Roast chicken with lemon and thyme is a foolproof recipe that every home-cook should seek to perfect over their lifetime. I've used two baby chickens as I love their flavour, you can also do this recipe with one large chicken. Thyme is a beautiful herb and I've used both fresh thyme and dried thyme too, which has a more intense flavour and will give another dimension. I've also used lemon juice in the marinade and lemon slices to go inside the chicken almost as an aromatic. If you are a chicken lover then why not try my famous zaatar chicken recipe or my easy grilled chicken marinade. [feast_ ..read more

The Lebanese zaatar blend is one if the simplest to put together and only has 3 ingredients; zaatar, sumac and sesame seeds (no extra spices please). Zaatar is usually paired with olive oil to make a loose paste which you can dip bread in. Combine with extra virgin olive oil if eating right away and mild olive oil if cooking. The most common way Lebanese people use it is on manakish, which is a flatbread usually baked in a communal oven (furun). It also goes very well with tomato and mild cheeses such as burrata, and of course there is my famous zaatar chicken recipe. [feast_advanced_jump_to ..read more

This apricot cake is the possibly the best cake in the whole history of cakes. I dare you to resist it. Fresh apricots provide a sour burst to the subtly sweet almond based cake and I seriously have to limit how many times I make this for fears towards my health. What's more you can replace the apricots with any stone fruit such as nectarines, plums or cherries giving you many delightful versions. Why not also try my blueberry cake, orange cake or of course my legendary soft chocolate cake? I love a beautiful piece of cake with my Turkish tea - always loose leaf and filtered water thank you ..read more

I've always associated lamb shanks with dinner parties but now I make them every few months for my carnivorous boys. I still slow cook them as that's the only way to maximize the flavour. Once you put them on low heat you only need to turn them every fifteen minutes or so, and not much else - hence why they are deceptively easy. I've braised them in a fresh tomato sauce, but you could also use some passata if tomatoes are out of season. To braise something is to brown it first then slow cook it in some liquid, until it falls apart and is the best technique for cuts of meat such as shoulder, s ..read more

Right, let's upgrade your blueberry cake game with my ultimate recipe, which also has subtle accents of coconut and lemon. Blueberries are sweet already so we don't need the cake to be extra sweet, so I use minimal sugar but just enough so it's a cake and not bread. I love a good cake with my tea. I warn my children that it's now 'peace tea time' and they need to occupy themselves by drawing or kicking a ball. I love a cake that has a bold main flavour like my orange blossom cake or of course my legendary soft chocolate cake. You definitely need all sorts of cake recipes up your sleeve depend ..read more

A really good spicy chicken marinade will give you more than just spice, it will give you earthy herby undertones with a kick at the back of your throat at the end. Waves of flavour and spice and heat. That is what we are going for. Our secret ingredient to getting it spicy is using shatta, which is basically a red chilli paste. I was fortunate to get some from the village lady in Lebanon last summer and it's still good. You might already be familiar with my simple Lebanese chicken marinade and I would also check out my garlic sauce which is just dreamy. [feast_advanced_jump_to] Ingredients I ..read more

There are so many meat and vegetable combinations in Lebanese cooking that you'd think they might become repetitive. Yet each one has a distinct character and this mnazalet batinjan (eggplant stew) is no different. Mnazaleh (general term) is a type of stew that is baked in the oven and I suppose it's less runny than a yekhneh. This mnazleh has bell peppers and eggplants (aubergines) that are cooked with a gorgeous mince meat in a tomato sauce. My top tip for adding meat to any type of stew is to fry it off rather than boil it to get that delicious flavour. This is usually done in the early st ..read more

There is a time and place for slow cooking and there is a time and place for a quick and flaming spicy high heat stir fry. This spicy Lebanese meat and tomato stir fry is known as an '2alayeh' which roughly translates to a fry up or a stir fry. You don't want the onions and peppers to melt into the meat, you want them robust and keeping their shape with a little char at the edges. This dish was so delicious and hearty I can't explain. It also uses many of the same ingredients as samke harra (spicy fish), which I would definitely give a go if you are a spice lover. [feast_advanced_jump_to] Ing ..read more

Everyone needs a basic chicken marinade with yoghurt, and this classic will have you covered for all your chicken needs. Lebanese chicken is not heavily spiced and it doesn't really need that many ingredients. Garlic, yoghurt and lemon juice will each contribute a different dimension of flavour. The yoghurt not only holds the other ingredients together, it also tenderizes the chicken. Chicken dishes represent the easiest type of cooking for me, as they simply involve making a marinade, roasting the chicken and turning it a few times in the oven. If you are a chicken lover like me, try out my ..read more

I used to always get roasted nuts from special roasteries in Lebanon, but some years I couldn't get hold of them so I started making my own. You know when you crave something but never really think of making it... until one day you do and realize how silly you were for avoiding it. This is that recipe. And also, you can never get enough of the ones you love like the roasted almonds in the mix so this way you can just put in your favourites and leave out those horrid floury chickpeas! My version of sweet and salty roasted mixed nuts include cashews pecans and almonds, with maple syrup and fine ..read more