Ras al Hanout Chicken & Date Tagine - my first go with my new tagine

My brother's family were kind enough to gift me with a beautiful new Tagine at Christmas.  It really is a corker - and absolutely huge.

Having spent some time just admiring it, I set to and followed the instructions for the seasoning process, to the letter.  We had to buy a big plastic bucket to put it in for the overnight soak in cold water, then it went into a low oven for 2 hours to dry out, then it got wiped over with oil.

Now the tagine is glazed - although not all over - and this caused some discussion on the Jenny Eatwell's Rhubarb & Ginger facebook page as to whether it required seasoning and whether it would break into tiny pieces during said seasoning process.  Personally, I doubted whether you would be asked to season the thing, if there was any great danger of it breaking into tiny pieces during the process - but it put the idea in my mind.  Now as anyone who knows me will tell you, if you put an idea into my mind, you have to know it's going to sit there and (potentially) worry me until events prove that I didn't need to worry in the first place.   I'm happy to report that it survived the seasoning process, even though it did go through many changes of colour and the glaze appeared to have converted itself to crackle glaze at one stage.  ~shrug~

Hence, the tagine had sat on the worktop (haven't got a cupboard it will fit into until we do some cupboard juggling - and speaking of which, does anyone know where you can get pot hanging hooks from?  The ones that fit onto the wall, that you can hang your saucepans on?) ever since the seasoning process had finished.  I knew that I had to get on and use it, in order to stop worrying that it would explode into a million pieces the first time I put it in the oven.

All loaded up and ready for the oven!

I was quite excited to use it, not only trepidatious, as I've seen tagines being used in Morocco (only on the t.v. it's true) and by various t.v. chefs (Yotam Ottolenghi, for one) and it seemed an interesting way to cook.  I love kitchen wares like this anyway and am quite emotionally connected to several of my casserole dishes.  No, don't roll your eyes like that - they all have a story to tell.  Hubby was doubtful that I'd be able to fit enough food for the family into one, but having seen the way they build the layers up, I had confidence in that aspect, if nothing else.

As it turned out, the liquid quantities involved here were absolutely perfect for my tagine.  Perfect for the amount of couscous (which I was worried about) and perfect for fitting into the quite shallow bowl part.

The chicken cooked beautifully, sat on top of the couscous and underneath all the vegetables.  It obviously semi poached, semi steamed as it went along and was lovely and moist.

At serving, the couscous appeared to be somewhat overcooked - but I'm really not sure if it would qualify as being overcooked or not.  The texture had gone from being quite grainy to being soft and almost squishy - but with the spices, stock and the drippings from the chicken included in its flavour, it was really lovely.  The lemon juice and pomegranate molasses had given it a lovely sharp top note, which was filled out by the savoury stock and chicken flavours.

The dates provided the occasional shot of sweetness, while the onions gave the counterpoint of savouriness to the dish.  All in all, the flavours were quite complicated and although I was a little bit unsure to begin with, I very quickly found that it grew on me and I really enjoyed it.


Hubby could have done with a little more in the way of contrasting flavours throughout the couscous - such as some chopped apricots to provide that sharp/sweet thing that they do and maybe some browned crispy onions to provide a contrasting texture and flavour.  All of which are very valid points that I'll try and remember.

Son and heir loved the dish and cleared his plate very happily - mushrooms and courgettes included!

All in all, I would consider this a success of a first go.  It gives me more confidence to try more complex combinations in future!  Oh - and maybe I won't be constantly waiting for the bang as the tagine disintegrates, next time.  One can hope!

RAS AL HANOUT CHICKEN & DATE TAGINE   (serves 3)

Ingredients :

2 tbsp rapeseed or olive oil
2 tsp Ras al hanout spice mix
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts (or a mix of drumsticks & thighs)
150g couscous
1 red onion, sliced
1 white onion, sliced
2 garlic cloves, sliced
1 courgette, sliced
3-4 chestnut mushrooms, sliced
zest & juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp pomegranate molasses
350ml chicken stock (I used one Knorr chicken stock pot)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground cinnamon
8 dates, pitted and chopped (use dried apricots as well or if you don't like dates)
a handful of flaked almonds
a handful of fresh parsley, chopped finely
a handful of fresh coriander, chopped finely.

