Latest news with #NoorMurad
Vancouver Sun
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Vancouver Sun
Cook This: 3 Middle Eastern recipes from Lugma, including springtime fattoush
Our cookbook of the week is Lugma by Bahrain-born, London-based cook, author and recipe developer Noor Murad. Jump to the recipes: 'cheese and olives' (halloumi with spicy olives and walnuts), springtime fattoush and coffee, cardamom and chipotle-rubbed lamb chops . Noor Murad is used to straddling two worlds. Growing up in Bahrain, an island country in the Persian Gulf, with an Arab dad and British mom, machboos and saloonat dajaj were as likely to be on her family's table as bolognese and mushroom risotto. Her mother, a self-taught cook, found far-ranging inspiration in recipes by authors such as Anissa Helou and Madhur Jaffrey . 'My curiosity about cooking was more than just the food of Bahrain. It was everything,' says Murad. 'I was always curious about other cuisines because I knew mine so well.' Discover the best of B.C.'s recipes, restaurants and wine. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of West Coast Table will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. In her cookbook debut, Lugma (Quadrille, 2025), Murad features more than 100 recipes from Bahrain and its neighbouring countries 'with a slightly Westernized take, thanks to my English roots.' Writing the book in London, England, gave her the distance she needed to reconnect with her upbringing. 'Being away from home helps pull out the stories even more because you have a lot more time to reflect when there's some distance between you and all these nostalgic memories. Being able to sit down and write, it comes out of you. And sometimes there are all these suppressed memories, and then all of a sudden, (you put) pen to paper, and everything appears.' Murad started working in kitchens at 16, as a summer job in hotel banquets. After studying at the Culinary Institute of America and working in restaurants in New York and Bahrain, in 2016, she moved to London for a job at Ottolenghi Spitalfields . Murad went on to co-author two cookbooks with Yotam Ottolenghi — Shelf Love (2021) and Extra Good Things (2022) — and ran the Ottolenghi Test Kitchen until April 2023, when she left and started writing Lugma. After being part of the Ottolenghi empire, Murad sees Lugma as 'a reflection of me and my cooking, and a chance to find my feet in the food world and use my voice in my own personal way.' Although Murad's palate was well-versed in the food of the Gulf, it wasn't something she sought to make. 'It wasn't until I started working at Ottolenghi in London that I noticed this gap in Middle Eastern food. I was like, 'OK, there's a lot of hummus, a lot of falafel, a lot of shakshuka — all the hits. But there's not much of my food from my part of the Middle East.'' She adds that more voices need to be added to the conversation about the Middle East and its people, history and heritage. 'It's such a rich region — very colourful and very diverse. And I think the more we can talk about this and invite these conversations, the better. And what better way to do it than through food? It's the most universal language we can all understand and speak.' Writing Lugma, Murad dove deep into her memories, reflecting on and recreating dishes she didn't necessarily have recipes for. She says that in Bahrain, many aren't written down but relayed by demonstration — and every house has its way of doing things. 'It was a lot of relying on my palate, tastes and memories to bring things back to life.' Murad has always seen herself as having one foot in the East and the other in the West. As a chef, she naturally likes to experiment with different foods. With each of Lugma's recipes, she asked herself, 'Does this fit? Should I change it? Should I tweak it? Should I keep it more traditional?' The answer wasn't always easy. 