Mise en place
5 mins

For the marinated feta: thinly slice 3 banana shallots, thinly slice 10 pickled chilies. Finely chop 40g cilantro leaves and stems.

For the Khoresh-e-Fesenjan: Dice 2 onions. Seed a pomegranate and store in the fridge. Grind 600g walnuts in a food processor.

For the eggplant chermoula: Trim 2 eggplants and cut into 1 inch cubes. Core, deseed and cut 1/2 a red pepper into strips. Cut a large onion in half and then thinly slice into half moons. Crush 3 garlic cloves into a paste with some salt.

Start cooking
3.5 hours

Start the focaccia
Mix 125g sour cream with the 150ml cold and 100ml boiling water in a large bowl.

Add 3 tsp salt with 2 tsp superfine sugar and 14g active dry yeast, then blend in 550g white bread flour, 2 tablespoons of cumin seeds, 1 tbsp ground coriander, 1 tbsp dried mint, and 1 tsp chili flakes until the mixture forms a rough ball. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave the dough to rest somewhere warm for 10 minutes to rise.

Line a large roasting pan with some parchment paper and place the dough on top. Stretch out the dough to the size of your pan, then using your fingers, poke deep holes all over it. Try not to pierce the dough, but you can be pretty tough with it. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and leave the dough to rest somewhere warm for 1 hour (or longer, if you like).

Start the Khoresh-e-Fesenjan
Preheat two large saucepans over medium heat and pour 3 tbsp vegetable oil into one. Fry the onions in the oil until translucent and lightly browned.

In the other pan, toast 1 tbsp flour until it turns pale beige. Add the ground walnuts and cook the mixture through.

Once the onions are browned, season 8 bone-in, skinless chicken thighs on both sides with salt and pepper and add them to the pan containing the onions. Increase the temperature and stir well to ensure you seal the thighs on both sides. Once they are gently browned, turn off the heat and set aside.

Add 5 cups cold water to the walnut pan, stir well, and bring the mixture to a slow boil, then cover with a lid and allow to cook for 1 hour over low-medium heat. This will cook the walnuts and soften their texture; once you see the natural oils of the walnuts rise to the surface, the mixture is cooked.

Make the Chermoula
Heat a good glug of olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat, then add the eggplant and sauté until golden brown. Season with salt halfway through. Once browned but not blackened, remove the eggplant from the pan and set aside.

Put the pan back on the heat, reduce the temperature to low, add the onion slices, and cook until caramelized, ensuring you stir them so that they cook and colour evenly. Just as they start to brown, add the garlic paste, 1 tsp cumin, 2 tsp cinnamon, and 1 tsp paprika and stir, then add the pepper strips and continue to sauté until the vegetables soften and the peppers are no longer raw.

Add a handful of golden raisins and a touch more salt and fry for a further 5 minutes before adding 400g chopped tomatoes.

Cook for another 5 minutes, then add 3 tbsp red wine vinegar, 2 tsp sugar, and 2 tbsp honey.

Increase the temperature and stir-fry the mixture for a minute or two (ensuring it doesn't burn), then reduce the temperature to low and, using a potato masher, lightly mash the mixture and stir it to ensure it is evenly cooked.

Stir in the cooked eggplant and cook for about 8 minutes over low heat, then turn off the heat and let cool. Store in the fridge.

Marinate the feta
Cut 400g feta into chunks 1-2” square. Put the chunks into a shallow bowl or airtight container. Pour 500ml olive oil, 75ml garlic oil, the zest of 2 lemons and the juice of half a lemon, and salt to taste into a mixing bowl.

Add the shallots, pickled chilies, and cilantro and mix well to ensure all the aromatics are evenly distributed in the marinade. Pour 3 tbsp pickle brine from the pickled chilies into the bowl and mix well.

Arrange the feta in an airtight container, leaving a little space between each cube. Pour over the marinade, shaking the container to ensure the marinade covers the feta. Put the feta in the refrigerator and consume within a few days.

