Musakhan

A mutual friend brought Ash to the restaurant. He liked us and loved this dish, and we liked him a lot. On that first visit he declared himself our “second cousin, once removed,” and every time he comes, it’s a great joy. In his opinion, we have yet to prepare a chicken dish, or any dish for that matter, that is better than this one, and he doesn’t understand why we don’t keep it on the menu always. Every so often, when we feel it’s been too long, we will drop him a line, saying, “Hi cuz, we are making your chicken dish,” and he will always come to eat it, and take some home. He is not the only fan; this dish is such a great thing to eat—a crispy bread parcel with juicy chicken inside, and plenty of sauce. The little salad is a real gem too, a prettier take on the classic kebab shop salad.

Serves 4 as a generous main course

For the filling

8 chicken thighs with skin and bones (about 2lb /1kg)

2½ tsp salt

3 large onions, peeled and thinly sliced

1 whole dried chili (you can shake the seeds out to make the filling milder)

¾ cup/100g dried currants

¼ cup/80g pomegranate molasses

1 cup/240ml water

For the parcel

1 packet of thin Lebanese flat bread or tortilla wraps (4–8 wraps, depending on thickness)

a little olive oil, for brushing

For the salad

2 small red onions, peeled and sliced as thinly as possible

1¼ tsp sumac (or juice of 1 lemon)

seeds from 1 pomegranate

1 large bunch of parsley, picked (about 1 cup)

a pinch of sea salt

generous 1 tbsp olive oil

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Put a large heavy-bottomed skillet on a medium heat. Place the chicken thighs skin-side down in it and season with 1¼ teaspoons of salt. Allow them to slowly cook and render out all the fat from the skin. This will take about 10–15 minutes and the skin should go all crisp and golden. Flip the chicken pieces and cook for 5 minutes on the other side, then remove them to a large roasting pan.

Add the onions and the other 1¼ teaspoons of salt to that same skillet and cook on a medium heat until the onions start to soften and color. Add the dried chili, currants and pomegranate molasses and mix to coat. Pour over the chicken and add the water. Cover the roasting pan and cook in the center of the oven for 1 hour. Check that the flesh comes away easily from the bone and leave to cool.

When the chicken is at a temperature you can handle, pull the meat off the bones and shred into bite-sized pieces. We like to keep bits of skin in the mixture as they are little flavor bombs, but you may prefer to discard them. Discard the dried chili, then return the meat to the roasted onion and currant mixture and stir to combine. You can make up to this stage in advance and keep it covered in the fridge for a day or two.

Place a flat bread or wrap in a soup bowl, leaving lots of overhang (if it is very thin, use two to make a double layer). Fill the bread with a quarter of the chicken filling, then fold the edges on top to seal like a package. Flip the bowl onto a lined baking tray so that the parcel sits on it seam-side down. Repeat another three times until you have four lovely parcels. Brush them with a little olive oil and place in the oven at 400°F. It will take about 10–15 minutes until the parcels go crisp and golden.

Mix all the salad ingredients together in a bowl. Serve one parcel per person with a bit of salad on the side. If you’re sharing this meal with people you’re comfortable with, you can do away with cutlery and eat with your hands—just grab the parcel and sink your teeth in, pinching bits of salad every now and then.

Madfunia

We wanted something festive for the holidays. Turkey was not an option (and should never be, in our opinion). We thought of the grand Moroccan party dish that is called sometimes shaariya medfouna, a rich tagine buried under a mound of buttered noodles. Our tagine not only had chestnuts and sultanas but all the sweet spice of Christmas and a fancy hat made of crunchy kadaif pastry, to leave no one in any doubt as to what time of year it was.

Serves 4 generously as a main course

For the filling

8 chicken thighs with skin and bones (about 2 lb/1kg)

2½ tsp salt

3 large onions, peeled and thinly sliced

6 cloves of garlic, peeled and halved lengthways

2 cups/250g pre-cooked whole chestnuts

⅔ cup/100g golden raisins

1 tsp white pepper

2½ tsp ground cumin

1 heaped tsp ground cinnamon

1 cinnamon stick

1 tsp cayenne pepper

4 tbsp date molasses or honey

1 cup/240ml water

To serve

¼ lb/100g kadaif pastry (also called kataifi—available in the U.S. from The Fillo Factory and in Middle Eastern specialty stores)

generous 1 tbsp olive oil

Preheat your oven to 400°F.

Put a large heavy-bottomed skillet on a medium heat. Place the chicken thighs skin-side down in it and season with 1¼ teaspoons of salt. Allow them to slowly cook and render out all the fat from the skin. This will take about 10–15 minutes and the skin should go all crisp and golden (don’t be tempted to steal a bit). Flip the chicken pieces and cook for 5 minutes on the other side, then remove them to a large roasting pan, reserving all the oil and sticky bits in the skillet.

Add the onions, garlic and the other 1¼ teaspoons of salt to the skillet and cook on a medium heat until the onions and garlic start to soften and color. In the meantime, break the chestnuts up a little and scatter over the chicken, then sprinkle the raisins all over.

When the onions and garlic are soft, tip in all the spices and mix to coat. Cook for 1 minute while stirring, then add the date molasses or honey and the water. Bring to the boil and pour over the chicken, chestnuts and raisins.

Cover the roasting pan and cook in the center of the oven for 1 hour, then turn the heat off and leave the pan inside for an extra 30 minutes while the flavors combine. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.

When the chicken is at a temperature you can handle, break each thigh in half and remove the bone. Set the meat in an ovenproof serving dish and pour over all the lovely cooking juices, onions, raisins and chestnuts. You can prepare up to this point in advance. Once cooled, simply cover and keep in the fridge for a day or two.

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Top the chicken mixture in the serving dish with the kadaif pastry and drizzle with the olive oil. Place on the upper-middle shelf of the oven for 20–30 minutes to crisp up the pastry. It should go a lovely golden color.

Bring to the table in the baking dish, divide up and serve with a spoon. Forget about turkey forever.