Instant Cous Cous recipes

I'm doing couscous recipes in much the same way regularly now, having just about perfected the process I think. 

I always buy the packets of fine couscous from the Turkish grocers, because it makes a better texture than medium sized couscous grains, I think, and keeps better than the cardboard boxes. In fact cardboard boxes are a very bad idea after the outbreak of Indian moths in the food cupboard!


To make the couscous I pour the dry grains into a pyrex dish that has a lid, and add a ladle or two of the broth from whatever stew I'm making to have the couscous with. I'll add a knob of butter at this point as well then stir it in until the butter has melted. Then I add enough water from a recently boiled kettle to just cover the couscous, fold it in for a few seconds, then put the lid on tight.

About three minutes later when it's time to serve up I remove the lid and fluff the couscous, allowing the steam to escape.  I might add a teaspoonful of Harrissa at this point, then serve.

Seafood Couscous Recipe

For this seafood couscous recipe you will need access to a good fishmongers, a market seafood stall or best of all a harbour where fish and seafood are landed and sold on the quayside.

There are two approaches to cooking seafood with couscous. One type of recipe cooks the fish portion as a whole piece or fillet of fish or as a rich mixture of seafood cooked together in a creamy sauce. The couscous is cooked separately, maybe using some of the fish stock to help flavour the grains.

The other type of seafood couscous recipe is more like a paella or biryani in principle, only using the couscous as a quick cooking substitute for the rice.  That's a bit trickier because you'll need to add each of teh seafood and fish ingredients at just the right time before adding the couscous to soak up the juices and liquid so that everything is cooked just perfectly together.

Whichever type of recipe you go far, the most important thing is choosing and buying the seafood itself. I would suggest that any of the following might be included but you really need to look and see which is freshest and best value on the day when you do the shopping, which should ideally be the same day as the cooking.

Squid - fresh whole squid, not just the tubes because the head and tentacles make a rather attractive addition.

Mussels - live mussels in the shells are best but cooked mussels not in too much vinegar can be very tasty too.  The shells do tend to make a bit of a mess in the couscous, and you definitely don't want any barnacles remaining when you do this.

Undyed Smoked  Haddock - The best type to add a subtle smokey flavour without having too much artificial flavouring or making the whole dish turn a lurid orange colour.

White Fish - Deliberately vague because seasonal. Anything from cod and coley to hake and pollock.

Oily fish - leave out. If you love oily fish as I do then have fried sprats as a starter or serve the barbecued mackerel with a couscous side dish.

Octopus - lovely when simmered in a Tom Yum soup mix then cut up into chunks and served cold in a couscous seafood salad recipe.

Whelks - yes you can chop up boiled whelks and use that to add a nice chewy texture to any mixed seafood dish if you don't have any large squid for example.  

Turkish Couscous Recipe - Kisir

Kisir or Turkish Couscous is made from Bulgur wheat or cracked wheat rather than the pasta based couscous that we know from Tunisia and Morocco.


2 Cups Bulgur Wheat
4 Cups Water
1 Tbs Salt
1 Tbs Tomato Paste
1 Tbs Ground Cumin
1 Medium Chopped Onion

2 Diced Tomatoes
1 Bunch Chopped Green Onion/Scallions
1 Bunch Chopped Dill
1 Bunch Chopped Mint
1 Tbs Red Pepper Flakes
1/2-1 Cup Sunflower or Vegetable Oil
Juice of 2 Lemons

Serves 6 - 8 persons.

Bring water and salt to heavy boil. Add bulgur wheat, tomato paste, cumin, chopped onion and stir. Cover, turn off heat and let sit for 15 minutes. Let cool to room temperature. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well together. Turkish Cous cous can be prepared in advance and served at room temperature on a bed of green leaf salad.