Make the Biryani meat
Coat the bottom of a dutch oven with vegetable oil. Roughly dice 2 onions and fry them over medium-high heat until they become translucent.

Add 800g diced lamb and sear it until it begins to brown.

Put in 1 tbsp green and 6 black cardamom pods, 4 bay leaves, 2 tsp turmeric, 2 tbsp cumin seeds, and 4 cinnamon sticks and mix well.

Pour in just enough boiling water to barely cover the meat, reduce the heat to medium, and cook the lamb for about 1 1/2 hours until just tender. When the meat is done, cool and store it.

Bake the foccaccia
Preheat the oven to 400°F/200°C.

Remove the plastic wrap covering from the dough and drizzle 200ml extra virgin olive oil over it, ensuring it covers every nook and cranny. A silicone brush will aid this process. Sprinkle the entire surface of the dough liberally with uncrushed sea salt flakes, 4 sprigs thyme leaves, 1 tsp nigella seeds, 1 tbsp cumin seeds, and 1 tsp sumac. Place the baking sheet on the top shelf of the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown.

Finish the chicken
Add 1 tbsp sugar and 150ml pomegranate molasses to the walnuts and stir well for about 1 minute.

Take your time to stir the pomegranate molasses well-it takes a while to fully dissolve into the stew due to its thick consistency.

Once this is done, add the chicken and onions to the walnut- pomegranate mixture, cover, and cook for about 2 hours, stirring thoroughly every 30 minutes to ensure you lift the walnuts from the bottom of the pan so that they don't burn.

Once cooked, what initially looked beige will now have turned into a rich, dark, almost chocolaty-looking color.

Mix up the kebab meat
Grind 1/2 onion in a food processor. Finely chop 10g parsley leaves. Crush 2 garlic cloves. Core, deseed, and very finely chop 1/4 red pepper. Put these in a bowl with 250g ground lamb, 1 1/2 tsp Aleppo pepper flakes, 1 egg, 1 tsp sea salt, and freshly ground pepper. Mix everything together well. Really work it with your hands, pummelling and kneading the meal like bread dough until the texture has broken down and the eggs and herbs are evenly distributed. Cover with plastic wrap by pressing the plastic against the meat and store in the fridge.

Make your cookie dough
Blitz 100g shelled pistachios in a food processor roughly until they are broken down, but not too finely, since you want to retain crunch and texture.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the pistachios with the 50g rice flour, 250g all-purpose flour, zest of 2 lemons, 2 tsp vanilla paste, 100g confectioners' sugar, and 2 tsp salt then work the 200g softened, unsalted butter into the mixture until a dough forms.

Mix in just enough olive oil to help you form the dough into a solid ball, then roll the dough into a log about 1 1/2-2 inches (4-5cm) wide. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, twisting the ends (like a candy wrapper) to achieve maximum tightness, then refrigerate. You can bake these off during the week in a 300˚ oven for 20 minutes or until they are light brown at the edges and pale throughout.

Hard boil 3 eggs

Optional: If you procured a pre-roasted chicken for the bastilla you’re good to go. Otherwise roast your chicken now.

Maasto Kbiar

Make this fresh for each lunch. Grate 1/3 cucumber. Squeeze out and discard the excess water by hand or in a sieve. Put the drained cucumber pulp into a mixing bowl. Add 2 tsp dried mint and a handful golden raisins to the bowl, followed by 2/3 cup yogurt, and mix well. Season to taste with sea salt and black pepper. Drizzle with a little olive oil and scatter with chopped walnuts, finely chopped mint leaves, and dried rose petals.

Eastern Focaccia

To warm up your bread, or if it’s a little tough, wet your fingers and flick water on the bread, then put it in the oven to warm it up.

Eggplant Chermoula

Serve this warm. Give it a little buzz in the microwave but don’t get it hot!

Marinated Feta

Turkish Adana Köfte Kebabs

Take the kebab meat out of the fridge. Take a big fistful of meat and, in the palm of your hand, mold it into a long sausage shape. Flatten the mixture and form a kebab about 6-8in (15–20cm) long and 2in (5cm) wide. Repeat until all the mixture is used up.