'It really made me question, 'What are the recipes I want to put into this book?' And also, 'What do I want to say, and what do I want to showcase?' So I tried to balance traditional and reimagined dishes and then really hone into what it means to be a child of two cultures.' Lugma means 'a bite' or 'a mouthful' in Arabic. Murad often thought of her grandfather while writing the book. He was skilled at eating with his hands, creating the perfect mouthful of rice, meat and chili sauce between his fingers. 'That's kind of what inspired the book,' says Murad. 'I love eating with my hands, and I think that making someone a bite of something is a way of showing them that you love them.' Murad didn't set out to write a Bahraini book, but as time passed, she realized how much the island had shaped her palate and made her who she was. At the heart of Lugma is the generosity of hospitality in her Bahraini home, just 50 kilometres long (the same size as Singapore), with a fascinating food culture. 'I wanted to show how this small but mighty island pulls from so many different influences. Through history, it was a seaport and centre of trade. Because it was so small, it almost created its own identity by pulling on other identities. So this fusion of Arabic, Persian, Indian flavours all rolled into one is so unique. That's what I wanted to shout about from my corner of the Middle East.' Serves: 4 For the salsa: 4 tbsp olive oil 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped 2 tsp coriander seeds, roughly crushed using a pestle and mortar 1 tsp Aleppo chili flakes 70 g (2 1/2 oz) jarred red (bell) peppers, very finely chopped 1 tbsp rose harissa 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar 2 tsp maple syrup 50 g (1 3/4 oz) walnuts, well toasted and roughly chopped into 1-cm (1/2-in) pieces 70 g (2 1/2 oz) pitted Nocellara (Castelvetrano) olives, roughly chopped 5 g (1/8 oz) mint leaves, roughly chopped 10 g (1/4 oz) parsley leaves, roughly chopped 2 tsp pomegranate molasses For the halloumi: 2 x 225 g (8 oz) blocks of halloumi, drained 2 tbsp olive oil 2 tsp maple syrup Make the salsa by adding the oil and garlic to a small frying pan and placing it over a medium heat. Cook until beginning to bubble and smell fragrant, about 1 1/2 minutes, then add the coriander seeds and chili and cook for about 30 seconds more. Stir in the peppers, harissa, vinegar and maple syrup and cook for 5 minutes. Set aside to cool to room temperature, then transfer to a large bowl, add the remaining ingredients and mix to combine. Preheat the oven to 180C convection (200C/400F). Halve each of the halloumi blocks lengthways (so they are the same shape, but thinner now) to give you four rectangular pieces. Pat them well dry. Use a small sharp knife to make a crisscross pattern across one side of each piece, with incisions about 1.5-cm (5/8-in) deep. Heat the oil in a medium frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add the halloumi pieces and fry until nicely golden on both sides, about 4-5 minutes in total. Transfer to a small tray, crisscross side up, and pour over the excess oil left in the pan, followed by the maple syrup. Bake for 7 minutes, or until really nicely softened through the centre. Transfer to a plate, pouring over any juices left in the tray, then spoon over the salsa. Serve right away, while the halloumi is still warm. Serves: 2-4, as a side 150 g (5 1/2 oz) red round radishes, trimmed and thinly sliced into rounds 2 celery sticks, trimmed, stringy bits peeled, then thinly sliced at a slight angle (120 g/4 1/4 oz) 150 g (5 1/2 oz) fresh or frozen fava beans, soaked in boiling water for 5 minutes, skins removed (100 g/3 1/2 oz) 1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced into half-moons (50 g/1 3/4 oz) 90 g (3 1/4 oz) pomegranate seeds (about 1/2 large pomegranate) 10 g (1/4 oz) mint leaves, roughly torn 10 g (1/4 oz) parsley leaves, picked 1 tbsp olive oil, plus an