Couscous House

Couscous House
Originally uploaded by AndyRob

There are more and more good couscous restaurants in London now, including a little Metterranean cafe near where I live in Manor park East London. The one in the photograph is Maison Touaregue

22-24 Greek Street
London, W1D 4DZ
020 7439 1063

Black Kale Gratin with Couscous Recipe

Black Kale
Originally uploaded by STML

This is a couscous recipe from STML which makes good use of black kale, a sometimes less welcome inclusion in organic vegetable boxes

Boil the kale for 6 minutes in salted water, drain well and slather with butter. Mix in a greased dish with crushed garlic and two beaten eggs. Grate over cheese and sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Bake in Gas Mark 6 oven until egg just set and cheese bubbling.

Authentic Moroccan couscous recipe

This authentic Moroccan couscous recipe is presented in the form of a video with all the ingredients and processes listed and explained. I like the music too.

Couscous is probably the most famous Moroccan dish however it varies from area to area. This is the simplest way to make it.

Ingredients list for chicken couscous recipe

One whole chicken

Smen or ghee

Onions

Coriander cilantro

Spices and water

How to make the chicken couscous recipe

Mix salt pepper turmeric ginger mace nutmeg cinnamon cardamon pods


To make smen get unsalted butter, warm it to room temperature, wash it with cold water to drain off excess milk, add one teaspoon of salt to every cup of butter, store in clean glass containers and let set in a dark cool place, not the fridge, for at last 2 months or more.

Chop the onion and cilantro

Mix the spices together with the coriander and pour over the chicken to marinade for three hours or overnight.

You need a steamer or cousocousier, or use a sieve over a saucepan with a lid on top of the sieve. You might need to put a cloth over the holes if they are too big for the couscous grain.

Mix water with 2 tbs of salt and pour over the raw couscous. Let it soak in for half an hour then fluff it up with your hands.

Slice two onions, add cinnamon, sugar and orange blossom water. Add raisons and cook until tender, around 25 minutes.

Fluff up the cooled couscous using smen and hands, then steam it again, 2 or 3 times until done.

To serve, place the couscous on a dish, make a hole in the middle and place the chicken and onions in the middle.

Cauliflower Couscous Recipe

Have I told you about my new Cauliflower couscous recipe yet? It's dead simple but makes a lot of sense. Instead of needing to use some of the precious sauce from the stew to make up the couscous you use the water from quick steaming the cauliflower instead. So the entire cauliflower couscous recipe goes like this:

Chop up half a cauliflower into small florets about 1-2 cms, wash and set aside.

Bring to the boil just enough water to cover the cauliflower.

Meanwhile place a large knob of butter in a glass caserole dish, and add a half cup of hot water, black pepper, salt and maybe harrissa. Stir until the butter has melted then add three cups of instant couscous.

Add the cauliflower to the pan, boil for about 2-3 minutes then add the entire contents solid and liquid to the couscous. Cover and leave for three minutes, then stir and allow steam to escape.

Serve with a delicious tagine or couscous stew.

There, one Cauliflower couscous recipe done.

Tunisian Couscous and Loubia

Tunisian Couscous and Loubia
Originally uploaded by beedieu

Bee's Tunisian Couscous and Loubia.

Loubia is the dish made with white beans slow cooked in tomato and spices.

Couscous Recipe

Couscous recipes with Meat

When you think of Couscous recipes with meat the first that comes to mind is lamb or mutton. That's because of the muslim arab / berber origins of the dish. Merguez sausages are supposed to be made out of lamb meat too. Chicken is at least as popular though and if you do eat pork then why not try a couscous recipe with pork? Beef couscous is probably the least well known, and I've no idea exactly why that should be. A good piece of stewing beef cut into large chunks and slowly simmered in a rich gravy would make an excellent topping for any vegetable couscous dish.

Basic Couscous Recipe

The most basic couscous recipe of all requires nothing but a packet of couscous and hot water.

Add hot water to cover the dried couscous grains with an extra half inch, and then wait for it to absorb and soften. A lid helps.

But I would always add a least a knob of butter, some black pepper and a squirt of harrissa.

