Couscous Recipe

Normally for a conventional couscous recipe, you would source the couscous grain itself from a brighty coloured cardboard box or a cellophane packet.
This is has been pre-steamed and dried.
 The package directions usually instruct to add a little boiling water to it to make it ready for consumption.
This method is quick and easy to prepare by placing the couscous in a bowl and pouring the boiling water or stock over the couscous, then covering the bowl tightly.
 The couscous swells and within a few minutes is ready to fluff with a fork and serve. Pre-steamed couscous takes less time to prepare than dried pasta or rice.
Nobody would contemplate making the couscous from scratch out of ground wheat flour.
 But there are other kinds available, such as barley couscous and Israeli couscous.

Israeli couscous:

Israeli couscous, also known as maftoul or pearl couscous, is a larger version of couscous and used in slightly different ways.
 In Western cooking it is often used as a bed for or dishes, or put into salads.
 It has been compared with Middle Eastern Taboul or egg barley.
Israeli couscous is actually a version of North African Berkukes introduced by immigrants from various parts of North Africa in the early 50s and Levantine Maghrebiyya (from the Maghreb) common in Palestine, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.
 Couscous was meant to provide a rice substitute for those immigrants from eastern Arab countries and from Persia, where rice was the staple grain.
 Unlike North African couscous, Palestinian couscous, (Maftoul) is not semolina at all, but rather a toasted grains of a mixture of bulgur and flour.

Seafood and couscous recipe:

This is a fantastic seafood and couscous recipe which I originally adapted from a Sunday Magazine and then put up on the ukcider wiki for anybody to copy.
 Seafood is wonderful and the couscous itself is prepared by combining it with coked rice, which makes a great mixture of textures and flavour.
Oysters poached in cider, with Lemon Sole and couscous rice

Ingredients - serves two:

• 1 dozen oysters
• 2 fillets of lemon sole 1 pint of good cider
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 cup of cooked rice
• 1 cup of plain couscous
• butter
• salad

Method:

Scrub the oyster shells under a running tap.
 Bring the cider, crushed garlic cloves and a generous knob of butter to the boil in a saucepan.
Add the oysters, cover and simmer for 2 minutes until they start to open.
 Turn down the heat With a slotted spoon, remove the oyster shells from the pan.
 carefully remove the whole oysters from their shells and pour the juices back into the pan.
Simmer the liquid further while melting some butter in a frying pan (for the fish).
In a deep serving dish, mix the cooked rice and instant couscous grains then pour enough of the liquid over them to cover with an extra half inch of liquid on top.
 Leave this to stand, while the couscous expands, lightly stirring once or twice.
 Pan fry the lemon sole fillets in the melted butter for 2 minutes, then add enough of the liquid to cover and poach for 1 minute.
 Transfer the cooked fillets onto serving plates, pour the remaining liquid into the pan (with any fishy bits left in) and boil vigorously, stirring until reduced to a few tablespoons of viscous yummy concentrated fishy cider sauce.
To dish up, line 6 oysters up on a piece of fish on each plate, pour the sauce over the oysters, spoon some couscous rice next to it.
Serve with a mixed salad.
I tried this out today and it was lovely, the cider sauce is rich but the oysters are succulent and plain couscous rice complements well.
 Cooking time: about half an hour,
If you were wondering, I bought the oysters, lemon sole and a 2liter flagon of cider from Morrisons for about £12 or $24 total so that makes it a gorgeous and economical seafood and couscous recipe which I hope you will try out and enjoy as much as I did.

Andy Roberts is a cook and writer who evangelises for genuine North African dishes. He has a unique way of explaining how to put dishes together, which is often entertaining but also more practical than the conventional recipe. He is also author of the couscous recipe blog.

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