Top Chef Shares his special Ramadan Recipes - Eats and Treats by Tania Rebello

Chicken Machboos

Ingredients :

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 4 bone-in skin-on chicken legs

• 1 tablespoon ghee

• 2 diced onions

• 1 teaspoon Bahraini spices

• 1 teaspoon turmeric

• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder

• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• 2 teaspoon salt

• 1 pcs clove

• 3 dried limes

• 1 cinnamon stick

• 5 cardamom

• 2 bay leaves

• 1 chopped green chili

• 5 chopped garlic

• 1 tablespoon tomato paste

• 2 diced tomato

• 600 ml chicken stock

• 400 g basmati rice

• chopped parsley or coriander

Directions :

• Heat oil in a pot over medium-high heat. Brown the chicken on both sides. Remove and set chicken aside on a plate.

• In the same pot, add ghee and sauté onions until. Stir in Bahraini spices, turmeric, cinnamon powder, black pepper, salt, cloves, dried limes, cinnamon stick, cardamom, and bay leaves. Cook for 5 minutes until fragrant. Add chili and garlic. Add tomato paste and diced tomatoes.

• Return the browned chicken to the pot. Pour in chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook for about 40 minutes.

• Soak the basmati rice in cold water while the chicken is cooking. After 40 minutes of cooking the chicken, rinse the basmati rice under cold water until the water runs clear. Add it to the pan with the chicken, stirring gently. Cover and simmer until the rice is tender. Serve the rice and chicken on a platter. Garnish with chopped parsley or coriander.

Lamb Osso Bucco and Saffron Rice

Ingredients :

• ½ Kg Lamb Leg with Bone Marinade:

• 4 minced garlic cloves

• 1 teaspoon cumin powder

• 1 teaspoon coriander powder

• 1 teaspoon Seven spice powder

• 1/2 teaspoon cardamom pods

• 1 teaspoon black pepper

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 2 tablespoons tomato puree

• 2 lemons zest

Rice:

• 200g Basmati rice

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

• 1 chopped onion •

2 bay leaves

• 3-4 cups broth

• 1 teaspoon turmeric powder

• 1 pinch saffron threads

• 2 cinnamon sticks

Directions :

1. Lamb:

• Combine all the ingredients in a blender and blend to form a thick paste.

• Rub the marinade all over the lamb, place the lamb in a large dish, cover and marinate for 24 hours in a the fridge.

• Place the lamb in a roasting tin in oven set at 165C, add about 450ml of water and cover. Bake for minimum 5 hours until the meat is tender. Remove the foil 20 minutes before end of the cooking time, brown the lamb and let the fat get crispy and brown. 2.

Saffron rice:

• Wash rice during while the lamb cooks.

• In a pot, sauté the onion with oil for about 2 minutes till fragrant.

• Add bay leaves and stir for about 2 minutes.

• Add the broth cover to cook until the water dries off and the rice is tender. Turn off the heat.

• Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix the saffron and turmeric with ¼ tbsp of water.

• Pour the mixture over the rice, cover, and let it cook in the steam for 4 minutes.

• Serve the rice with the lamb on top.

Black Forest Trifle For Mother's Day!

This Mother’s Day weekend, spoil your mom with this exceptionally stunning black forest trifle. It has layers of moist chocolate cake, sweet and fruity flavours from the cherry compote and creaminess from the whipped cream.

Ingredients :

Chocolate Cake Choose your favourite chocolate cake box mix and prepare as per directions Chocolate Custard

• 4 cups (32 oz or 1L) milk

• cup (75g) cornstarch / corn flour

• ½ cup ( 8 5 g ) roughly chopped chocolate

• cup (55g) granulated, brown or coconut sugar, to taste Cherry Compote

• 5 cups (3 lb or 1.4kg) pitted morello cherries in juice, jarred or canned

• ½ cup (60g) cornstarch / corn flour

• ¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar, or sweetener to taste For assembly

• 3 cups (24 oz or 720g) whipping cream, as needed

• 3 cups (420g) fresh, jarred or canned cherries

Directions :

To prepare the chocolate custard:

• Add 1 cup (250g) of the dairy-free milk and all the cornstarch to a large saucepan and whisk until there are no lumps of cornstarch.

• Add the remaining ingredients and place the saucepan over high heat. Bring the mixture to a boil for 5 minutes. Reduce to medium heat for 10-15 minutes while whisking frequently until it thickens.

• Remove the custard from the heat. Set aside to cool, whisking it occasionally to prevent a skin from forming on top. Chill.

To make the cherry compote:

• Drain the cherries reserving all the juice. We need about 3 cups (720g) of liquid for this so measure your juice and add extra water to make it 720g.

• Add all the juice, corn starch, sweetener and optional lemon juice to a very large saucepan or pot. Mix until combined. Place over medium heat and heat until thickened. Add the cherries and take the saucepan off the heat. Allow to cool. Assemble the trifle:

• Whip the cream according to packet instructions.

• Cut your cake into 1 inch cubes or crumble into small pieces.

• Place half the cake pieces into the bottom of an 8-inch trifle dish or large glass bowl forming an even layer. Layer with half of the cherry compote, half of the chocolate custard and half of the whipped cream. Repeat all the layers. • Top the trifle with fresh cherries. Chill until ready to serve.