1 x 400g can chickpeas, drained and rinsed 4 cloves of garlic, minced 1 onion, finely chopped a big handful of parsley, chopped a big handful of coriander leaves, chopped 5ml ground coriander 5ml ground cumin 2,5ml salt 45ml flour vegetable oil for frying
Add all of the ingredients, except the vegetable oil, to a mixing bowl and blitz together with a stick blender. Lift the blender often and stir the mixture around – you want everything mixed together but not too fine. Wet your hands and scoop up 15ml of the mixture. Roll into a ball and place on a tray. Keep going until you have rolled all of the mixture into balls. Pour enough oil to come 7cm up the side of a saucepan and allow to heat up. Fry a few of the falafel balls at a time until beautifully golden and crisp on the outside. Serve with a dipping sauce as a starter or fill a pita bread with falafel, salad and tzatziki sauce.
For the bread: Add the water, salt, sugar and yeast to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Stir until the sugar has dissolved and leave to stand for 10 minutes. Add the bread flour and mix on low speed to form a dough. Turn the speed up to medium and mix/knead for 5 minutes. You will be left with a soft but slightly sticky dough. Place the dough in a clean, oiled bowl, cover with a clean tea towel and leave to rise for 1-2 hours or until doubled in size. Preheat your oven to 240℃ and line a baking sheet with baking paper. Dust a work surface with flour and divide the dough into 6 equal portions. Roll the dough into a 10cm diameter circle with a rolling pin. Place the dough rounds on the baking sheet and brush all over with olive oil. Top the dough with some of the spinach, mozzarella, tomato and red onion, leaving a 1cm border on the outside edge. Scatter the border of the dough round with sesame seeds and break an egg in the centre. Bake in the oven for 13 minutes. Serve warm.
12 shortbread biscuits 250ml cream 5ml rose water 12 squares of Turkish delight, chopped into small pieces 1 punnet fresh raspberries a small bunch of mint leaves, finely chopped icing sugar
Line up 6 small glasses. Crush the shortbread biscuits roughly and place in a bowl. Pour the cream in to a mixing bowl and add the rose water. Whisk until medium-stiff peaks. Spoon some of the biscuit into the glasses and add 2 spoonful of cream. Top with a few raspberries and scatter some of the chopped Turkish delight and mint leaves over. Repeat the layers once more. Sift the icing sugar over the cups to serve.
1 x 375g puff pastry 45ml pomegranate seeds + extra to scatter over 125ml + 30ml icing sugar, sifted 250ml whipping cream 110g mascarpone 10ml rosewater
Preheat your oven to 200℃ and line a baking sheet with baking paper. Lightly dust a work surface with flour and unroll the pastry. Cut into 16 rectangles, place on the baking sheet and prick the surface with a fork. Lay another sheet of baking paper over the pastry and place another baking tray on top. Bake for 35 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool on a cooling rack. Add the pomegranate seeds to a small bowl and muddle it with the back of a wooden spoon. Pour through a small sieve and reserve the juice. Add the 125ml icing sugar to the pomegranate juice and mix to a thick paste. If you need more liquid, add a few drops of water. Spoon the paste over 5 of the pastry rectangles and set aside. Add the cream to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and whisk to soft peaks. Add the mascarpone, rosewater and 30ml icing sugar and whisk to stiff peaks. Place 5 pastry rectangles on a serving platter. Spread half the mascarpone mixture onto the pastry, place another piece of pastry on top and add the rest of the mascarpone on top. Now place the pastry with the icing sugar on top of each mille-feuille and scatter over some pomegranate seeds.
Place a large saucepan over medium-high heat and pour in 30ml of the olive oil. Add the onion and fry until translucent. Add the 2 cloves of garlic (minced) and tomato paste and stir-fry for one minute. Now add the carrots and potato and pour in the stock. Add 5ml smoked paprika, about half a teaspoon of salt and the lentils. Bring the soup to a boil, turn down the heat to a gentle simmer and cook for 25 minutes. Take the soup from the heat and blitz with an immersion blender, until smooth. Pour the remaining 30ml oil, 1 clove of garlic (minced), 5ml smoked paprika, cumin and coriander to a pan and stir-fry over medium heat for 2 minutes. Taste the soup and season with salt and black pepper. Spoon the soup into bowls and drizzle over the flavoured oil. Serve with a lemon wedge.
3 egg whites 190ml caster sugar 7,5ml rose water rose petals
Preheat your oven to 120℃ and line two baking sheets with baking paper. Trace circles with an 8cm diameter on the baking paper and then flip the baking paper over on the tray. Add the egg whites to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whisk the whites to soft peaks. Turn the mixer to high and start adding the sugar one tablespoon at a time and waiting for the sugar to be incorporated before adding the next spoonful. Whisk for 5 minutes or until you have a very stiff, glossy mixture. Drizzle over the rose water and fold in with a spatula. Spoon the meringue mixture into a piping bag fitted with a 5mm nozzle. Pipe the meringue on the inside perimeter of each circle. Now spread the meringue from the outside of the circle to its centre, forming an even disc. Bake in the oven for 1 hour 15 minutes. Turn off the oven but do not open the door for another hour. Carefully remove the discs from the baking paper. Wet your finger, touch a rose petal and then stick the petal on the disc. Serve the meringue discs with a cup of mint tea or use as a decoration for a dessert.
