Middle East Feast!

Guess who just got back from Beirut? This moi!

Lebanon is gorgeous, and I literally didn't have a bad meal there. This is a feast I made a few months back, before I'd gone. So because all I want to eat now is Lebanese food, I thought I'd post this while I'm whipping up some slightly more authentic recipes of deliciousness for you all.

Sometimes I just get in the mood to adapt/bastardise some cuisines into a feast of a dinner. This dinner requires a little preparation but is actually quite quick and easy to put together. We have an amazing Lebanese restaurant nearby and every time we go, I have a crisis about what to order. Because I want it all. So, when I fancied that kind of dinner, I MADE IT ALL.

I don’t think any of this is particularly authentic, because I’ve tweaked it to my tastes, adding sesame to the falafel, and turmeric to the tahini sauce etc, but it's really quite delicious. 

Sauce!

You could add in some more chicken, slice up extra pita bread, throw in some hummus and make this a finger food buffet feast for a party! But it makes a really delicious indulgent feasting dinner for two as well.

Baked Lemon And Poppy Seed Donuts

Alright, I'm totally in donut mode now.

There is something about baked donuts that sparks joy in people. Myself included. They always come up perfectly round and beautifully baked and it’s just pure deliciousness in the comforting shape of a donut. 

You do need a special tin (these are so essential to my life that I have two..) but I promise it is worth it! I don't love deep-frying food, and this is a perfect compromise to still allow donuts in your life if you're like me.

Basically the sky is the limit with these. I have done a few variations in the past (chocolate, strawberry, cinnamon), and it made sense to give it a go in lemon form!

The lovely glaze is easy to whip up, tart and sweet and makes a perfect addition to the spongy cakey goodness of the donut.

Makes approx. 16 donuts

Chocolate Baked Donuts

These donuts are the best start to the week that I can think of. And of course, I like any excuse to use my donut pan. Of all the slightly frivolous items I have in my baking cupboards, this is one of my favourites. Its niche – I know. But I’m slowly realising that there are so many wonderful ways to bake ring-shaped delicious things.

All stacked and ready to be iced!

I decided to go completely decadent and make chocolate donuts with gorgeous glazes. The thing I adore about donuts is that you can dress them up so prettily and there are so many topping combinations! 

I went with AAAALL the sprinkles I had in my cupboard, but next time I am going to chop up some hazelnuts and throw them on the chcolate ones, and I'm definitely adding nutella to the icing recipe. And then the time after that I'm going to add so much coconut.

See, I'm getting huge amounts of use out of the two (TWO!) donuts pans I just had to own. A totally rational purchase! I highly recommend them.

Honey Mustard Chicken Tenders

I really love chicken. Definitely my favourite meat to cook with, because it’s just so easy and versatile. Somehow I don’t think I’ve ever made little chicken tenders before, which is a real shame. The blog has been skewing sweet lately, because Christmas = sugar. So I thought these would be lovely little morsels to re-introduce some savoury and make the sugar crash a little more bearable.

These are delicious little morsels of spiced, crispy chicken that are super easy to make. They might be baked, but the little drizzle of butter before baking gives them that delicious fried taste, without using a potful of oil.

These can be served however you like, but I was using mine in lieu of a Sunday dinner, so I went with comfort food – gravy, mash and sweetcorn. Broccoli, peas and carrots could easily have been added to the plate also but I was feeling lazy. Or you could serve with a crispy peppery salad instead. Or in a brioche bun with a drizzle of mayo.

Versatile and delicious. KFC has got nothing on me.

Halloumi and Onion Sweet Potatoes

It's January, so I suppose I better post something with stupid salad on it. We will be back to our regularly-scheduled sugar-bombs next week.

Having said that, in a bad mood as I root around for any nice Roses that are left in the box, these are actually a tasty treat. As I do love sweet potatoes, and I recently discovered the joys of baking them, I’m trying to get more creative.

I’ll be honest, I’ve had a lump of halloumi cheese in my fridge for AGES and I couldn’t decide what I wanted to do with it. My aunt is vegetarian and once fried me up some of this. It was delicious, a revelation, the food of the gods. I'd never cooked it myself, but I wanted to try something a bit different with it. And the lovely chewy texture is the perfect accompaniment to the soft sweetness of the spud. That description was TERRIBLE. But the final product is not!

These are incredibly simple to make, and a perfect side dish for other meals, I served mine with burgers, because I have an obsession with sweet potatoes and burgers for some reason.