Method :

1.  Pour 1 tbsp of oil into a bowl and add the Ras al hanout spice mix, a pinch of sea salt and a good quantity of freshly ground black pepper.  Stir to combine.

2.  Add the chicken and toss in the spice mix until evenly coated.

3.  Place the dry couscous into the bottom of your tagine or a deep casserole dish.

4.  Heat the remaining tbsp of oil in a deep frying pan over a high heat.  Add the chicken and brown (on at least 2 sides, if using thighs).  Remove to the tagine and arrange evenly over the top of the couscous.

5.  Add the onions to the frying pan and cook on a moderate heat until softened and beginning to take on colour.  Add the garlic and reduce the heat.  Cook for another minute or so.

6.  Add the courgette and mushrooms and cook until they are beginning to soften.

7.  Add the cumin and cinnamon and stir to combine.

8.  Add the zest and juice of the lemon, plus the pomegranate molasses, chicken stock and dates.  Bring to the boil, stirring to de-glaze the pan.  Taste for seasoning and add a little more if necessary.

9.  Add the contents of the frying pan to the tagine and distribute the vegetables evenly across the top of the chicken.

10.  Sprinkle the flaked almonds across the top and cover with the tagine lid - or if using a casserole dish, cover with foil.  Place into a pre-heated oven at 160degC/325degF/Gas 3 for the next hour.

11.  To serve, uncover the chicken and remove to a warmed plate while you serve the couscous and vegetables.  Place the chicken either beside or on top and sprinkle with the chopped herbs.

Serve.

Printable version

 

Leftover couscous for lunch

You might recall the Winter Couscous that I made the other evening to go with the smoked mackerel.  Well, there was (inevitably) some left over.

Hooray!  Almost instant lunch for the following day.  All I had to do was soft boil an egg and slice up an avocado, then sit down and tuck in.

The couscous had soaked up the juices from the chargrilled veggies and was a little bit dry, so I cheered it up by running a little more olive oil through it, then added a sprinkle of cider vinegar (Maille Vinaigre de Cidre is my current favourite - I could drink it by the shot glassful).

With the addition of a sliced avocado and the gorgeous yolk from the egg running through, it made a perfect lunch.  Hooray for leftovers!

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Peppered Mackerel with Sweetfire® Beetroot Couscous and horseradish cream

On to my next - and just as successful, but in a very different way - beetroot concoction for the "So you think you know beetroot" challenge.

This time, I wanted to use the Sweetfire® baby beetroot.  These adorable little baby beets have been infused with a chilli marinade and are just the most delectable mouthful.

So I began pondering on what would go with the chilli effect of the beetroot, not to mention the beetroot itself.  Here’s how the thought processes went :

Initially, my thoughts travelled down the “one leaf of Little Gem, filled with chopped beetroot with horseradish cream and with some smoked salmon on top” avenue, only to wonder how that could be translated into a full-size main course dinner.

Financially, smoked salmon for dinner was out, so I went sideways and wound up with peppered smoked mackerel.

In order to make it more of a main course, I jettisoned the lettuce leaves and pondered on carbohydrates.  So many forms of carbohydrate – pasta, potato and bread – just didn’t fit.  Then I remembered couscous.

So, I had couscous, with quartered baby beetroot.  Needs something to cool that chilli – aha!  Cucumber, peeled and de-seeded.  Couscous needs strong flavourings, so what about herbs?  What would go with mackerel and beetroot?  Fish always likes dill, so we’ll have some of that.  What about something else, to balance the earthiness?  Parsley, in this connection, would be a bit dull.  Hmmn .. how about mint?  Yes, mint!  Goes well with fish and cucumber and won’t fight with either the dill or the beetroot.  Maybe some red onion, to provide a sweet savouriness and lemon juice for balance.

