and quite hungry by the time Iftar comes around, and most of them hasten to end the fast as quickly as possible after sunset.

I've discovered that this is the perfect opportunity to break down a few dishes and look at how we can make them better by really tasting them and understanding what is in them.


This recipe is an example of what I mean, we've taken a traditional Moroccan pastilla and tarted it up a bit for a finer dining occasion...


Duck pastilla with foie gras

Serves 4

1 duck leg confit
4 sheets of pastille/brique (paper thin pancakes, similar to filo pastry)
Oil for deep frying
4 x 100g slices of fresh duck foie gras
Salt and pepper
Ground cinnamon
Icing sugar

Cinnamon sauce
200ml full bodied red wine
1 cinnamon stick
2 tblsp sugar
1 tblsp unsalted butter
Sherry vinegar

Shred the duck confit and divide between the four pancakes. Fold the pancakes into parcels, sealing the edges with a little water, and then trim the excess pancake to make 5cm x 3cm rectangles. Deep-fry until crisp, then drain on kitchen towels; keep the parcels warm.

Heat a thick-based frying pan over high heat, add the foie gras and cook until brown on both sides, about 2 minutes; season with salt and pepper.

For the cinnamon sauce, put the wine in a saucepan with the cinnamon stick and sugar, bring to the boil and reduce until syrupy. Season with salt and pepper, remove the cinnamon stick and whisk in the butter and a drop of sherry vinegar.

To assemble, cut each pastilla in half and dust generously with ground cinnamon and icing sugar. Place at the top of the warmed plates and place the foie gras beneath. Drizzle the sauce around the plate and serve immediately.

A bit more Ramadan

So, last night we get slammed with the healthy sum of 416 hungry guests breaking their fast, when I say hungry I totally mean it - these guys could certainly pack away some volume of food...

The display was quite something, and due to the ferociousness of the onslaught I could only grab a handful of images before mayhem descended upon the team. The food was fantastic, fresh vibrant and full of life, a feast for every sensation.

The soups, cold mezzahs, tajines, kebbeh and fatayer, koshary, sayadia and the ouzi through to the katayef, um ali and the baklavas - all were gorgeously presented one minute, devastated and devoured the very next.

Our charcoal grill was crackling with fire and flavour, the soup pot never seemed to be able to re fill itself no matter how hard we tried, and as we picked the tender meat of the ouzi it was being grabbed off our finger tips before we could blink.

The kebbeh, sambousek and fatayer took the place of finger food for all to get their appetites kick started as they shuffled along the queue to fill their plates to dizzying heights - biryani and white chocolate from the chocolate fountain on the same plate?

Oh yes, it was all kicking off last night...

Bulgur wheat with aubergines and mint

Serves 2

Bulgur is one of those mild, warming grains that both soothes and satisfies. I find great value in its nubbly texture and nutty flavour. To me this is supper, but others may like to use it aside something else such as grilled chicken or a gravy rich stew. At this time of year, it's just one of the mesmerising display of cold mezzah we assemble as part of the opening scene of our Iftars.

6 tblsp olive oil

a small onion

a bay leaf

2 small aubergines

2 large cloves garlic

225g bulgur wheat

500ml vegetable stock

4 tomatoes

3 tblsp pine kernels, toasted

15-20 mint leaves

Warm the olive oil in a shallow pan, peel and finely slice the onion and let it cook slowly in the oil with the bay leaf. When the onion is soft and pale gold, add the aubergine, cut into 3cm pieces, and the peeled and chopped garlic.

Let the aubergine cook, adding more oil if necessary, until it is golden and soft. Pour in the bulgur wheat and the vegetable stock.

Bring to the boil, then leave to simmer gently for 15-20 minutes till the wheat is tender and almost dry. Halfway through cooking roughly chop the tomatoes and add them, then, once the wheat is cooked (it should still be nubbly and have some bite), stir in the toasted pine kernels and chopped mint leaves.

Check the seasoning, for sure it will need both salt and pepper.