extra 2 tsp to serve 2 tsp lemon juice 3/4 tsp sumac, plus an extra 1/2 tsp to serve 2 tsp pomegranate molasses For the fried pita: 500 mL (2 cups) vegetable oil, for deep frying 2 Lebanese pitas, opened up, then cut into 2.5-3-cm (1-1 1/4-in) cubes (see note) Fine sea salt First, fry the pitas. Line a tray with paper towels. Add the vegetable oil to a small, high-sided saucepan and place it over a medium-high heat. Test the oil is hot enough by dropping in a cube of pita — it should start to sizzle but not brown immediately. Working in two batches, fry the pita cubes for 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently with a slotted spoon, until golden. Transfer to the lined tray and sprinkle with a little salt. Repeat with the second batch. Set aside to cool and crisp up completely (save the oil for another use). In a large mixing bowl, combine the radishes, celery, fava beans, onion, pomegranate and herbs. In a small bowl, whisk together the tablespoon of olive oil, the lemon juice, 3/4 teaspoon of sumac and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Just before serving, pour the dressing over the radish mixture and season with another 1/4 teaspoon salt. Toss everything together, then transfer to a shallow bowl and pile as much of the pita in the centre as you like, serving any extra in a bowl alongside. Sprinkle over the extra sumac, then drizzle with the pomegranate molasses and extra oil. Note: Feel free to bake the pita here instead of frying, if you prefer — just make sure you open the pita pockets up first, for thin, crisp pieces. If you can't find Lebanese pitas (khobez Lebnani), which are thin and flat, then flour tortillas will work just as well. Serves: 4 Marinating time: 1-3 hours 8 lamb cutlets 3 tbsp olive oil 1/2 lemon 4 spring onions (scallions), trimmed and sliced lengthways in half (60 g/2 1/4 oz) 1 green chili, left whole Fine sea salt For the rub: 1 tbsp finely ground coffee beans Seeds from 15 cardamom pods, finely crushed 1 tsp cumin seeds, finely crushed using a pestle and mortar 5 g (1/8 oz) dried chipotle, stem and seeds removed, finely crushed, or 1 1/4 tsp chipotle chili flakes 3/4 tsp paprika 1 tsp soft light brown sugar For the sumac onions: 1/2 red onion (75 g/2 1/2 oz), finely sliced 2 tsp sumac 1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice Combine all the ingredients for the rub in a medium bowl. Pat the lamb well dry on paper towels and season all over with 3/4 teaspoon salt. Coat well with the rub, then leave to marinate at room temperature for 1 hour, or refrigerated for up to 3 hours (but not much longer). Make the onions by placing all the ingredients in a bowl with a pinch of salt and using your fingers to massage everything together. Set aside to pickle gently while the lamb is marinating (you can do this hours ahead). If you've refrigerated the lamb, be sure to bring it back up to room temperature before cooking. When ready, place a large cast-iron sauté pan over a medium-high heat. Toss the lamb with the oil. Once the pan is hot, cook the cutlets for 2-3 minutes on each side, for medium-rare. Adjust the cook time if you prefer your cutlets more or less well done (or if they're smaller or larger in size). Arrange them on a serving plate and pour over all but a couple teaspoons of the fat left in the pan, then squeeze over the 1/2 lemon. Return the pan to a medium-high heat with the spring onions, chili and a tiny pinch of salt and cook for about 3 minutes, flipping over as necessary, until softened and lightly browned. Pile the spring onions onto one side of the serving plate with the whole green chili alongside. Top the cutlets with the sumac onions and serve right away. Recipes and images excerpted with permission from Lugma by Noor Murad, published by Quadrille. Photography by Matt Russell. Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our cookbook and recipe newsletter, Cook This, here .