One problem – I’ve not included the horseradish.  Hmmn, ponder ponder.  Well, I’ve got smoked fish and couscous but nothing particularly juicy or dressing-like.  Horseradish sauce alone is too strong.  How about if I were to let it down with a little Greek yoghurt?  Yes!  Then it would go not only with the fish, but also as a little dressing for the couscous – but not over the couscous, just by the side with some salad leaves.

Done!

In this way, the Peppered Mackerel with Sweetfire® Couscous and horseradish cream, was born.  We ate it for dinner on Tuesday last and it was utterly scrumptious.  It would work with just ordinary beetroot in natural juice too – just add a pinch of chilli flakes!

Hubby reckons he has never had a nicer accompaniment to Smoked Peppered Mackerel and I think he's got a point, there.

Everything was just perfect.  The oiliness of the mackerel was cut through by the chilli and lemon juice.  The flavours were enhanced by the horseradish.  The herbs provided the depth of flavour and the mint danced across your tongue.  If anything, the cucumber and dill took something of a back seat, however, I'm quite sure that without them the cooling elements of the couscous would be compromised and you'd sure notice that they weren't there - even if you didn't notice particularly, that they were!

Now, I've just got to prepare myself for a visit to Tesco or Waitrose in order to source some more Sweetfire® Beetroot and reproduce the recipe.  Get the blinkers out!

PEPPERED MACKEREL WITH SWEETFIRE® BEETROOT COUSCOUS & HORSERADISH CREAM  (serves 2)

Ingredients :

150g couscous

150ml vegetable stock

3 tbsp low fat greek yoghurt (I used 2% Total)

2 tsp horseradish sauce

210g pack Sweetfire® baby beetroot, cut into quarters or small dice

2 inch piece of cucumber, peeled, de-seeded and diced small

20g fresh dill, chopped

20g fresh mint, sliced gently into small pieces

small red onion, finely chopped

1 lemon, juiced

2 tbsp olive oil

250g pack peppered smoked mackerel fillets.

Method :

1.  Put the couscous into a large bowl, pour over the boiling vegetable stock, give a quick stir and cover with cling film.  Set aside for 10 minutes in a cool place, to encourage it to cool.

2.  Mix the horseradish sauce into the greek yoghurt and taste for seasoning.

3.  When the couscous has absorbed all the stock, uncover, give it a good fluff up with a fork and leave to cool.

4.  Once the couscous is cool, add the cucumber, herbs, onion, lemon juice and oil and toss well to ensure everything is mixed through.

5.  As the last thing, and to prevent the beetroot colouring the entire bowl of couscous, add the chopped beetroot and give a quick stir through.

6.  Serve by placing the couscous onto the plate, followed by the flaked smoked peppered mackerel and a dollop of the horseradish cream.  I also served some salad leaves.

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A Beetroot health fact!

Research has shown that beetroot can help reduce blood pressure as well as its associated risks such as heart attacks and strokes. This is because the high content of nitrates in beetroot produce a gas called nitric oxide in the blood which widens blood vessels and lowers blood pressure. A daily dose of 250ml of beetroot juice or 1 to 2 cooked beetroot (approx. 100g) can help dramatically reduce blood pressure and its associated risks.

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Chicken, bacon, chicken & prawns, chicken, pork, chicken twice over : Looks like it's chicken, this week!

I do seem to have gone a bit mad on the chicken in this week's Menu Plan, but that's just the way it happened.  ~shrug~  I suspect that it's part and parcel of trying to think of meals that aren't too "bad for you".  Inevitably, you wind up with an awful lot of chicken - especially as fish has rocketed in price just lately.

Now, to finish off last week - we had the Chicken, Fennel & Tomato Ragu on Sunday evening, which had a mixed reception.  A third of the way into making the dish, hubby announced that he's never found a chicken/tomato recipe that he's really enjoyed - and although he loves fennel, he wasn't sure how it would all come together.  Well, he was right in a lot of ways - although just after suffering from food poisoning wasn't perhaps the best time to try this recipe out!