Crispy duck boregi

Serves 8

The sights, sounds, smells and mayhem that Ramadan brings every evening at Iftar. It is a magical time of year, and the intensity of some of the food can be quite unique. There seem to be the full range of offerings, from a simple lentil soup to whet the appetite from a day of fasting - to full blown spicy stews like the meatball heavy dawood basha with gutsy seasoning and solid content. These spring roll like boregis fall in the middle, and in fact are probably better suited to snacking on late into the night after the main meal has had a chance to digest.

6 duck legs
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
100g dried chick peas, soaked overnight
1 baking potato, peeled and cut into 4
180ml extra virgin olive oil
75g currants
4 sheets of filo pastry

Pre-heat oven to 180c, trim duck legs slightly of excess fat, season well on both sides with salt and place in a roasting pan with, sugar and spices. Add enough water to come half way up the duck legs. Cover twice with foil and braise for 1 ½-2 hours until duck meat falls off the bone when grabbed with a fork or a pair of tongs. Strain liquid off the braising liquid and allow duck legs and liquid to cool.

Meanwhile, in a saucepan, cover chickpeas with 1 litre of water and boil for about 20 minutes until really soft. Remove from the heat and season the water to taste with salt. Let stand for about 5 minutes to absorb the salt. Drain and set aside.

Meanwhile in a separate saucepan, cover potato with water and simmer for about 20 minutes until tender. Drain immediately and push through a ricer. Place in a mixing bowl.

Puree chickpeas in a food processor with 100ml extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper, until smooth and creamy. Stir into the riced potatoes and re-season with salt and pepper.

Remove the duck meat from the bone and shred. Stir into the potato mixture. Skim the braising liquid. Place currants in a small bowl and add 100ml of warm braising liquid to them. Let them plump and add the liquid and currants to the duck mixture. Check again for seasoning.

Cut each sheet of filo dough in half widthwise. Brush each half with some of the remaining olive oil. Place duck filling in a straight skinny line on the bottom of each filo and fold in ends. Roll up like a cigar and bake or deep fry.

Serve with a tahini sauce and some chopped fresh peeled and seeded tomatoes, seasoned with salt, pepper and olive oil, at sunset of course...

Butternut squash with Lebanese lamb and garlic yoghurt

Serves 4

Ideal midweek supper genius - plan a couple of days ahead for this...

2 butternut squash, approx 600g each

2 tblsp olive oil

15g bunch thyme

1 medium onion

500g organic minced lamb

2 tsp ground cumin

50g pine kernels

25g flat-leaf parsley

350g natural yoghurt

1 fat garlic clove

1 tblsp lemon juice

2 tblsp best olive oil

Pre-heat the oven to 220c/gas mark 7. Using a strong, sharp knife, halve the butternut lengthways. Scrape out and discard the seeds. Extend the cavity by cutting out chunks of squash. Don’t be too fussy about this because you want plenty of butternut to remain. Cut a lattice, about 1cm wide and deep, all over the flesh to speed up cooking. Use 2 tblsp olive oil to smear the surface lavishly. Season with salt and pepper and scatter a few thyme sprigs over the top. Roast for 35 minutes or until the flesh is meltingly tender.

Meanwhile, peel, halve and chop the onion. Heat the remaining oil in a spacious frying pan and cook the onion for about 10 minutes until limp but uncoloured. Finely chop the excavated butternut. Add the mince, increase the heat slightly and cook, stirring and breaking up clumps of meat, for about 8 minutes until browned all over.

Stir in the cumin and pine kernels, season with salt and pepper and cook for a couple of minutes before adding the chopped butternut. Add a cup of water, bring to the boil, reduce the heat, cover and cook for 15 minutes.

Remove the lid and cook briskly until juicy but not the least bit wet or greasy, crushing the chopped butternut into the meat. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. Chop the parsley leaves and any remaining thyme. Stir both into the mixture. Spoon it into the cavity and over the squash.