The Guardian
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
The best ingredients to buy in Asian, African, Middle Eastern and Polish stores – by the cooks and foodies who shop there
Noor Murad, chef and author of Lugma, on Phoenicia, Kentish Town, London (picture above) This is where I go for my big Middle Eastern shop, and I can't shout out about them enough. When I first moved to London from Bahrain I was so homesick, but this place is like a home away from home. It has everything I need. I always buy Dina Lebanese pitta bread, which is called khobez lebnani. They're the thin, wide ones that are perfect for frying for fattoush salad. It's also the bread you want for shawarma or tahdig (a Persian rice dish). I always keep some in my freezer. They have really good za'atar; it's a beautiful vibrant green, and I keep it in the freezer so it stays that way. It's powdered, so you don't have to defrost it. I use it to make za'atar pitta chips: spread the Lebanese pitta bread with olive oil and za'atar, and bake it. Break it up into shards to eat with dips or sprinkle it on salads, on fish, on eggs … The Basra date syrup, which is Iraqi, is just so good. I use it the way people use honey or maple syrup: on porridge or on toast with tahini. Last Christmas, I used it in a sticky toffee pudding instead of treacle and it worked really well – it was less sickly. I also get wheat vermicelli noodles here, which sometimes come broken, but often come in bundles that you break up yourself. I use them in soups and in a traditional Bahraini breakfast dish called balaleet, which is sweet noodles with salty eggs, scrambled or as an omelette. People have a ridiculously sweet tooth back home, so I do reduce the sugar. They have a whole marinated olive buffet, and I love it so much. Scoop them up and take them home to have in the fridge for a snack. There are loads of delicious hot sauces here, but there's a brand called Crystal, which I like. It's not spicy, it's really vinegary. It's the hot sauce we have back home, and you put it in a wrap with cheese spread, spring onions, sometimes crisps, and just roll it up. I love anything with acidity, so I always have sumac to sprinkle on labneh (strained yoghurt), chicken or salads. It's almost like salt and pepper. If you're shopping in a supermarket, I quite like Rajah and East End spices, because you get more bang for your buck. I toast and grind the spices myself, so I buy them whole. I really like the frozen veggies: frozen broad beans, which are sometimes hard to get; molokhia, a green that has an okra-y consistency; and they sell okra (the short, chubby ones you use in stew). What's also good is that they have already been trimmed. Julie Lin, author of Sama Sama and co-founder of GaGa, Glasgow, on Isan Thai, Glasgow I didn't realise how essential SeeWoo in Springburn, Glasgow, was to me, and for bringing the Asian community together, until it closed. Then this lovely little shop Isan Thai opened in the West End – they have amazing ingredients I haven't seen in Glasgow in my 10 to 15 years of cooking. I love it so much, and they have incense sticks burning, which reminds me of walking into shops in Malaysia. That smell of fermented foods amid the smoke of burning incense – it's quite a spiritual experience. I always get fresh ho fun noodles, which are the thick rice ones perfect for char kway teow (stir-fried prawns with noodles). Having fresh noodles makes a big difference, but they're normally quite difficult to find. Here, they mix up the brands quite a lot. I'm always delighted that I can get kangkong, AKA Chinese morning glory, here. It's amazing water spinach that absorbs fermented chilli and shrimp so well. They have a good stock of fresh pandan leaves, so I always pick some up. I'll also buy a bottle of pandan essence for making chiffon cake, because, as much as I use the natural colour from the fresh leaves, sometimes it needs a helping hand. I'll use it for making kaya (coconut) jam from scratch, which is beautiful. You can also get frozen pandan leaves, as well as frozen lime leaves. I love salted plums, and I use them to make asam boi, an amazing sour drink that's also a little bit salty. They make their own salad dressings with red bird's-eye chillies and that balance of palm sugar, fish sauce and lime juice. Another thing I keep up my sleeve is their curry paste; people don't always have time to make it from scratch, and they have some good own-brand ones. Tean's Gourmet do a good chicken curry paste and laksa paste; they're super oily. There's a fun range of Asian crackers and crisps, such as shrimp, which I love. But for a snack I might get their papaya salad, or occasionally they have a gorgeous pandan chiffon cake. There's a good range of shell-on and shell-off prawns. I get shell-on ones to make a take on Singapore butter prawns, which uses a cereal you can't get