Just cutting up the chicken had me wishing we'd had sausages for that meal instead, but I soldiered on.  Incidentally, I've discovered that when cutting up ingredients that are fresh from the fridge, they have the capacity to make my hands lose sensation.  You can't imagine how difficult it is to chop up chicken breasts when you can't hold the darned things still!  I've still got all my fingers though, so my strategy of dunking my hands in warm water to thaw them out, obviously worked.


The dish was nice enough - the fennel was lovely and made a very pleasant change.  Having been a bit acidic, the addition of a teaspoon of sugar helped to iron that out.  However, "okay" wasn't really what I was going for with it, regrettably.


Incidentally, the Maribell jacket potatoes were gorgeous.  Rub them with olive oil, cover with salt and pepper and roast in a hot oven for an hour - fabulous!


Now then, what different incarnations of chicken are we having for this week's menu plan?  I hear you ask.  Well, maybe you didn't, but I'm going to tell you anyway.  Here's how it shapes up :

Tuesday : Pesto chicken with roast tomatoes and couscous

Wednesday : New Potato Salad with Bacon & Goats' Cheese

Thursday : Spanish Paella-inspired ricey thing

Friday : Sticky chinese chicken & thai carrot salad

Saturday : Pork with lemongrass & cinnamon, with rice (from Adora's Box)

Sunday : Pot roast chicken, roast parsnips & potatoes, broccoli & peas

with sausagemeat stuffing balls

Monday : Coronation chicken, pitta bread and salad.

<insert short break to collect a glass of Canti Zinfandel Rose>

Now, where was I?  ~sips daintily~  Ah yes!  The Pesto Chicken.

It being Tuesday, we've done the shopping and so begins a new week of striving to produce delicious dinners that don't cost the earth, that everyone enjoys and (no point in lying) that will be interesting to blog about.

I must just recount what happened to us today though.  Hubby will probably have my hide for telling you this, but part-way through the shopping, I went back to the herbs aisle to see if some Basil had been put out as there wasn't any on our first pass.  As I turned around to go catch up with hubby, I saw an unaccompanied trolley that looked to have inside it everything that we'd selected earlier.  "How funny!" I thought.  Can't be OUR trolley, because hubby's driving that further up the shop - so I didn't say anything about it.  Fast forward to hubby loading the shopping into the car and looking for the sausage rolls he'd bought.  He came to the conclusion that he must have left a bag of shopping behind, but couldn't believe he could have done so, so we didn't go back to check.  Upon getting home and emptying out all the bags, he discovered that a whole bagful was missing.  "It's got the ham, the fruit fools, the cheese spread, the greek yoghurt ...." he was saying, when I got a flashback to that trolley I saw.  Sure enough, he'd made off with someone else's trolley (which had to be empty at the time, as we didn't have any odd shopping), leaving ours to sit - where I spotted it on my trip back for the Basil!  How much do I wish I'd have said about it?  It would have saved another trip (to Sainsbury's, this time) for shopping!  Still, it's quite funny, all the same.

So, after seemingly shopping all day, I made the Pesto Chicken and couscous.  My hand problem made stuffing the chicken breasts with the squidgy pesto/mascarpone mixture nigh on impossible, but at least some of it got in there!  I am so going to have to get a piping set!  It's a really lovely dish, this one, in that the chicken stays beautifully moist and the roast tomatoes are just divine.  The couscous was made after the style of Ottolenghi's Green Couscous, but to my own recipe this time.  I used all Italian flavourings, like basil, grana padano cheese and pine nuts along with sliced onion & mushroom fried in a little olive oil.  Add a squeeze of lemon just before serving and everyone approved.  Well, except for son & heir's hate of the humble mushroom.  He was able to remove his mushrooms fairly easily though.

Watch the blog, as I'll be detailing the recipe as my next blog post.

I'm really quite excited about tomorrow's salad, as it was created with the help of four or five Twitter pals, whose suggestions for "a salad that doesn't involve salad leaves" came together in the dish I'll be making on Wednesday.

