Çilbir - Turkish-style poached eggs in garlicky yoghurt
“This is one of my favourite ways to enjoy eggs. It was part of Ottoman palace banquets and a favourite of Mehmed the Conqueror. At home, Çılbır is generally enjoyed as a hot meze; I also like serving it as part of a leisurely weekend breakfast, lunch or a light mid-week supper…
Balkabakli, cevizli havuç dilimi baklava - Pumpkin and walnut baklava
“The Turkish love pumpkin in desserts (either baked in its own juice with sugar or poached in syrup) and baklava are a legacy of the Ottoman palace kitchens. Baked in a round tray and sliced into wedges, havuç dilimi is one of our traditional baklava shapes and traditionally walnuts…
Slow cooker beef rendang
‘Proper’ rendang is a dry curry from the Minangkabau people of West Sumatra in Indonesia and it’s a touch labour-intensive to make. Once you’ve toasted coconut, ground a spice paste, then braised the beef with all of this goodness in a rich coconut gravy, you simmer until the liquid pretty much evaporates and the beef chunks fry…
Slow cooker spice-honey lamb shoulder with jewelled rice
There’s something lovely about slow-cooker cooking. It makes meat juicy and really concentrates flavours. It’s pretty much impossible to overcook meat using a slow-cooker and unless you leave the lid off yours and go walkabout for a few days, nothing ever burns in one either…
Fragrant chicken-rice bake
Another day, another spin on the never fail rice-chook combo. You just can’t go wrong with these two staples. We’ve yet to meet anyone who dislikes either rice nor chicken, or objects to them together. There are so many culinary routes that lead to chicken and rice happiness…
Smoked salmon and blood orange salad
We were looking for a way to not just feature delicious hot smoked salmon, but blood oranges too, so a salad seemed logical. Throwing in a few beetroot, roasted to fully accentuate their sweet earthy notes, made sense, as did using some some avo because well, why not…
Poached peaches in pomegranate juice
“Peaches have a quite short season in Palestine. They’re flavorful, and I think they go very well with a lot of desserts, including mouhalabieh. These peaches are poached in pomegranate juice flavoured with lavender…
Cauliflower makloubeh
“Makloubeh is one of the national dishes of Palestine. Each home, family, and region make makloubeh differently. But traditionally, there are two types: aubergine (eggplant) makloubeh with lamb, and cauliflower makloubeh with chicken…
Barbecued whole chicken
“The sight of mouthwatering charcoal-grilled barbecued chicken is common in Palestine. On sunny days, every household begins barbecuing whole chickens marinated in beautiful local flavors. At the same time, in every town, there is at least one restaurant…
Aubergines roasted with tahinia
“We use aubergine (eggplant) in all manner of recipes. It is a wonderful vegetable when it’s roasted, charred, and smoky, and we all know how fantastic baba ghanouj is. This recipe works as a starter or as part of a shared table and it screams summer…
Berliners (jam doughnuts)
If our soup this week is virtuous and ‘everything good for you’, Berliners are virtually everything not good for you. White flour. Refined sugar. Jam. The cholesterol-y parts of an egg. Deep-fry oil. But we say ‘what EV-er’ to the nutrition police…
Everything-good-for-you lamb köfte soup
If you want a virtuous, nutritious soup, or you just want to make 300g of mince stretch a long way… you’ll love this Turkish-inspired number. It’s also great when you’re looking for an alternative to the ubiquitous veggie, barley and chicken (or ham) meal-in-a-bowl that turns up…
Pork and pineapple adobo
We’ve ticked most Asian countries off our travel wish list but have never made it to the Philippines. We know a BIT about the food there but in general we’re kinda sketchy… we understand that Spanish, Chinese, Malay, and American are culinary influences…
Roasted salmon with dried tomato and walnuts
When you’re committed to serving a whole side of salmon (which looks spectacular), the process can be nerve wracking. Overcooked salmon? No-one likes that. And if you’re going the traditional hot-baked route there’s very little margin for error…
Cottage cheese and buckwheat pancakes
Rise and shine, breakfast freaks. We love our carbs and caffeine in the morning, and when it’s time to flip the script on the usual toast and jam, fluffy pancakes are pretty hard to beat. We like to kid ourselves these ones are a bit healthier than regular pancakes…
Miso-mustard devilled eggs
Devilled eggs… but make them Tokyo. Think miso, mustard and a smatter of furikake sass – your new party flex.
Smoked salmon, cabbage fritter and sour cream
It had to happen sooner or later; cabbage has officially entered the zeitgeist. Remember when cauliflower was suddenly a thing? Then Brussel’s sprouts? No? Well they were and now it’s cabbage’s turn to have a little moment. Cabbage is suddenly all the rage..
Smoked salmon baguette sandwich
Got a party coming up? Then we’ve got the sanger for you. This smoked salmon baguette is everything… chic, salty, snappy, and gone in seconds.
Stuffed dates
These crowd-pleasers are proof that just a few simple ingredients, thoughtfully combined, can really steal the show. Here, dates are filled with creamy blue cheese (you can use a soft goat’s cheese if you prefer), topped with salami and a drizzle of honey, then finished with pistachios…
Glazed eggplant with rice, jammy eggs and spring onion salad
Soon, we pinky swear, we’ll do a deep dive into Korean ingredients because we realise not everyone is fluent. And Korean food has become SO popular that you might want to whip up a few dishes at home. If you don’t know your gochujang from your gochugaru you can…