The Cous Cous Variations

[I know I've written about cous cous before, but I thought I'd expound a bit on the preparation and possibilities....]

Cous cous is an exceptionally quick (less than ten minutes!) and versatile alternative to rice or traditional (Italian) pasta. Plain cous cous is a simple side to chicken, beef or vegetables, especially stews and sauce-y preparations, but you can easily dress it up to become an elegant salad or a substantial entree. It's a great way to use up leftovers, and a perfect opportunity to sneak new flavors and ingredients past your kids (if you can get them to try it).

Although cous cous is a variety of pasta (typically made from semolina, the same wheat flour used for most Italian pastas), it is prepared more like rice - steamed in a lidded pot until tender.

Near as I can tell, all cous cous is precooked, even if it isn't marked "instant." Whether you buy it in a box or in bulk (Whole Paycheck Foods has a decent price on bulk - much cheaper than boxes of Near East), preparation is the same: add boiling water to cous cous, cover and wait five minutes. (Note that "Israeli Cous Cous" is much larger - about the size of BBs - and takes longer to cook.) This method produces a fine plain side dish, but you can do much better with just a little effort.

Think of it as a two-part preparation, the sauce (the stuff that goes into the pot while the cous cous is steaming) and the toss (the things you stir in just before serving).

The Sauce

As with rice, cous cous needs to be hydrated to become tender. You really only need two things, in addition to the cous cous itself:

Liquid: about 1.5 cups water or stock to each cup of cous cous.

Salt: a healthy pinch per cup of liquid. Keep in mind that other ingredients may also be salty, e.g., stock, butter.

If you want to take it up a notch, consider adding:

Fat: butter or olive oil, a scant Tablespoon per cup of liquid. Optional, but highly desirable both for flavor and for mouthfeel. Go easy on the fat if you plan to toss meat or marinated vegetables with the cooked cous cous.

Aromatics: carrots (sliced, shredded or whole baby carrots), onions (red, white, yellow or green, chopped or minced), raisins, craisins, garlic, peppers (red, green, yellow, hot or mild), leeks - anything that you'd like to cook a little and flavor the liquid. Saute the aromatics in butter or olive oil before adding the water or stock to the pan.

Spices: curry powder, cumin, cinnamon, cardamom, black pepper, allspice, bay leaf - start with a few pinches, and you'll notice a big difference in flavor. Add the spices to the fat and aromatics.

The Toss

Here's where your cous cous really takes off, in both flavor and texture:

Fresh herbs: chopped parsley, mint, cilantro, oregano, marjoram - whatever is fresh and sounds or smells good. I'm a big fan of parsley.

Nuts & Beans: cashews are king in our house, but pine nuts are also nice. A can of garbanzo beans (drained and rinsed) adds significant heft to the dish, as well as protein. Better yet, start with dried garbanzos and use their cooking liquid to make the cous cous.

Veggies: sliced green onions, minced red onions, chopped artichoke hearts, grilled squash or asparagus, steamed green beans. My rule is: if it goes with lemon, it'll work. I almost forgot to mention tomatoes, fresh or grilled or sundried, chopped or sliced.

Meat: chicken, beef, pork or lamb, grilled or stewed or stir-fried, freshly made or leftover. Fish works, too, though I'm having trouble seeing canned tuna as a good match. Balance strong flavors (say, garlicy chicken) by under-seasoning the cous cous a little.

Citrus: lemons, limes, grapefruits - but mostly lemons. A good squeeze will add freshness and pucker; you might also grate a little zest last thing. Grilled lemon slices look nice as a garnish and offer a hint of sweetness, too.

Step-by-step: cous cous in 20 minutes

All the possibilities make cous cous look much harder (and more time-consuming) than it really is. Here's the walk-through for preparing a delicious cous cous in about 20 minutes:

Ingredients (amounts are approximate - feel free to improvise):

1 1/2 C Water
1 TBL Butter
1/3 C Shredded carrots (you can buy them pre-shredded from TJ's)
Pinch Salt
1/4 C Raisins
1 tsp Curry powder
1 C Cous cous
1/2 C Cashews
1/2 C Green onions
1/2 Lemon

Instructions:

1. Heat the water in a tea kettle or microwave.
2. Place a saucepan with a lid over med-low heat. Melt butter, then add carrots and salt. Stir for a minute, then add raisins and stir until combined. Put the lid on the pan and let the carrots and raisins soften for a couple of minutes.
   
