Talal’s Cakes Academy produces the most delightful desserts as you can imagine, but Chef Talal also uses his many years of training in the United States to produce a delicious fusion for his savoury mains. Before the lockdown AAW Home Appliances let bazaar Studios loose in their state of the art Bosch show kitchen to cook some memorable meals perfect for Ramadan. The recipes are below for you to try at home; now that you’ll be there a little longer than before, you can experiment in the kitchen!

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Creamy Honey Mustard Prunes Chicken

Prep Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 20 mins Servings: 4

Ingredients:

2 large chicken breasts cut in half lengthwise

Salt & pepper to taste

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder Flour for dredging

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 tablespoons butter divided

1/3 cup chicken broth

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon honey

1 cup heavy/whipping cream

1 cup chopped prunes

Instructions:

1. Prepare your chicken (cut the breasts in half lengthwise so you have 4 smaller cutlets). Sprinkle with the garlic powder, salt & pepper and then coat the cutlets in the flour. 
2. Heat the olive oil and one tablespoon of the butter in a skillet over a medium-high heat.
3. Once the pan is hot, add the chicken pieces and cook them for 4-5 minutes a side, or until they’re golden. If the oil starts to splatter a lot, reduce the heat. Once the chicken is browned, take it out of the pan and set aside.
4. Take the pan off the heat and add the rest of the butter, the chicken broth, Dijon mustard, prunes and the honey.
5. Return the pan to the stove and adjust the heat to medium. Stir the sauce until the mustard has dissolved (make sure the liquid doesn’t reduce completely).
6. Add the cream. Once the sauce is bubbling again, add back in the chicken. Cook for a further 5 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce is reduced to your liking.

Uquili Cake

Prep Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 45-55 mins Servings: 6 – 8

Ingredients:

6 Eggs

1 ¼ cup Sugar

2 ½ cup Flour

1 teaspoon Vanilla

½ cup Vegetable Oil

½ cup Sour Cream

1 teaspoon Cardamom

2½ teaspoon Baking Powder

½ cup Milk

1 tablespoon Rose Water

¼ teaspoon Yellow Food Color

Taheena

Roasted Sesame Seeds

Instructions:

In a stand mixer beat the eggs, add sugar, oil, sour cream and milk. Then mix all the dry ingredients, flour, vanilla, baking powder and cardamom. Mix it well then add the saffron soaked in rose water. Add the yellow food coloring. For the baking pan brush some taheena all around, then coat it with sesame seeds. After brushing pour in the mixture and bake for about 45-55 minutes at a temperature of 180 degrees Celsius. We used the Bosch Auto Cook for the ultimate in easy cooking!

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Fatah Meat Kubba with Eggplant

Prep. Time: 1 hr Cook Time: 1 hr Servings: 8

Ingredients:

Crust:

300 grams Minced Lamb Meat

500 grams Soft Burgool

1 teaspoon Black Pepper Powder

2 teaspoon Cinnamon Powder

2 teaspoon Seven Spices Powder

1 teaspoon Salt

1 cup Onion (Finely chopped, minced)

Stuffing:

250 grams Minced Lamb Meat 1 cup Onion Slices (Julienne)

1 cup Eggplant (Cube slices, fried)

¼ cup Olive Oil

1 teaspoon Black Pepper Powder

½ teaspoon Cinnamon Powder

1 tablespoon Tomato Paste

3 tablespoon Turmeric Paste

¼ cup Water

1 teaspoon Dried Mint Powder

1 tablespoon Pomegranate Molasses

1 cup Fried Fata Bread (Cube cuts)

Sauce:

2 cups Yoghurt

1 clove Garlic (Paste)

1 tablespoon White Vinegar

1 teaspoon Salt

Garnishing:

Roasted Pine Nuts

Pistachio Slices

Pinch of Sumac Spices

Pomegranate Seeds

Paprika

Instructions:

Crust:

First soak the burgool in water for 20-30 minutes, drain and set aside. In a grinder put the minced lamb meat, all spices, salt, onion and the softened burgool. Grind them together to make a soft meat paste mixture, then set aside.

Grease a tart pan with butter or ghee. Then press the crust mixture until you take the shape of the pan. Bake for 15 minutes down and 10 minutes up. Let it cool.

Stuffing:

Put the lamb mince in a pan and fry. Add onion, olive oil and spices. Continue to fry and mix. Add the fried eggplant, tomato paste and water. Let it simmer for about 5 minutes until thick, and put aside to cool at room temperature.

Sauce:

In a bowl mix yoghurt, garlic paste, white vinegar and salt.

Assembling:

Using a layering method, first take your prepared meat crust, on top of it put the fried fata bread. Then the stuffing eggplant mixture. Add the sauce over it, then your garnishing.

Pistachio Baklavah

Prep. Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 1 hour Servings: 16-18

Ingredients:

For sugar syrup:

2 cups (350 grams) Granulated Sugar

1 cup Water

A squeeze of Lemon

1 tablespoons Orange Blossom Water

For Nut Filling:

3 cups (340 grams) shelled raw unsalted pistachios, plus more for garnish

2 tablespoons blossom water 1 teaspoon cardamompowder

For the pastry:

2 (500 grams) packages phyllo dough, a total of 30 sheets thawed 1 cup melted ghee

2 cups unsalted butter

Instructions:

To make the sugar syrup:

In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, water, and bring to a full boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally to ensure that the sugar dissolves. Once boiled, add the lemon and take off heat and stir in the orange blossom water. Let it set aside.

To make the pastry:

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 150C/300F. Pulse pistachios in food processor until finely chopped, transfer to a bowl. Then mix the sugar, blossom, cardamom powder and egg yolks and set aside.

Brush baking pan with mixture of warm ghee and melted butter. Unwrap and unfold phyllo on a large cutting board and smooth out with hands to flatten. Using the pan as a guide, adjust the size of the phyllo by cutting off excess to fit perfectly into the pan. Cover phyllo with plastic wrap, then top with a damp kitchen towel to prevent drying.

Place 1 sheet of phyllo in the bottom of the prepared pan and brush with the ghee mixture and butter until completely coated. Layer 7 more sheets of phyllo into the pan, brushing each sheet with more ghee/butter. You should now have a total of 8 layers of phyllo. Top with 1 cup of the ground pistachiosmixture and spread evenly.

Layer 6 more sheets of phyllo into the pan, brushing each layer with more ghee/ butter, then top with another 1 cup of pistachios mixture. Repeat with 6 more sheets of phyllo, more ghee/butter, and the remaining cup of pistachios mixture.

Layer the remaining 10 sheets of phyllo into the pan using the nicest, most intact sheets, brushing each layer, except the final layer, with more ghee/ butter mixture Working from the center outward, use the palm of your hands to compress the layers and press out any air pockets. Use a sharp knife to cut the baklava into diamonds; 5 cuts vertically and about 8 cuts diagonally. Brush the remaining ghee/butter mixture over the surface. Bake the baklava until golden and crisp, about 1 hour. Immediately after removing the baklava from oven, pour the sugar syrup over the baklava and garnish it with pistachio powder. Cool to room temperature on wire rack and serve!

Click on the @bazaargram Instagram highlight Cook Like a Chef to save these recipes’ cards. Feature photo by Jason Briscoe on Unsplash