« Eggs and potatoes | Canning is a girl's best friend. »
Yesterday, as I was buying many many books for school, S. bought me a copy of The New Book of Middle Eastern Food, which I'd been wanting for a while. While many of the recipes are not vegetarian, there are so many that are or that easily could be that it is still well worth my time. And Claudia Roden writes her recipes so wonderfully clearly. It's interesting, too: around this time of year I start craving the same kind of food I want in summer, as Mediterranean and bright-tasting as I can manage.
We had a couscous pilaf, eggplant in a spicy honey sauce (North African), and frozen artichoke hearts stewed in lemon juice and olive oil. Everything was very good, and even better as a cold snack the next day, but the most interesting part of cooking dinner was learning a new strategy for making couscous. As far as I had ever known, there were two ways of cooking it: There's the quick way described on the side of every couscous package, where you heat the couscous with water and oil or butter and then cover to steam, which is easy but makes pretty dense and boring couscous. Or there's the traditional way, where you use a couscousière or cobbled-up substitute and steam it, which is daunting, messy, and somewhat unreliable, though I hear it makes lovely fluffy dry couscous if you do it right. But Claudia Roden suggests another method, and I really liked the results.
Take a relatively broad and flat oven-safe pan -- I used my big round gratin -- and spread the couscous within. You might want to oil it lightly first, if it is the kind of surface that things like to stick to. Preheat the oven to 400° F.
Take as much warm water as you did couscous, salt it, add saffron or cumin if you want it, and pour the liquid in a slow stream over the couscous, stirring as you go to ensure that it is all moistened evenly. Let sit for 15-20 minutes, fluffing occasionally with a fork to break up any lumps.
When the water is all absorbed and the couscous is fluffy and tender, add one tablespoon of olive oil for every cup of dry couscous you started with. Rub the couscous between your hands, taking it up in the air above the pan and letting it fall down, so it is well aired, well separated, and very fluffy.
Put the pan, uncovered, into the oven. After 10 minutes, fluff again with a fork. Return to the oven for 5 or 10 minutes more. Remove from oven, stir in any other ingredients you want in there (onions, peppers, raisins, whatever), and sprinkle a little cinnamon over top.
This may sound rather elaborate, but it was quite simple and easy to do while other things were cooking, and the results were so highly superior to the standard quick method that I can't imagine going back.
Posted by redfox at February 09, 2003 05:57 PM (dinner reports)all breads | breakfast | dinner reports | drink | eating out | essays | etcetera | lunch | news | recipes | salads | snacks | soups | sweets | tips | travel | vegetables | weekly meals |