To make the yoghurt, peel, chop and crush the garlic with a generous pinch of salt (discard the green central shoot). Beat into the yoghurt with the lemon juice and 2 tblsp best olive oil. Spoon the yoghurt over the butternut and serve.

This needs something slightly acidic on the side, a sharp tomato salad would be ideal.

Chicken with pickled lemons and olives

Serves 4

Right now I'm in love with the taste of lemons which have been pickled in salt. As they lose their bitter edge and sharpness they acquire a special, almost mystical rounded flavour. In all markets and souks in North Africa there are stalls laden with huge piles of soft aromatic lemons, bursting with juice, next to several varieties of olives. The two work so well together with a natural affinity. You can easily find pickled lemons and countless varieties of olives in local delis and supermarkets. For this dish, which is as close to a tagine as anything can be I guess, I prefer to add the lemon towards the end of the recipe but there's no harm in throwing in a little chopped lemon to flavour the sauce during the cooking as well. The flexibility of this recipe is endless, a few extra ingredients such as some mushrooms, chunks of courgette and aubergine or even cherry tomatoes can be thrown in for the last few minutes to give added dimensions to the finished article.

1 large chicken, cut into quarters

3 tblsp extra-virgin olive oil

1 large onion, grated or very finely chopped

2-3 garlic cloves, crushed

¼ tsp crushed saffron strands or saffron powder
½ tsp ground ginger

1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon

1 ½ large or 3 small pickled lemons, rinsed and cut into thin strips

12-16 fat green or violet olives

a little salt and plenty pepper

Put the chicken pieces in a large, wide saucepan with all the ingredients except the preserved lemons and the olives. Half cover with water and bring just to the boil.

Reduce the heat, then cover the pan and simmer for about 45 minutes, until the chicken is so tender that the flesh can be pulled off the bone easily and the liquid is reduced to a thick sauce.

Turn the chicken pieces over a few times during cooking; adding a little more water if necessary.

Stir the lemon peel and olives into the sauce for the last 15 minutes of cooking. Some people like to add the lemon right at the very end

Harissa beef with couscous

Serves 4

The middle eastern heat and now the humidity, damn it, are making some days more tiresome than others right now, and the novelty may just wane on the odd occasion. Good job I've got access to some of the most remarkable flavour packed foodstuffs then. This particular number for example, fast, effective and foolproof. Couscous makes a great bed for a great chunk of crusty beef spiked with garlicky, blow-your-socks-off North African harissa chilli paste, and any of the couscous left at the end will happily turn itself into a gorgeous salad for tomorrow.

600g beef fillet, rolled and tied

1 tblsp harissa

1 tblsp olive oil

300g couscous

1 red onion, halved and finely sliced

1 tblsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

sea salt and pepper

600g asparagus or green beans, trimmed

1 tblsp coriander leaves

Heat the oven to 220c/gas 7. Coat the beef with harissa and heat the olive oil in a non-stick frying pan. Sear the beef on all sides until browned, transfer to the oven and cook for 20 minutes.

Remove the beef, cover with foil and rest for 10 minutes. Toss the couscous with the red onion, extra virgin olive oil, spices, sea salt and pepper in a heatproof bowl.

Pour 500ml boiling water over the couscous, cover with foil and leave in the switched off oven for 10 minutes.

Cook the asparagus in simmering salted water for five minutes, then drain.

Arrange the asparagus on the couscous. Scatter with coriander leaves. Slice the beef thickly and arrange on top. Awesome...

Falafel

Makes 20-25

These fluffy chickpea fritters are variations of a theme from all over the Middle East, but this version in particular was one of the highlights of a trip I've just had to Cairo, and to my mind, one of the finest street food of all. They are easy enough to make at home, either in the traditional manner, as deep-fried, slightly flattened balls, or as little flat patties cooked in shallow fat. Home-made falafel tends to be less fluffy than shop-bought versions. Adding one egg to the ground-up mixture gives a lighter texture, but it's not authentic and it makes the dough softer and a bit trickier to handle.