3. Add the curry powder to the carrots and raisins and stir for a minute, until it becomes fragrant - the kitchen should smell really good by now! Add the hot water and bring it to a boil, stirring to bring everything together.
4. Add the cous cous, stir, cover the pot and turn off the heat. Set a timer for five minutes.
5. Slice the green onions, and prep anything else you want for the Toss - leftover grilled chicken, parsley, etc. Pour yourself a glass of wine, and tell the kids to wash their hands
   
6. After five minutes, fluff the cous cous with a fork. Just before you're ready to serve, toss in the green onions and cashews and stir to mix, then squeeze the lemon over the top.
   

"Stacked Pesto"

I had fresh basil and parsley, but I was in a hurry tonight (and I couldn't face the Cuisinart). So I "deconstructed" a pesto, stacking basil chiffonade and chopped parsley on grilled chicken breasts and asparagus. I spooned on a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, into which I had stirred pressed garlic, black pepper and salt (a pinch of red pepper flakes would have been good, too), then grated a little Reggiano on top.

I covered the dish loosely, then parked it in a warm oven while I picked up Liz and the kids at the park, and grabbed a baguette from Babette's.

There weren't any leftovers. The chicken was juicy and very flavorful (I'd thought ahead and taken it off the grill before it was quite done, so it wouldn't dry out). The "pesto" was fresh and herb-y, without the zing of my regular recipe, but still quite good. The asparagus was crisp-tender (like the chicken, I'd under-cooked it a bit). And the juices in the bottom of the dish, sopped up with baguette, were a real treat.

Best of all? 30 minutes, start to finish, and very few dishes to wash.

Pickles

I picked up some beautiful pickling cucumbers at the Downtown Farmers Market on Friday - firm, dark green, bumpy and just the right size for a quart mason jar. I wasn't smart enough to remember to buy dill, though, so I had to wait until today before getting them started.

My recipe is ridiculously simple: dump spices (peppercorns, mustard seed, coriander, red pepper flakes), vinegar, salt and garlic directly into clean jars. Cover, and shake, shake, shake to combine - the kids love helping with this part. Once the salt is dissolved, unscrew the caps, toss in a small handful of fresh dill, then wedge in the cukes, as tight as you can. I usually cut them in half, lengthwise, but you can leave them whole, or slice them into spears or chunks or whatever you like. Add cold water to cover, then throw them in the fridge. Twenty minutes, tops.

The hard part is waiting for them to cure - you'll need to leave them in the fridge for about a week, for best flavor. And it helps to take them out and shake them every day, just to make sure the brine is well distributed.

For your minimal effort (and a little patience), you'll be rewarded with crisp, tangy, fresh pickles. If you like 'em spicy, add more pepper flakes or slip in a couple of red peppers along with the cukes. I like a little extra garlic, too (who am I kidding? I like a lot of extra garlic).

One of my goals for this summer is to make naturally fermented pickles, without vinegar. I'll report back when I discover enough counter top.

Mostly Meatless Friday

Another shot at a meatless meal, saved at the bell by a last-minute entry from the freezer. Tonight's menu:

Sesame noodles with green onions and snow peas

Chicken shu mai (from Trader Joe's, frozen - not bad!)

The noodles are a paragon of simplicity - the sauce is just whisked together and tossed with the drained pasta. If you have fresh snow peas handy, just throw them in raw or add to the pasta water a minute or so before the pasta is done.

The sauce is extremely flexible, too. I often add fresh ginger, or a pinch of chinese mustard, and I usually sub red pepper flakes for the chili oil. I usually sprinkle toasted sesame seeds on the plated noodles, for a nice presentation and a little extra crunch.

We often serve this with grilled chicken, but it's also good with sliced steak, and would be fine with tofu, too.