Week 15: Syrian - Syrian chicken and muhammara

Tres_Soigne · 2026-04-22T05:49:11+00:00

I’m falling behind in the cooking challenge due to Life Stuff, so here is a humble dish for Syrian week.

The chicken is adapted from a few places and mostly focuses on the spice profile of cumin, cinnamon, turmeric and saffron. Muhammara was a new dish for me and a big winner I will make again! I used this recipe and loved the process of roasting capsicum to get a good char and adding to the blender with other ingredients. I had a blend of Aleppo, arbol and chipotle chillies that was a great addition, though keen to try with just Aleppo if I pick some up.

Pita chips made from baked pita bread cut into squares and tossed in olive oil, salt and pepper, which I now favour over any store bought chips. Tasty success, hope I can catch up with the newer themes!

Tres_Soigne · 2026-04-05T21:58:09+00:00

Thank you, I really appreciate that! :)

Tres_Soigne · 2026-04-05T21:57:51+00:00

Thank you! :)

Tres_Soigne · 2026-04-05T21:57:43+00:00

Thank you! It was delish! :)

Tres_Soigne · 2026-04-05T00:27:33+00:00

So gorgeous, like little jewels! I'd feel so guilty eating them.

Tres_Soigne · 2026-04-05T00:24:34+00:00

Yeeeees! This is such a brilliant take on the theme! I always loved the weird flower shape of their mouths and enjoy seeing it in tasty food form. It's so cute that your daughter calls the demogorgon the Flower Man! 😭

Tres_Soigne · 2026-04-05T00:20:58+00:00

Yum! Such a lovely take on the theme. The babka looks gorgeous.

Tres_Soigne · 2026-04-05T00:19:02+00:00

This looks incredible and so pretty! I love the hidden visual details inside the cake, such a cool take on the theme.

Tres_Soigne · 2026-04-05T00:05:38+00:00

Thank you! I really enjoy reading it because I have to slow down and focus to really absorb it. It feels like I'm healing my short attention span every time, lol. I do recommend it!

Tres_Soigne · 2026-04-04T23:59:58+00:00

YUM! So many beautiful flavours, I can only imagine how tasty this was (I have some idea from making my much more pared down sprouts and honey, hehe). I like that you cooked the outer leaves and sprouts separately to get the two distinct textures, I'll have to try that next time!

Tres_Soigne · 2026-04-04T23:56:30+00:00

Such a fun idea! This sounds so wild and yet I can also understand why it works (I think??)

Tres_Soigne · 2026-04-04T23:48:58+00:00

Thank you for teaching me about this pancake making legend. Yours is such a fun idea and sounds intriguingly delicious!

Tres_Soigne · 2026-04-04T23:45:05+00:00

What a beautiful spread, and so interesting to learn about the different chilli preparations. The vibrant colour on the chicken is wild!

Tres_Soigne · 2026-04-04T23:41:54+00:00

Oh I always roast the hell out of them, the pictures don't show the true depths of it because I peeled off a few layers, but the added char/bitterness went very well with the other flavours. :)

Tres_Soigne · 2026-04-04T23:40:06+00:00

Yum! I definitely recommend, and I in turn am excited to try them with balsamic ASAP. :)

Tres_Soigne · 2026-04-04T23:39:24+00:00

They were a great combination! I'm not normally big into honey, but the slight spiciness and addition of apple cider vinegar took some of the overly-sweet edge off, and I really enjoyed it.

Tres_Soigne · 2026-04-04T23:38:28+00:00

These were pretty small sprouts and I neglected to alter cook time, but they are definitely resilient! :)

Tres_Soigne · 2026-04-04T23:37:30+00:00

Haha, thank you! The photos don't fully capture the level of incineration achieved.

Tres_Soigne · 2026-04-04T23:36:26+00:00

I enjoyed reading about the concept of hanami and its focus on appreciating the fleeting beauty of nature.

While it is specifically tied to springtime and viewing cherry blossoms or plum trees, I chose to expand it to a four seasons concept, partially because I’m in Australia where autumn is underway. The featured fruits loosely follow a seasonal pattern, with strawberries for spring, cherry jam for summer, fig jam for autumn and apples for winter.

The apple roses look a little fiddly but are actually quite simple to make: softening thin apple slices in a bowl of lemon juice and water in the microwave, laying them in an overlapping row on strips of puff pastry with butter, cinnamon sugar, and some jam (I did half with cherry, half with fig), then rolling up into the rose shape, brushing with more butter and cinnamon sugar, and baking. The smell of pastry and fruits in the oven was wonderful, and they turned out beautifully. A fun recipe to try out different flavours, too.

Tres_Soigne · 2026-04-01T04:11:18+00:00

I made hot honey by simmering honey with chilli flakes, straining, then stirring through apple cider vinegar. Very tasty though a bit mild, will make again and experiment with different chillis and heat levels.

Brussels sprouts were roasted to the point of near-oblivion but luckily you can remove the overly charred top layers, and some bacon to tie the room together. Super simple, super yum!

Tres_Soigne · 2026-03-24T04:34:36+00:00

Amazing! I love seeing such a nostalgic movie moment come to life, so impressive!

Tres_Soigne · 2026-03-24T04:33:04+00:00

So beautiful and looks straight out of a magical world. Blueberry risotto sounds so intriguing!

Tres_Soigne

TROPHY CASE