You can also make little patties or meatballs with this mixture. If you have made mini patties or meatballs, fry them in a preheated frying pan over medium heat for about 7-8 minutes on each side.

If you have opted for a long kebab shape, there are several cooking methods:

Of course, barbecuing the kebabs over coals is the proper way to do it. Avoid the hottest part of the barbecue and cook them for about 8 minutes on each side until they are nicely charred.

Alternatively, cook the kebabs in a little vegetable oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat if using gas, or on full blast on the highest setting if using electric, for approximately 8 minutes on each side until they are nice and brown.

Serve the kebabs in tortilla wraps or bread of your choice, with what you like on top. The book recommends sliced red onion and chopped parsley. A little yogurt tops the whole thing off very nicely.

Ghelyeh Mahi and French Lentil and Quinoa Salad with Lemon and Sumac

Halve 250g baby tomatoes. Finely chop 50g flat leaf parsley, 20g mint, and 10g cilantro. Thinly slice 1/2 bunch scallions. Finely chop 1/2 onion. Finely chop 1/2 bunch cilantro (put this aside separately for the fish). Thinly slice 3 garlic cloves.

Cook 100g quinoa and 125g lentils separately as per their package instructions. Rinse well in cold water, drain, and set aside.

Put tomatoes, chopped herbs, scallions, 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil, and the juice of 1 lemon into a large mixing bowl along with 1/2 heaped tbsp sumac. Add several generous pinches of crushed sea salt and a generous amount of black pepper and mix the ingredients well.

Add the quinoa and lentils and mix well to ensure the ingredients are evenly mixed through the salad and that the dressing coats the quinoa and lentils throughout. Taste the salad and adjust the seasoning if required.

Refrigerate while you make the fish.

Set a large frying pan over medium heat and pour in enough oil to coat the base of the pan.

Fry the onion until it becomes translucent and just begins to turn golden at the edges. Add 1/2 tbsp flour and stir it into the onion well to cook it out, then drizzle a little more oil into the pan and add the garlic slivers, too (ensure you don't let them brown or burn).

Add 1/2 tsp turmeric,1 tsp dried fenugreek, 1/4 tsp cayenne, and a pinch of sugar and stir well for 1-2 minutes. Stir the cilantro into the onion-and-garlic mixture and cook until it begins to soften.

Dissolve 1/2 tbsp tamarind paste into 250ml warm water, then pour it into the pan, reduce the heat to a moderate setting, cover the pan (leaving a little gap open), and simmer for about 15 minutes.

Once the cooking time has elapsed, cut 300g cod loin into 2 in (5cm) pieces and lay them on top of the sauce, spooning just enough of the sauce over them to barely cover each piece of fish.

Season to taste with a little sea salt and black pepper, then cover the pan with a lid and cook for a further 15 minutes with the lid on.

Serve immediately with the salad.

Khoresh-e-Fesenjan

Warm up the chicken over a low flame.

Serve the chicken sprinkled with pomegranate seeds and enjoy with a generous mound of basmati rice.

Chicken Bastilla with Fattoush salad

Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

Dice 500g onion. Peel and finely grate 1 1/2 inch fresh ginger. Pit and finely chop 3-4 dates. Toast 38g pine nuts. Chop the 3 boiled eggs you made. Finely chop 10g parsley and 10g cilantro leaves and stalks

Fry the onions in a generous amount of olive oil in a large frying pan set over medium heat, stirring regularly to encourage them to caramelize and prevent burning. Once they are brown (not burned!) and sticky, add the ginger, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1 1/2 tsp mace, 3/8 tsp nutmeg, 1/2 tbsp superfine sugar, and the dates and stir the mixture well.

Cook until any liquid has been absorbed. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Put the shredded meat from a 1kg chicken into a large bowl with 38g pine nuts, chopped egg, parsley, and cilantro and mix together. Add the fried onion mixture and 1 tbsp honey and give everything another good mix. Season generously with salt and pepper.