It's going to involve Jersey Royal new potatoes - but roasted, not boiled.  Some gorgeous butcher's bacon grilled until crispy, mushrooms, roasted red onion and watercress & spinach salad (neither of which count as a "salad leaf", alright?), all dressed in a mustard & red wine dressing, with creamy goat's cheese crumbled over the top.  I can't wait!

Hubby has a recipe in mind for Thursday, which involves something along the lines of a Spanish Paella, except with just chicken and prawns.  You know when you have a picture in your mind and a flavour on your tongue, but you can't quite put it into words?  Well that's it.  We'll just have to wait and see what turns up at the end of it - but it should be good, as we've even invested in some saffron!

Oooh dear, then it's Friday.  ~quake~quiver~  I'm skeered of Friday, because Alfie the Amalfi Lemon Coloured Skoda goes in for his MOT.  I may very easily not have any fingernails left, after this day.  Nor any cash left in my bank account.  However, I will be having a lovely dinner - consisting of yummy Sticky Chinese chicken with a lovely Thai carrot salad, which involves rice noodles and peanuts.  Yum!

Photo c/o BBC Good Food website

The chicken is simplicity itself to make - I just need to remember to make it early so that it can marinade.  The salad is just a matter of grating a whole heap of carrots, soaking the rice noodles and assembling the rest of the ingredients.  I should be able to do that, even with a diabolical stress headache - which I anticipate being the owner of, by then.

Still, the happy news is that by Saturday it will all be over and we'll know where we stand regarding the work that Alfie needs to have done - and more to the point, how much it's going to cost!

To celebrate, I'm planning on making use of the lovely Adora's Box blog, where her Pork with Lemongrass and Cinnamon has caught my eye.  You can find the recipe here.  Looks good, doesn't it?  I'll let you know how I get on with it!

I've stayed away from roast dinners for quite some time now, and this coming Sunday we'll be having a pot roast chicken for two reasons.  One, because I am missing roast chicken, two, because I'm missing roast parsnips and three, because we can have Coronation chicken for tea on Monday!

Son & heir adores Coronation chicken and I have to admit that I'm a sucker for it myself.  Hubby isn't quite so enamoured of it, but I'm hoping that if I make sure that the pitta breads are more manageable than the usual "resembling a bus crash" that I usually turn out, he might look upon the whole experience in a more favourable light.  In fact, thinking on, I could always make them into Coronation chicken wraps, instead!  Still a bit messy and squidgy, but at least they're capable of being eaten with a knife and fork!  Do you know, I may well do that.

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Quick! Here's the meal plan for this week.

I should really be watching "The Apprentice", but no - I'm here typing away just so that I won't be too late with the meal plan for this week.  Feel sorry for me, because not only am I missing "The Apprentice", but I also just bashed myself on the forehead with our griddle pan, whilst trying to sniff the centre of it because it smelled of char-grilled peppers.  *blush*  Oh, I can't help it - and yes, I should have known it was that heavy as I've spent all afternoon cooking with it.  But there you are.  *chuckle*

So, without further ado, here's the meal plan for this week :

Quick stroganoff & pasta

Tandoori chicken & Jun Tanaka's char-grilled vegetable couscous

Minced beef, mashed potatoes, peas and carrots

Ken Hom's Broccoli Chicken with rice

Anthony Worrall-Thompson's "Health in a Bowl" with char-grilled Ciabatta

Phil Vickery's Pepperpot Beef & Orange stew with rice & peas

Cornish pasties, oven chips and baked beans.

So, who is coming over for what dinner?  LOL

There's quite a lot of chef accreditation going on up there, isn't there?  Unusually so - but then I have been trawling the Good Food Channel's "Healthy Recipes" section, which is where the most of these have come from.

I'm afraid it's no good trying to book for the Quick stroganoff & pasta, because we had that yesterday and I have to say that it was truly disgusting.  However, in my own defence, I cooked it especially for Son & heir, as he's had to suffer some quite vegetable-heavy dishes just lately, and it was a little culinary thank you for doing his best with them.  It hit the spot with him in that he cleared his plate and declared it delicious - so job done.  (Even if it did make me feel very peculiar, later on in the evening!).

