1) Chicken and Apricot Tagine

2kg skinless and boneless chicken, ideally a combination of thigh and breast and preferably free-range or organic
4 onions, chopped
8 cloves of garlic, crushed
100g fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
4 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 lg pinches saffron
2 tbsp harissa paste
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 litres chicken stock
700g dried apricots
8 large ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
200g pitted green olives, halved
200g shelled unsalted pistachio nuts
2 bunches coriander, chopped

Cut the chicken into large bite-sized chunks and place in a large saucepan. Mix together the onion, garlic, ginger, cumin, cinnamon, saffron and harissa paste and add to the chicken. Season with salt and pepper and pour over the stock. Bring to a simmer, cover with a lid and cook gently for about 1 ½ hours. (You can prepare ahead to this point.) Stir in the apricots, olives and pistachios and simmer, uncovered, for a further 45 mins to an hour. Season. Stir in the coriander.

2) Jewelled Couscous

800g couscous
6 tbsp olive oil
1.4 litres hot chicken stock
2 bunches spring onions, finely chopped
40g butter
Seeds from 2 pomegranates
2 large bunches of mint leaves, chopped
Juice of 2 lemons
Sea salt and ground black pepper

Place the couscous in a large bowl. Stir the olive oil into the hot stock and pour over the couscous. Stir briefly, cover with clingfilm and leave for 5-10 minutes. Fluff the couscous with a fork and leave to cool. Preheat the oven to 200ºC.

Place the couscous in a large ovenproof dish, mix in the spring onions and dot with butter. Cover with foil and place in the oven for about 30 mins until heated through. Remove, stir through the pomegranate seeds, chopped mint and lemon juice and season.

3) Warm Chocolate Cinnamon Torte with Orange Blossom Mascarpone Cream

225g butter
225g caster sugar
8 eggs, separated
225 plain chocolate, melted
225g ground almonds
½ tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp brandy
Icing sugar, to dust

For the orange mascarpone cream:

100g icing sugar
500g mascarpone cheese
1-2 teaspoons orange flower water
Orange zest, to garnish

Preheat oven to 180ºC. Beat together the butter and sugar until light and creamy. Add the egg yolks one at a time, beating. Add the chocolate, almonds, cinnamon and brandy. Whisk the egg whites to soft peaks.

Fold in to the chocolate mixture. Pour into a greased and floured 24cm loose-bottomed cake tin and bake for 45 mins. To make the cream, sift the icing sugar into a bowl and beat together with the mascarpone and the orange flower water.

Serve the warm cake with the cream scattered with some orange zest.