here but Quaker golden syrup oats are a good substitute. Supermarket own-brand rice is not great, instead, go to the world food section and pick up a 2kg bag, which ends up cheaper. Using Thai rice, such as Green Dragon or Royal Umbrella, makes a real difference. Zuza Zak, author of Pierogi: Over 50 Recipes to Create Perfect Polish Dumplings, onMy Daily Bread, Eastbourne, East Sussex, and Klos Deli, Lewisham, London When I lived in London, my favourite Polish shop was Klos, which means a sheaf of wheat. It's fantastic and I miss it; it's very well stocked with beautifully sourced products – anything you pick up there will be good quality. Now, in Eastbourne, I go to My Daily Bread, which is a bakery with sporadic opening times. They have a refrigerator section where they sell nice cold cuts, but they also have grains. You'll find all kinds of bread including chalka, a traditional plaited loaf, and at Easter you can order a traditional bread bowl. They also make nice paczki, which are Polish doughnuts, and buns. I buy my cold cutshere. I get a big pack of smoked country sausages to put on sticks and cook over the fire. My favourite brand is Bacowka. Twaróg, which is a fresh curd cheese, is great for a pierogi filling, or as part of a dumpling mix. It's a necessity. Smoked cheeses, are a nice snack. My girls love them, too, and you can even get smoked cheese strings. We eat the cheese on the way back from the shops. Klos sometimes has homemade pierogi behind the counter. They sell out very quickly, but you can call on the day to find out if they have any. I make my own – I enjoy the process – but I sometimes buy them if they're on offer, just to see what they're like. Everyone has their own way of making pierogi. We eat ogórki kiszone, which are gherkins in brine (as opposed to vinegar) with cold cuts – and if you're buying meat from Klos, where there's an entire counter, ask what they recommend, because they all have their favourites. For a traditional Polish snack, get good-quality lard and spread it on dark bread with a little salt on top and the gherkin on the side. If you go to a traditional Polish restaurant, you'll often be given that before your meal. I always buy sauerkraut, but from the big box fermenting on the floor rather than in jars. They do have some lovely jars there, but the important thing is to make sure there are no preservatives. Klos and Bacowka make a lot of condiments, such as beetroot and horseradish, as well as mushrooms in vinegar, to have with cold cuts. There's also sarepska mustard, which is a very mild mustard flavoured with tarragon – it tastes of Poland. Then there are grains, such as kasha, toasted or roasted buckwheat groats, which has a specific flavour. We often have this as part of our Sunday meal – if you're having meat with some kind of sauce, or mushrooms, it gives it a very eastern European flavour. I'll also get semolina to make porridge. Kefir is another essential. I'll either drink it on its own or have it as an accompaniment to crispy fried potatoes and onions with a bit of dill. That's a typical lunch for me. Kwoklyn Wan, author of Chinese Made Easy, on Tai Fat, Leicester I've been going to this supermarket for years, and my mum and dad used it for their restaurant. It used to be called PKM – named after the founders, Peter, Kitty and Maureen – but now it's called Tai Fat. They have everything I need on a day-to-day basis, as well as nice bits for a treat. If I'm doing a big shop and want to stock up on egg noodles or wontons, then I'll go to Wing Yip in Birmingham. I always get Pearl River's light soy sauce – it's a Chinese brand and my dad has always used it – I think we tend to follow what our parents use. It's the salty one, which is used for seasoning. Oyster sauce is a magic ingredient, because you can put it into soups, add it to stir-fries or vegetables, or use it to marinate meat, and it makes everything taste great. It's packed with umami and it's quite salty – like MSG without it being MSG. I use Lee Kum Kee oyster sauce. They are the inventors of it, although completely by accident: they were boiling up oysters and let them stew for too long and came up with oyster sauce. Then, white rice vinegar for tenderising meat, for soups, for adding acidity to dishes to balance those salty, sweet and chilli notes. I get Amoy white rice vinegar, but it's quite forgiving, so pick up any brand. I use Shaoxing rice wine in a lot of dishes, near the end of cooking, to add that funky, pungent, alcohol-y flavour. Because it's fermented, it has quite a distinctive oriental flavour. I must have sesame oil in, and we always use pure sesame oil, never blended, because it is inferior. Sesame oil is just to finish a dish off; to season it and give it that nice nutty flavour. Then, for a snack, it's dried cuttlefish, which we call Chinese chewing gum. It's ready to eat and shredded, but