Jun Tanaka's version - mine was a lot chunkier!

We've just had the Tandoori chicken with Char-grilled vegetable couscous and, wonder of wonders, I won again on the couscous front.  Oh, well, apart from with Son & heir, who has decreed he doesn't like the char-grilled flavour on anything (well, except a Burger King burger, of course.  ~rolls eyes~).  As for the Tandoori chicken being even remotely Tandoori - it wasn't.  Yes, I know we don't have a Tandoor oven here, but the chicken was supposed to have been able to be cooked on a griddle pan (are you sensing a bit of a fixation here?) which I had thought might lend it the charred flavour that goes with Tandoori foods.  As it was, thankfully, I only tried the little mini-fillets on the griddle pan.  As they welded themselves to it, I put the breast fillets into the oven!  25 minutes at 200deg and they were really quite tasty, if entirely NOT Tandoori.

We didn't manage to catch a photograph of the dish (forgot!), but I have a little couscous left over which I'll try and take a decent photograph of, just so that I can pass the recipe on - as it was really extremely nice and worth doing again.

We're having a de-constructed Cottage Pie tomorrow.  Well, I'm at work so it's unlikely I'll want to make a Cottage Pie, but you never know!  I've actually been having dreams (like, every night!) about Shepherd's Pie, so perhaps I should, just to see what will happen.  Son & heir will be okay with this one, as he loves minced beef in all its guises.  Hopefully it will also mean I can use up the Maris Pipers I got for the Cheesy Champ Mash plus the Chantenay carrots I got for Son & heir's Sunday chicken dish.

Ken Hom's version - looks good!

Friday will be one of Ken Hom's lovely easy dishes.  This one, Broccoli Chicken, will help to make use of the Oyster Sauce I bought recently.  It's also not quite a stir-fry and is served with rice, so I'm hoping that Son & heir will be okay with it.  I'm sure hubby will, as he really likes all the oriental style dishes.

Somebody had better remind me, though, that on Friday evening I'm supposed to be putting some Lentils on to soak, ready for making Anthony Worrall-Thompson's Health in a Bowl on Saturday.

Health in a bowl - well, we'll see!

I am super-intrigued by this one.  It has got everything bar the kitchen sink in it - everything that's good for you, anyway!  Plus, it is based on some thick cut gammon ham - which is something we haven't had for ages.  I'm sure it would work perfectly with a smoked ham hock, too - but I'll be darned if I can source one of those around here at the moment!  Of course, owing to the fact that I haven't used the griddle pan for a few days, I've scheduled us to have griddled Ciabatta with a smudge of garlic and a drizzle of olive oil, along with it.  I'm feeling healthier just talking about it - goodness knows how I'll feel the day after making and eating it.  (Fingers crossed).

Sunday's dish is another interesting one.  Yes, I know I said I wasn't going to do any more heavy old stews because it was spring time, but this recipe says it isn't heavy - and as it's based on a Caribbean recipe, I guess it's got a 50:50 chance of being healthy.  Anyway, it's another (very good) excuse to use some lovely Brisket of beef.  The rice and peas I've put as accompanying it, I have yet to decide whether to do traditional rice and peas, or just make rice with some green peas in it.  Authenticity -v- colour.  Hmmmn, the jury's still out on that one.

Now as for Monday, let's just pretend that Monday isn't going to happen, shall we?  Although, I will just quickly say that I'll be having a jacket potato instead of chips, but that still doesn't mitigate the damage done by a shop-bought Cornish Pasty.  *sigh*  All I can do is try.  Well, you've got to serve some Man-food sometimes, just so that he knows you're listening to him, isn't that how it goes?

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Ottolenghi's Green Couscous : a revelation in flavours!

So.  Couscous.  When hubby suggested we have couscous with our devilled sausages (recipe to follow), I laughed.  I laughed because every single attempt at injecting flavour into couscous, to date (as was) has been a catastrophic failure.

