Couscous a la Nicole

I've been a slacker on posting recipes. I have been meaning to post the ice cream cake recipe I did a few weeks back (I have pictures on the camera at home so I'll do it sometime this weekend hopefully).

In the mean time, Nicole would like to share her couscous salad recipe. I unfortunately don't have a picture of this dish but I have seen it and had it and can vouch for it's tastiness. Where it says "I" in the recipe it's Nicole's advice.

Couscous a la Nicole

Step 1: mix dressing;
1/2C olive oil (I use a little less oil & a little more lemon juice)
1/3C lemon juice
2 cloves garlic pressed
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp Tabasco

Step 2: prep salad ingredients
1C couscous (I use the whole box)
1 1/4 chicken stock (I use as much as the couscous instructions ask for water)
1/2C golden raisins
1 can garbanzo beans aka chickpeas
3 chopped green onions
1 tomato diced
1 small cucumber diced
1 red pepper diced
1/2C feta cheese (I use bit more b/c I love cheese)

Step 3: Putting it together
Boil chicken stock. Add couscous to stock, stir, cover, let sit 5 mins off element. Fluff.
Put prepared couscous in large bowl. Add remaining ingredients & toss.
Pour dressing over couscous mixture. Stir well. It's best to prepare salad few hours ahead of time so couscous mixture has time to absorb all of the dressing. (Turmeric stains)

Words of wisdom:
I prep dressing. Boil stock. While stock is going I prep veggies, in the middle of that the stock boils so I add couscous & let it sit as per couscous box cooking instructions. Finish vegg prep. Toss all together. I usually make it night before, it keeps fresh for days : )

Cinco de Mayo

A few days late but hey I've been busy!

As a nod to Cinco de Mayo on Tuesday I desided to try making some "real" cali-mexican food. Luckily one of my favorite food bloggers has a great list of mexican food. Check it out. I made Carne Asada on corn tortillas and spanish rice. Both recipes were AWESOME. Definetly something I'll make again. And again. And again.

Next thing I want to try is cerviche.

Back in the kitchen

So this isn't really a recipe post. I'm making Sunday dinner for friends who ran a half marathon today. On tap are some short ribs braised in red wine from my new subscription to Bon Appetit (Thank you Mom and Dad!), mashed potatoes, salad with roasted garlic vinaigrette and some bread. The last two items (the dressing and the bread) came from a new book: Ratio. I've just started reading this book but it's right up my alley. It takes the basic items of cooking: bread, pasta, cake, mayonaise etc. and breaks it down to their base in terms of ratios of the ingredients. And then from there you can add flavours and change the final form as you see fit.

The bread I made to day was a simple 5:3 ratio (by weight) of flour to water plus a bit of salt and yeast. Knead, let rise and then play. I'm making two rustic breads (no fancy forming into shapes) one with roasted garlic and rosemary with olive oil worked into the surface and the other just olive oil and kosher salt.

The chapter in Ratio on vinaigrettes is short and sweet and points out two things that I think are important. One is the ratio: 3:1 oil (fat) to vinegar (acid). That's the starting point. Changing the oil or fat from regular oil to olive oil or to warm bacon fat will change the taste. Same with the vinegar: red or white wine vinegar, lime juice, lemon juice, grapefruit juice (fresh squeezed of course) to balsamic vinegar. Follow the ratio and you're golden. The second thing was the guide on adding other flavours. The book advises combining everything (the Dijon mustard, salt and pepper, garlic, herbs, etc.) with the vinegar first, then adding the oil. My dressing today is equal parts red wine and balsamic vinegar, a small amount of mustard, a pinch of salt, a touch of pepper, several cloves of roasted garlic and olive oil.