Couscous Toss Food

HOW TO COOK COUSCOUS

Steps:

• In a saucepan, add broth or water. Add a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a pinch of kosher salt. Bring to a boil.
• Now, toast the couscous. In a non-stick skillet or pan, heat about 1 to 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil. Add the couscous and toss around with a wooden spoon until golden brown. This is an optional step but can really adds a great nutty flavor.
• Stir couscous in the boiled liquid quickly and immediately turn the heat off. Cover and let sit for 10 minutes or until couscous has completely absorbed the broth or water.
• Uncover and fluff with a fork.
• You can serve couscous plain, or mix in spices and herbs to give it more flavor. If you like, add in a pinch of cumin, sautéed garlic, chopped green onions, and fresh herbs or your choice. Enjoy!

COUSCOUS TOSS

Steps:

• Combine chicken broth, basil and garlic in medium saucepan, stirring well; bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Add couscous, cover and let stand 5 minutes. Fluff couscous with a fork.
• Combine vinegar, olive oil, pepper and salt in a small bowl, stirring with a wire whisk. Add vinegar mixture and tomato to couscous, tossing well.

PERFECT COUSCOUS

Steps:

• Combine the water or broth, olive oil and 1 teaspoon salt in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil. Stir in the couscous and immediately remove from the heat. Cover and let sit 5 minutes.
• Fluff the couscous thoroughly with a fork (the more you fluff, the more separate and light the grains will be). Season with salt and pepper. If you are making the couscous ahead, spread while hot on a baking sheet lined with parchment to stop the cooking as it cools. Once cool, refrigerate in an airtight container up to 5 days.

COOL COUSCOUS TOSS

Steps:

• Allow couscous to cool slightly.
• Mix all ingredients together.
• Chill and serve.
• Amazingly delicious!

COOL COUSCOUS SALAD

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, bring water to a boil. Stir in couscous. Cover and remove from the heat; let stand for 5-10 minutes or until water is absorbed. Fluff with a fork; cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour., In a small bowl, combine the garbanzo beans, cucumber, tomato and couscous. Pour dressing over couscous mixture; toss to coat. Place lettuce leaves on 2 individual serving plates. Top with couscous mixture; sprinkle with cheese.

COOKING COUSCOUS: COOKING WITH COMMERCIAL QUICK-COOKING COUSCOUS

Steps:

• An Easy Way of Preparing Quick-Cooking Couscous in the Oven
• This is how I make couscous. It is very simple, and you can hardly fail, but there is an art to doing it well.
• A package of couscous weighing 500 grams contains 3 cups, while a 1-pound package contains only 2 3/4 cups, so you had better measure it, as the weight varies depending on the brand. A foreign brand is likely to be 500 grams.
• In North Africa 6 cups usually serve 6-8 people, but for us 3-4 cups are ample.
• Put the couscous in a wide oven dish so that the grains are not squashed on top of each other. I use a large round clay dish, in which I also serve. Gradually add the same volume (3 cups for 3 cups of grain) of warm salted water (with 1/2-1 teaspoon of salt), stirring all the time so that it is absorbed evenly. Keep fluffing up the grain with a fork and breaking up any lumps (as the grains stick together). After about 10-15 minutes, when the grain is plump and tender, mix in 3 tablespoons vegetable oil and rub the grain between your hands above the bowl, to air it and break up any lumps.
• Put the dish, uncovered (I used to cover it with foil, but now I find that leaving it uncovered keeps it fluffier), in a preheated 400°F oven and heat through for 15-20 minutes, until very hot. After about 10 minutes, fluff it up again with a fork. (Smaller quantities can be heated, covered, in a microwave oven.)
• Before serving, work in 3 tablespoons butter or vegetable oil and break up any lumps very thoroughly.
• Other common package instructions recommended by manufacturers
• For 2 people, boil 1 cup salted water in a saucepan. Remove from the heat, add 1 tablespoon oil and 1 cup couscous, and mix. Allow the couscous to expand for 5-7 minutes, then add a knob of butter and separate the grains with a fork. Reheat for a minute over low heat while continuously stirring, or place for 1 minute in a microwave oven.
• For 5-6 people, use 3 cups couscous. Empty the box into a dish and moisten with lukewarm water mixed with 1/2-1 teaspoon salt. Allow 10 minutes for the couscous to puff up before steaming in a couscoussier. As soon as the steam has penetrated through the couscous, empty into a dish and toss with butter or oil.
• Serving Couscous
• The traditional way to serve couscous is in a wide, round, slightly deep dish. Shape the grain in a mound or a cone with a hollow at the top. Lay the meat in the hollow and the vegetables on top or on the sides. Pour 1 or 2 ladles of broth over it all. Bring the rest of the broth to the table separately. By tradition, couscous is a communal dish, and the old way was for everyone to eat with one hand from the serving dish, from the side in front of them. Nowadays it is eaten with a spoon. The meat is supposed to be so tender that you don't need to cut it with a knife. On grand occasions the mound of couscous is garnished with boiled chickpeas, raisins, and fried blanched almonds, as well as sprinklings of confectioners' sugar and ground cinnamon for decoration.
• Another way of serving, which has been adopted in France and which you might find more practical, is to serve in separate dishes: the grain on its own, the broth with the meat and vegetables in a separate bowl. Serve in soup plates, the grain on the bottom with the meat and vegetables and the broth ladled on top. If you like, pass around a peppery sauce made by adding harissa (page 464) or ground chili pepper to a few ladles of the broth.
• Garnishes
• Sprinkle the grain with cinnamon and confectioners' sugar and whole or chopped toasted blanched almonds, making a design with lines of cinnamon fanning down like rays from the top.
• Decorate with walnut halves and raisins.
• Side Dishes
• For caramelized onions, cook 2 pounds sliced onions in about 4 tablespoons sunflower oil, with the lid on, over very low heat, stirring occasionally, for 20-30 minutes, until very soft. Then cook uncovered until they are really very brown, stirring often. Stir in 2 tablespoons sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon and cook a few minutes more.
• Simmer 1/2 pound raisins in water to cover for about 10 minutes, until soft, and serve them in a bowl.
• Soak 1/2 pound chickpeas for at least 1 hour, then drain and simmer in fresh water for 1 1/2 hours, or until very tender, adding salt when they begin to soften. Serve them hot in a bowl in their cooking water.
• Variations to the Grain
• For saffron couscous, add 1/4 teaspoon powdered saffron to the water before moistening the couscous.
• Serve the grain mixed with hot cooked or canned chickpeas, heated through, and raisins, boiled in a little water and then strained.