100g dried chickpeas (soaked in cold water with 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda)
200g split dried broad beans soaked overnight in cold water with 1tsp bicarbonate of soda (or use more chickpeas instead)
5 large garlic cloves, peeled
1 small onion, peeled and quartered
50g bunch of coriander, with most of the stalk discarded
1 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp Lebanese 7 spice mixture or ground allspice
A pinch of cayenne pepper
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

150ml extra virgin olive oil
Vegetable oil for frying

Rinse the chick peas and beans and drain them well. Put them in a food processor with all the other ingredients (except the vegetable oil) and start the motor. You may need to stop the machine and scrape down the bowl a few times, but keep going until the mixture is a fine, sandy paste

Shape the mixture into walnut sized balls, rolling them in the palms of your hands. If they come out in a slightly pointed, spinning top shape, so much the better, since this is very authentic. (At this point the balls can be frozen for up to a month. Defrost them before frying.)

Heat the oil about 5cm deep in a saucepan. Drop a piece of bread in the oil to check if it is hot enough. The oil should bubble around it. Fry the falafel in batches, for 3-4 minutes, turning them occasionally, until deep golden brown all over. Lift out with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper.

Although tahini is one of the traditional lubricants for these crisp fritters, I much prefer yoghurt. Particularly when it has had a little cayenne pepper and some chopped mint stirred into it and is spooned over the falafel.

Serve them hot, stuffed into warm pitta bread. Traditionally, a cucumber and tomato salad would be in there too.

Arabian spiced rack of lamb with couscous

Serves 2

This gorgeous lamb recipe contains harissa, a versatile hot paste from North Africa that can be added to dishes or served in a separate bowl on the table. It is widely available, but try making your own for a delicious fresh flavour. It will keep in the fridge in a covered jar for a few weeks. If you are concerned about the heat of the paste, use less, or milder chillies.

For the harissa paste (makes about 150ml)
25g large dried red chillies
2 tblsp coriander seeds
1 generous tblsp cumin seeds
2 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp ground paprika
60ml olive oil

For the lamb and couscous
1 prepared rack of lamb (3-4 cutlets per person, depending on their size and your appetite)
100g couscous
2 tblsp olive oil
150ml light chicken or vegetable stock
1 tblsp fresh parsley, chopped
2 tblsp fresh mint, chopped
½ red onion, peeled and finely chopped
50g toasted flaked almonds
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 heaped tblsp greek yoghurt (optional)

To make the harissa paste, split the chillies in half lengthways, remove and discard the seeds, then soften the chillies in boiling water for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, dry-fry the coriander and cumin seeds in a frying pan on a medium to high heat for about 1 minute, tossing regularly, until the spices just begin to smoke and toast. Grind in a spice-grinder or with a pestle and mortar.

Place the garlic, salt, paprika, ground spices and drained red chillies in a food processor and whizz to a paste, slowly adding the olive oil until well combined. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas Mark 7, then prepare the rack of lamb. Lightly score the fat in a crisscross pattern, without cutting through to the meat.
Place in a roasting tray and spread a generous tbsp of harissa over the fat, pressing it down with your hands or a spoon. Roast for 20 minutes (rare to medium) or 25 minutes (well done) for a small rack, 30-32 minutes for a larger one. After 10 minutes, cover with tinfoil so the harissa doesn’t burn.

Meanwhile, pour the couscous into a bowl, rub in the olive oil, to coat the grains, then pour over the hot stock. Stir, then cover and leave to stand for 5 minutes until the couscous has absorbed all the stock. Add the parsley, mint, onion and most of the toasted flaked almonds. Stir well and season.

Once the lamb is cooked, turn off the oven and leave the meat to rest for 5-10 minutes. Carve by cutting between the bones; each person should have 3-4 cutlets. Spoon the couscous onto warmed plates and arrange the cutlets on top. Scatter with the remaining flaked almonds and serve with a spoonful of greek yoghurt, if using