Cut 3 sheets of 19in x 10in filo in half to make 2 squares. Take 2 squares and overlap them to create a star shape.

Divide the mixture into 2 portions, then pile 1 portion into the center of the pastry star. Pat it down to form a flat disc (not too wide, so that you can still seal the pastry edges around the stuffing), then brush the exposed edges of pastry with some beaten egg white.

One-by-one, bring the points of the pastry in towards the center and brush each overlap of pastry with a little beaten egg white as you go to secure, until the final flap closes the pastry parcel. Brush with a little more egg white to seal the parcel. Turn the bastilla over and place it onto the prepared baking sheet.

Repeat with the remaining pastry squares and stuffing to create 2-3 bastillas.

Brush the tops and sides of each with egg yolk, then bake for 20-22 minutes, or until golden brown.

While the bastillas are cooking, make the fattoush salad. Line another baking sheet with parchment paper.

Cut some stale focaccia roughly into 1 1/2 in (4cm) squares and lay them on the baking sheet. Toast them in the oven for 15 minutes, or until they are dry and completely crunchy (they will come out at the same time as the bastilla)

Roughly chop 130g baby tomatoes, 1 head of romaine or little gem lettuce, 1/3 cucumber, 1/4 red pepper, 1/2 green pepper, 60g radishes. Thinly slice 1/3 bunch of scallions. Finely chop 7g flat leaf parsley leaves and 7g mint.

Put all the salad ingredients into a large salad or mixing bowl and sprinkle over 1 heaped tsp sumac, 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil, a squeeze of lemon juice, and sea salt and black pepper to taste. Toss the salad well, ensuring everything gets a good coating of dressing.

Remove the bastillas and croutons from the oven and, while still hot, dust the bastillas with confectioners' sugar and a sprinkling of cinnamon. Top the salad with croutons and another sprinkle of sumac and serve on the side.

Lamb biryani

Remove the lamb from the fridge and let it come to room temperature.

Preheat a large saucepan over medium-high heat and pour in 1 cup (250ml) vegetable oil. Chop 4 onions in half, then thinly slice into 1/4 in-(5mm-) thick half moons. Fry the onion slices in the oil (there should be just enough oil to cover them, so add more oil if needed), stirring every few minutes, until they are golden brown and crispy. Using a slotted spoon, drain the onions onto a plate lined with paper towel and set aside.

Add 1 cup yogurt to the lamb, season generously with sea salt, stir well, and set aside.

Preheat a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Fill the pan with boiling water and add 600g basmati rice with a generous handful of crumbled sea salt. Boil for 6-8 minutes until the rice is parboiled. You will know it is parboiled when the color of the grains turns from the normal dullish white to a more brilliant white and the grains become slightly elongated and begin to soften. Drain the rice and rinse it immediately under cold running water for a couple of minutes until it is cool, to wash off all the excess starch. Line the bottom of the saucepan used to parboil the rice with some parchment paper and set aside.

Grind 2 pinches saffron with a mortar and pestle, then pour over the 2 tbsps of boiling water and leave to infuse.

Back to the rice; return the paper-lined saucepan to the stove and pour in a generous drizzle of oil with a couple of good knobs of the butter. Add 1 tbsp crushed sea salt flakes (less if using table salt). Scatter in just enough rice to cover the base of the pan with a good layer. Drizzle a little of the saffron water (if using) over this layer of rice.

Take the yogurt-marinated pre-cooked lamb and divide it into two portions. Layer one portion over the rice, then cover with a thin layer of rice, sprinkle over some more saffron water, then add a generous layer of crispy onions, and dot more butter on top. Repeat the layers until the rice, lamb, crispy onions, and butter are all used up.

Wrap the pan lid in a dish towel, cover the pan, and cook the rice on the lowest temperature possible if using gas, or low-medium heat if using electric, for 30-45 minutes, or until the rice is cooked.

When ready to serve, either flip the rice onto a serving dish or decant onto a serving platter, then scrape out the crispy tahdig from the base of the pan and serve it on top of the rice.

Serve with any leftover salads that you have from the week.