takes for ever to chew. Also, Chinese peanut brittle, which has more peanuts than toffee, the reverse of the British stuff. It's one of my treats. We also always pick up a packet of fresh mochi (rice cakes) filled with peanut sugar. Great for your belly, not so good for your waistline. And I get frozen lotus buns for my daughter: just pop them in a steamer, they'll puff up, and you've got lovely, white, soft, steamed buns with lotus paste in the middle. I'm quite lazy when I'm cooking for myself, so I tend to pick up pre-made king prawn wontons from the freezer section, too. Asma Khan, author of Monsoon and founder of Darjeeling Express, London, on Fruity Fresh, Wembley This has been a cornerstone of the vibrant south Asian community since the 1970s. It offers an extensive selection of Indian groceries, along with an impressive variety of fresh fruit and vegetables. What makes it truly special, though, is that it stocks everything you could possibly need, including unique fruit and vegetables that may be unfamiliar but are waiting to be discovered. From mild Kashmiri chillies to intensely fiery naga chillies (ghost pepper), dried chillies add layers of heat and depth to dishes. They are essential for tempering dals and infusing meat and vegetable dishes with a complex chilli flavour. They can even be used in sweet dishes, like a chilli and chocolate barfi. Jaggery is an unrefined sugar with a deep, malty flavour and rich molasses notes; it's perfect for balancing chutneys and makes a wonderful natural sweetener for chai. I try to resist the temptation of calculating the exchange rate and comparing prices with India, because Parle-G biscuits dipped in chai is more than a snack – it's a taste of home, a moment of nostalgia. Confusingly, many recipes use cinnamon and cassia bark interchangeably. But the heavier and woodier cassia bark adds a deeply aromatic flavour to savoury dishes and can easily be fished out after cooking. Used more like a spice than a herb, dried fenugreek leaves (kasoori methi) impart a warm and slightly bitter smokiness to dishes. At my restaurant, it's an essential ingredient in the base of the gravy in our methi chicken. In Bengal, almost everything deep‑fried, breaded or battered is served with ketchup. It's often spiced up with chillies or other seasonings for an extra kick, and I always get Kissan's fresh tomato ketchup. Dal puri are flavour-packed, stuffed flatbreads, and a beloved, comforting street food classic. Having them in the freezer means I can enjoy them when I need them, paired with chutneys or a cup of chai. Most international food aisles in large supermarkets now carry a good selection of south Asian ingredients. One essential is lentils – they're affordable and open the door to making nourishing dals from scratch. Aji Akokomi, founder of Akoko and Akara, both in London, on Ades, Charlton and Plumstead Pretty much everything we use at Akoko – the spices, the rice and, most importantly, the black-eyed beans – come from Ades. They have all the produce and ingredients you could want, sourced from Nigeria. We use African produce that can travel well. Also, if they don't have something, they'll help you source it. Among the African community, we want our rice to be the best when it comes to cooking jollof. I use golden sella basmati rice – I get bags of it every week for the restaurant. For the best jollof, always thoroughly wash the rice a couple of times before cooking, and don't parboil it – that can lead to the grains becoming mushy and overcooked. To reduce the risk of burning, cook it in the oven to prevent it catching on the bottom. And keep the spices traditional: back home we use scotch bonnet, ginger, garlic, white peppercorns, curry powder and dried thyme. Black-eyed beans are very important, and Ades get the peeled ones in for me, which we use to make moin moin, a traditional Nigerian steamed bean pudding wrapped in banana leaf. For home, I'll get suya spice. I'll then get some chicken from my local butcher and rub a mix of butter and the spice all over the meat. Add a little bit of salt and roast it – it's so good. Other spices I always get are penja pepper; ehuru, which is African nutmeg and our most used spice, particularly in desserts; and their pepper soup seasoning which is a mix of ehuru, uda (selim pepper), grains of paradise (a species of the ginger family), cloves, dried lime leaf and bay all pounded together. I always pick up chin chin (a fried Nigerian snack) and crispy plantain chips to snack on, as well as a bottle of Nigerian Chapmans, Fanta or Maltina from the fridge, to remember home. I'll also buy Nigerian (agege) bread, which I'll eat in the car on the way home or to the restaurant. I buy smoked prawns from here, which we use to make our own prawn powder, and also crayfish, which we then blitz with salt to give dishes that strong crayfish flavour.