500g cooked grains (choose from or combine barley, quinoa, brown rice) 100g raisins 1 cauliflower head, cut into small florets 10ml ground coriander 2 cloves of garlic, minced 2,5ml chilli flakes 55ml + 75ml olive oil 5ml salt 1 red onion, halved and thinly sliced 30g pistachio nuts, roughly chopped 30g pomegranate seeds 15ml finely grated lemon zest 30ml lemon juice a small handful of mint leaves a small handful of parsley
Preheat your oven to 200℃. Add the raisins to a small bowl and pour 60ml boiling water over it. Set aside. Add the cauliflower, coriander, garlic, chilli flakes, 55ml olive oil and salt to a mixing bowl and toss together to coat the cauliflower florets. Tip the florets into a roasting tray and spread it out in a single layer. Pour 60ml hot water into the now empty mixing bowl, swirl it around to collect any left-behind spices and then pour it around (NOT ON TOP!) the cauliflower. Cover the tray with aluminium foil and roast for 10 minutes. Remove the tray from the oven and leave to cool. Place a pan on medium-high heat, add about 30ml oil and fry the red onion for about 15 minutes, until starting to caramelise. Add the cooled cauliflower, onion, pistachios, pomegranate, lemon zest, lemon juice, raisins and cooked grains to a mixing bowl. Drizzle 45ml olive oil over and season with salt. Mix through. Mix the mint and parsley together on a chopping board and chop roughly. Add the herbs to the rest of the salad, mix through and serve.
Perde Pilavi is a traditional Turkish dish made of chicken and rice flavoured with nuts, fruit and spices and wrapped up in a delicious pastry, specked with flaked almonds.
Place the chicken in a large saucepan and pour in the stock. Cook on medium heat for an hour, until done. Remove the chicken from the stock and set aside to cool slightly. Reserve the stock. Place a large frying pan on medium-high heat, add the butter and wait for it to melt. Add the almonds and stir-fry until golden. Add the rice and cook for a minute or so, stirring all the while to coat in the butter. Now add the raisins, salt, a few grindings of black pepper, paprika and mint. Pour in 660ml of the reserved stock (add boiling water if you dont have enough), stir the mixture and cover with a lid. Turn the heat to a gentle simmer and cook until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is almost cooked. Remove from the heat and set aside. Shred the chicken into strips and discard the bones and skin. Add the chicken to the rice mixture and stir through.
For the pastry: Preheat your oven to 180℃. Add the eggs, yoghurt, butter and vegetable oil to a bowl and whisk together. Set aside. Add the salt, flour and baking powder to a bowl and whisk through. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet. Lightly knead the pastry to bring it together. Flour a work surface and roll the pastry to a 45cm diameter circle. It should be large enough to line the dish and have enough hanging over the sides to close around the filling. Spray a 18cm diameter x 8cm deep ceramic dish with cooking spray. Scatter the almonds on the bottom of the dish. Line the bottom and sides of the dish with the pastry, leaving the overhang. Spoon the cooled rice mixture into the pastry. Fold the overhang-pastry over the filling to enclose it completely – trim off any excess. Bake for 40 minutes, until golden. Take the dish from the oven and rest it for 15 minutes. Place a serving plate over the baking dish and invert it. Serve the pilavi with a crispy salad.
Dough: 330ml warm/tepid water 5ml salt 5ml sugar 10ml instant yeast 750ml bread flour
Filling: about 350g cooked, ground beef 250ml grated mozzarella cheese a handful of basil leaves
For the dough: Add the water, salt, sugar and yeast to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Stir the mixture together until the sugar has dissolved and leave to stand for 10 minutes. Add the bread flour and mix on low speed to form a dough. Turn the speed up to medium and mix/knead for 5 minutes. You will be left with a soft but slightly sticky dough. Place the dough in a clean, oiled bowl, cover with a clean tea towel and leave to rise for 1-2 hours or until doubled in size. Preheat your oven to 240℃ and line a baking sheet with baking paper. Dust a work surface with flour and divide the dough into 6 portions. Roll out each piece of dough to form an oval. Place the dough ovals on the baking sheet and brush with olive oil. Top the dough with mozzarella and a few spoons of beef, but keep a 1cm border on the edges. Fold the edges of the dough over the filling and pinch the ends together to form a boat shape. Bake for 13 minutes. Scatter over the basil leaves. Serve warm or at room temperature.
250g digestive biscuits 100g butter, melted 1 egg white 400g cream cheese, room temperature 240g lemon curd grated zest of 1 lemon 45ml raspberry jam 10ml cornstarch 375ml pomegranate seeds
Preheat your oven to 180℃ and spray a flan/tart tin with a loose bottom, with cooking spray – 22cm diameter. Add the biscuits to a food processor and blitz to crumbs. Pour in the melted butter with the engine running and then pour in the egg white. Mix until it resembles wet sand. Tip the mixture into the baking tin and level it out. Press the crumb down firmly covering the bottom and sides of the tin. Place in the oven and bake for 8 minutes. Remove and set aside to cool. Add the cream cheese, lemon curd and lemon zest to a mixing bowl and mix together. Spoon into the tart shell and spread to cover the base evenly. Place the tart in the refrigerator. Add the jam and cornstarch to a small heatproof bowl and microwave for 1 minute. The mixture should boil when you take it out. If it is not, micro it again for another 10 seconds at a time until it does. Add the pomegranate seeds to a bowl and pour the jam mixture over. Mix well. Spoon the seeds on the tart filling and spread it out evenly. Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.
My Whisk and I 