I've gone down the herbs & lemon route, I've gone down the cumin & eastern spice route.  I've even gone down the "Ainsley's couscous in a packet" route, just in case I was missing something there.  ~shakes head~  All have been devoid of the kind of flavour that makes you look forward to couscous appearing on the menu.

Until now.

Now let it be said and agreed that Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi are magicians.  Certainly with food, they are.  I'm not sure about the "produce a penny from behind your ear" type of magic, but I wouldn't put it past Yotam Ottolenghi - he looks the sort who could do that.

The moment hubby suggested couscous, I knew I had to take some serious advice on the subject - and where better to go for couscous advice than the two Ottolenghi cook books, "The Cook Book" and "Plenty".

I will admit that I rejected the first couscous recipe I found therein, but that was largely because the ingredients were hugely expensive and wouldn't particularly have sat well beside a sausage.  "Green Couscous" (page 255 for those who have "Plenty" on their bookshelves) didn't appear - at first reading - terribly hopeful.  However, having scanned the ingredients I discover that we had almost everything barring a couple of the herbs.  As I'm always keen (and even keener, now) to try another Ottolenghi recipe, we were on.

As with a lot of couscous recipes, it's not that difficult to make - provided you have a good blender/processor that will chop herbs down to a fine paste.  We've got one of those hand blenders (left over from when son & heir was a baby) that has a tub which you can plug the blender into - that did the herbs perfectly.

As for the flavour, well it'd be more true to say that it's a case of flavours, not flavour.  Everything combines most beautifully yet each and every flavour stands out in multiple layers of surprise.  I'd recommend using coarse sea salt for it, as the grains when they are tumbled through the couscous leave delicious trails of saltiness behind them.  Hubby was amazed to discover that there was only a quarter of a teaspoon of coarsely ground sea salt involved (not counting the stock cube, of course).

It turned out that my pack of dill had decided to dissolve into green slush, so that's one difference from the original recipe, as is the lack of fresh tarragon (which I couldn't find anywhere).  I substituted a teaspoonful of dried tarragon and nobody noticed it, so that's fine.  I wouldn't recommend doing the entire recipe in dried herbs of course!  Another difference is that the original recipe demanded a green chilli and all we had in the fridge were red ones, but again I suspect that it didn't really matter.


So the recipe you have here is the recipe that I made and that hubby and I enjoyed so much.  Son & heir, needless to say, took a teensy tiny forkful and decreed he didn't like it and left all of his.  ~shrug~  Hey ho, it was expected and his Dad and I polished it off for him, so no harm done.  If you're lucky enough to have a copy of "Plenty" on your bookshelves, the original recipe can be found on page 255.

Just how "Ottolenghi" does that look?

HERBY COUSCOUS (after Ottolenghi's Green Couscous)  Serves 4


Ingredients :


150g couscous
160ml boiling vegetable stock
1 small onion, thinly sliced
1 tbsp olive oil (for frying)
quarter tsp of sea salt
quarter tsp of ground cumin
3 spring onions, trimmed & finely sliced
1 red chilli, top & tailed, most seeds removed and finely sliced
30g rocket, coarsely chopped.


Herb paste :
20g fresh parsley, roughly chopped
20g fresh coriander, roughly chopped
1 tsp dried tarragon
3 tbsp mint, roughly chopped
90ml extra virgin olive oil.


Method :


1.  Place the couscous in a large bowl and cover with the boiling stock.


2.  Cover the bowl with clingfilm and leave for 10 minutes.


3.  Meanwhile, fry the onion in the olive oil on a medium heat until golden and completely soft.  Add the salt & cumin, mix lightly and leave to cool slightly.


4.  Make the herb paste by placing all the ingredients in a good processor and blitzing until smooth.


5.  Add the herb paste to the couscous and mix well, fluffing it up with a fork.  Next, add the cooked onion, spring onions, chilli and rocket and mix through.


Serve.

Printable Version


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