Gulf Today
19-04-2025
- General
- Gulf Today
Spicy-sweet halloumi dish is more than just cheese and olives
'This works really well for brunch, alongside soft-boiled eggs, but can just as easily be eaten as a light lunch or dinner,' explains Noor Murad, author of new cookbook Lugma. 'Feel free to make this vegan, by swapping out the halloumi for fried and salted tofu.' Noor Murad's 'Cheese and Olives' – halloumi with spicy olives and walnuts Ingredients: For the salsa: 4 tbsp olive oil 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped 2 tsp coriander seeds, roughly crushed using a pestle and mortar 1 tsp Aleppo chilli flakes 70g jarred red (bell) peppers, very finely chopped 1 tbsp rose harissa 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar 2 tsp maple syrup 50g walnuts, well toasted and roughly chopped into 1cm pieces 70g pitted Nocellara olives, roughly chopped 5g mint leaves, roughly chopped 10g parsley leaves, roughly chopped 2 tsp pomegranate molasses For the halloumi: 2 x 225g blocks of halloumi, drained 2 tbsp olive oil 2 tsp maple syrup Method: 1. Make the salsa by adding the oil and garlic to a small frying pan (skillet) and placing it over a medium heat. Cook until beginning to bubble and smell fragrant, about one and a half minutes, then add the coriander seeds and chilli and cook for about 30 seconds more. Stir in the peppers, harissa, vinegar and maple syrup and cook for five minutes. Set aside to cool to room temperature, then transfer to a large bowl, add the remaining ingredients and mix to combine. 2. Preheat the oven to 180C fan/200C/400F/gas mark 6. 3. Halve each of the halloumi blocks lengthways (so they are the same shape, but thinner now) to give you four rectangular pieces. Pat them well dry. Use a small sharp knife to make a criss-cross pattern across one side of each piece, with incisions about 1.5cm deep. 4. Heat the oil in a medium frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add the halloumi pieces and fry until nicely golden on both sides, about four to five minutes in total. Transfer to a small tray, criss-cross side up, and pour over the excess oil left in the pan, followed by the maple syrup. 5. Bake for seven minutes, or until really nicely softened through the centre. 6. Transfer to a plate, pouring over any juices left in the tray, then spoon over the salsa. Serve right away, while the halloumi is still warm. The Independent
CBC
15-04-2025
- General
- CBC
A showstopping pistachio cake with labneh cream and a crunchy kataifi topping
With a labneh cream icing and a crunchy kataifi topping, this pistachio cake from Noor Murad would be the natural centrepiece of any table. And you don't have to be a pro to make it in your own kitchen. "I believe that everyone can bake, but a few tricks can make all the difference," she said. Murad shared the recipe from her cookbook, Lugma: Abundant Dishes and Stories From My Middle East, and her tips for getting it right. It helps if you allow all the batter ingredients to come to room temperature before starting, and pop the iced cake in the fridge for a bit before serving, especially if your kitchen is warm. If you don't have kataifi, which are thin strands of pastry, don't fret — use blitzed or shredded phyllo sheets instead. 'They add the same amount of texture and can look really fun on top of the cake,' Murad said. She's also used a mixture of ground almonds and pistachios. 'It didn't turn out looking as green, but it was still delicious!' she said. The following has been reprinted, with permission, from Lugma: Abundant Dishes and Stories From My Middle East. Pistachio Cake with Labneh Cream and Kataifi By Noor Murad My mum is a really good baker. She'd bake a cake every weekend and it would always come out perfect. So perfect, in fact, that she once made her signature Victoria sponge and went to answer the doorbell, only to return moments later to an empty plate, a trail of crumbs and our dog Max, gazing up at her with guilty eyes and a sugar-powdered nose. My journey into baking was not so smooth. I would be impatient, flustered and heavy-handed – all things that don't bode well in the world of desserts. With time, and perhaps a bit of