Better is to use some of the liquid that comes with making a complete couscous dish, ie the vegetable or meat stew.

Richard Gotainer - couscous Saupiquet

I think this is an old couscous recipe advert with a memorable song.

couscous with peas, mint and cilantro

couscous with peas, mint and cilantro
Originally uploaded by sassyradish

There's something about the texture of ordinary frozen garden peas which brings out the best in a couscous recipe.
This one also enhances the flavour with mint and cilantro or coriander leaves as we call them.

Close up of the Seafood Couscous

Cous Cous di Pesce a San Vito Lo Capo #0
Originally uploaded by yab994

A close up picture of the Seafood Couscous in Italy. There isn't an accompanying coucous recipe but we ca see that the Italian seafood couscous is based on simplicity with plain but tasty couscous grains cooked in seafood sauce, and a few items of luxurious seafood served on top. Langoustine and whelks perhaps.

Seafood Couscous Cous Cous di Pesce

Wholemeal Couscous Recipe with King Prawns Mussels and Saffron

Wholemeal Couscous Recipe with King Prawns Mussels and Saffron

Steam the mussels open, as usual in a large pan with a frying mixture of garlic and olive oil, add a touch of Harissa.
Pour off a cup of the liquid obtained and keep it aside.
In a small pan heat a cup of full pre-cooked couscous, turn off the cooker, add the cup of broth of mussels, still boiling or heated, and a sachet of saffron, stir until completely absorbed, fluff with a fork, decorate with parsley crushed and used in dishes.
In the same pan, add oil and other nice prawns well rinsed, heat a couple of minutes, season with salt and a touch of Harissa.
Lay down on dishes filled with cous cous some mussels and some shrimp, serving the remainder in a bowl.

pic by Geomangio

Vegetable Tian and Couscous Grain

picture and recipe by by La tartine gourmande

I'm not sure about all the reds in the photo but this is a very interesting and authentic couscous recipe from the south of France.

What is a Tian?

This dish is takes us to the South of France. The original meaning of the word Tain is actually the receptacle in which the dish used to be cooked. Un plat en terre de provence (a Terra Cotta dish  from Provence) used to prepare and cook vegetables. Today, whenever we speak about un tian, we think about the food rather than the dish. So a tian is layered vegetables cooked in the oven.

You can go and see the whole couscous recipe on La Tartine Gourmande

Mango and mint couscous recipe with lemon

Mango and mint couscous recipe with lemon, grilled steak (Was on shiskibob skewers) and pan cooked yellow squash n' onion.

Pic by Live♥Laugh♥Love

Couscous cakes recipe

COUSCOUS CAKES RECIPE

Difficulty: easy
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Servings: 8 cakes
Ingredients:

♥ 200 g couscous
♥ 1 carrot
♥ 50 g green beans
♥ 20 g peas
♥ 1/2 red pepper
♥ 1/2 green pepper
♥ 1 cube vegetable broth
♥ 2 tablespoon olive oil
♥ salt
♥ vegetable margarine

Chop the vegetables finely. Put them in a saucepan with the olive oil and fry the veggies. Add 200 ml water, salt and the vegetable broth and bring to boiling. Add the couscous, remove from heat, stir and let stand until water absorbed.
Grease some cupcake molds with vegetable margarine and fill them with the couscous. Leave to cool for  5-8 min, and tip out.

Recipe presentation suggestion: you can serve the couscous cakes accompanied by tomato sauce with spices and nuts.

Couscous cakes recipe and photo by veganwarrior

Couscous and Quinoa packets

Couscous and Quinoa packets
Originally uploaded by Andyrob

All couscous recipes can be adapted to use interesting substitutes or combinations of ingredients instead of the plain couscous grain, not that there's anything wrong with couscous by itself.

One of my favourites is to use a blend of couscous with quinoa.

You have to boil the quinoa for a few minutes first, then add an equal measure of couscous and leave to swell. That's all there is to it, using half quantity of quinoa for a couscous recipe.