maturity, I've learnt to find joy in desserts, so long as I get to be a little bit whimsical in the process. This cake is one I'm super proud of, especially the fun element that the crunchy kataifi topping adds. If you can't find kataifi in Turkish or Middle Eastern supermarkets, you can thinly shred some filo sheets to create the same effect. Ingredients For the cake: 170g (6oz) shelled pistachios 190g (6½oz) self-raising (self-rising) flour ½ tsp ground cinnamon Seeds from 15 cardamom pods, finely crushed using a pestle and mortar ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) ½ tsp fine sea salt 280g (10oz) caster (superfine) sugar 170g (5¾oz) unsalted butter at room temperature, cut into 3cm (1¼in) cubes 190g (6½oz) egg whites, at room temperature (from about 5 large eggs) 120g (4¼oz) Greek yoghurt, at room temperature 1 tbsp vanilla bean paste 240ml (8fl oz) whole milk For the topping: 60g (2½oz) kataifi, defrosted if frozen, roughly cut into 4cm lengths 1 tsp caster (superfine) sugar ¼ tsp ground cinnamon 25g (1oz) unsalted butter For the labneh cream: 180g (6¼oz) Labneh, bought or homemade 130g (4¾oz) mascarpone 140g (5oz) cream cheese 50g (2oz) icing (confectioner's) sugar, sifted Preparation Preheat the oven to 165°C fan/185°C/360°F/Gas mark 4½. Grease and line the base and sides of two 20cm (8in) diameter, loose-based cake tins with baking paper. (If you only have one tin, then you can bake one cake at a time.) Pulse the pistachios in a food processor until they resemble ground (powdered) almonds. Tip 150g (5½oz) into a large bowl (reserve the rest for decorating) along with the flour, cinnamon, cardamon, bicarbonate of soda and salt and whisk to evenly combine. Put the sugar and softened butter into a second large bowl and beat with a hand mixer on a medium-high speed until light and fluffy – about 3–4 minutes. Scrape down the sides with a spatula. Lower the speed to medium and add a third of the egg whites at a time, mixing until fully incorporated with each addition. Scrape down the sides with a spatula again then increase the speed to medium-high and beat for 1 minute, until the mixture is nice and smooth. Add the yoghurt and vanilla and beat for 30 seconds then scrape down the sides once more. Turn the speed down to low and add a third of the flour mixture and a third of the milk. Alternate these until combined, and the mixture is smooth. Evenly divide the batter between your prepared tins (about 650g/1lb 7oz per tin). Bake for 37–40 minutes or until a cake skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. (If you only have one tin, allow the first cake to cool slightly after cooking and release it carefully from the tin. Re-line the tin and repeat with the remaining batter.) Allow both cakes to cool completely in their tins. With the oven still on, line a medium baking tray with baking paper. In a bowl toss together all the topping ingredients, using your fingers to separate the kataifi strands as much as possible so they aren't too clumped together. Spread out onto the prepared tray and bake for 15–20 minutes, stirring halfway, until golden. Set aside to cool completely. Lastly, use a hand-held mixer (or a whisk and some arm power) to beat together the labneh cream ingredients in a medium bowl, for about 1 minute, or until soft peaks. If too thick, add a splash of milk to make it easier to work with. Refrigerate until needed. Once cool, release the cakes from their tins and discard the paper. To decorate the cake, place one of the cakes on a cake stand (a rotating one is easiest if you have one). Use an offset spatula to spread a little less than half the labneh cream on top of the cake, spreading it evenly all around. Next, top with the second cake, stacking it so that it's aligned. Use the remaining labneh cream to coat the top and sides (an offset spatula will help you most here). You're going for a rustic look so don't worry if it's not perfect. Lastly, sprinkle the top of the cake with the kataifi, followed by the reserved ground pistachios. Serves 10 Excerpted from Lugma: Abundant Dishes and Stories From My Middle East by Noor Murad, ©2025. Published by Quadrille. Photography by Matt Russell and Matt Wardle.
