Learning the Basics in Cooking Plain Couscous
The easiest way of cooking couscous is by preparing and serving it to people very plainly. When cooking plain couscous, it is important to prepare a tasty and savory sauce that will be mixed with the wheat, since the sauce will be the only source of flavor in this dish. Combine couscous and sauce in a pan and boil for several minutes. The heat must be turned-off when the mixture reaches boiling point to avoid couscous from becoming over cooked. Before letting the mixture stand for another five minutes, it is important to cover the pan to prevent the wheat from being contaminated. Serve the dish immediately.
Knowing the Steps for Cooking Couscous with Olive Oil
Another simple way of cooking couscous is by preparing it with olive oil. Pour at most two tablespoons of olive oil in a pan. Heat the pan in a medium low fire for several minutes. As an alternative for olive oil, it is best to use vegetable oil. Put couscous in the pan and sprinkle with salt to improve its taste. Constantly stir the wheat. When the color of couscous appears to be golden brown, pour boiling water. Before turning the fire off, provide a cover for the pan. Let the dish stand in the pan for at most ten minutes. Transfer the dish in another bowl and serve immediately.
Important Tips in Cooking Couscous
For individuals who have interest in cooking couscous, there are some important tips that they should consider. Instead of boiling the wheat in plain water, they can use juices, chicken stock, and beef stock as alternatives. Additionally, to those who like to prepare couscous with olive oil, they can always add pine nuts to enhance the flavor of the dish. Furthermore, the use of some herbs such as rosemary, basil, oregano, marjoram, and thyme is encouraged to improve the taste of the wheat. Finally, when it comes to preserving excess couscous, they should always place it inside a container and put in a refrigerator to retain its freshness.
Cooking couscous is very easy and simple. In addition, it is not time consuming, which means that everyone can prepare couscous dishes. By following the procedures in cooking these two recipes, people can add new flavor and taste to the traditional way of preparing this special kind of wheat.
About the Author
Will Spencer is writing cooking and food articles for both How to Cook Couscous Info and Boiling Chicken Info web sites. Visit Learning the Two Simple Methods of Cooking Couscous.
I have three favorites that I have made a few times.
1. Orange couscous with Chicken
2. Jamaican Curry Chicken Couscous
What are some of your favorite couscous recipes?
Boiling and stirring is not recommended for couscous
Couscous Preparation
Couscous is traditionally steamed and fluffed to separate the granules. Boiling and stirring can reduce quick-cooking couscous to a sticky, starchy mush. Like pasta, couscous does not have much of a flavor itself. Thus couscous dishes are made with flavored stocks, herbs, and spices, with vegetables, dried fruits, nuts, and/or meat added or used as a topping.
Most packaged couscous is considered the instant variety and will cook very quickly off the stove by absorbing a boiling liquid. However, authentic couscous (roughly-ground hard durum wheat) will require significantly more time and a good steaming vessel called a couscoussiére.
Couscous Cooking Tips
• Be sure to identify which type of couscous you have purchased (instant or traditional) to properly plan cooking time.
• Couscous may also be cooked like rice. Heat butter, add couscous and stir to coat, add stock, bring to a boil, reduce heat to lowest setting, cover and cook (no peeking!) until liquid is absorbed. Fluff to separate.
• If you lack a steamer, a heat-proof colander inside a stockpot will work fine. Line the colander with cheesecloth if the holes are too big.
• When using the long traditional method of steaming couscous, covering the pot is not recommended as the condensation can drip onto the grains and make the couscous mushy.
• As well as a carbohydrate-laden side dish, couscous may also be eaten as a porridge, in salads, or in desserts.
• To double or triple the volume of instant couscous, avoid the hot water method given on the box and take the time to slowly steam it.
• Cooked couscous should be eaten within a couple of days. It may be frozen up to three months.
• 1 cup dry couscous = 2-1/2 cups cooked.
• As a side dish, plan on 1/2 to 3/4 cup cooked couscous per person.
From Peggy Trowbridge Filippone
Is it pasta, grain or rice?
Here Are Definitions of Couscous on the Web:
- It is the separated grain of the wheat plant. When dried and milled, it becomes semolina flour, which is what pasta is made out of. However, as a grain, it makes a terrific rice substitute that has the advantage of being more flavorful (nutty with an interesting texture as long as it is not over cooked) as well as about five times quicker to make than rice.
www.romwell.com/cookbook/Glossary/glossary.htm - is a bead-shaped pasta that’s a culinary specialty of North Africa. A flour coating keeps the grains separate when cooked.
clfivestar.allrecipes.com/features/glossary.asp - A traditional Caribbean style dish. Rice, and either red or black beans are cooked together.
www.riceland.com/consumers/rice_glossary/a-h.asp - A North African specialty dish dating back to early times. It is made with millet flour or crushed rice and served with mutton or chicken stew. An American version contains chickpeas and slices of carrot and turnip.
www.tedcancook.com/terms1.htm - Moroccan dish of tiny semolina grains.
www.gemsinisrael.com/e_article000039495.htm - A grain-like hard wheat semolina that has been ground, moistened, and rolled in flour. Prepared by steaming and traditionally served with a stew, or combined with fruits and vegetables. A staple dish of Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco. Available in precooked, dried form in the United States.
www.chowbaby.com/10_2000/glossary/glossary.asp - A North African dish, couscous is granular semolina, which is steamed and served as an accompaniment to meats and vegetables.
wgby.org/localprograms/onthemenu/pages/recipes/glossary.html - You may have thought otherwise, but couscous is a type of pasta that is made from durum wheat and water and nothing else. In the mediteranean countries it is often homemade, although many are switching to the excellent and convenient commercial varieties that are now available.
dieli.net/SicilyPage/RecipesPage/glossary.html - A type of granular pasta from North Africa, cooked like a grain.
www.wiley.com/legacy/products/subject/hospitality/procooking/glos/ch18.htm - Traditional North African ingredient made with hard wheat semolina and sometimes barley.
www.saffronrestauranttruro.co.uk/chef’_dictionary.htm - Actually a kind of pasta, though used like a grain. It is almost always found in instant form but the quality is often good.
www.samcooks.com/BeatTheClock/Easy/Quick/Fast/BeatConcepts.htm - Fine granules of pasta made from semolina flour. Of North African origin, couscous is traditionally cooked by steaming it over boiling water or a pot of stew.
www.pasta2go.com/P2G/html/pasta_terms.html - This is actually a pasta, not a grain, made from semolina. Depending on its country of origin, it varies greatly in size. Israeli couscous is almost pea sized, while couscous from Morocco is quite fine. You can’t write about couscous without mentioning that it is the national dish of Morocco. In Morocco, it is kind of a “one pot meal†which is cooked in a couscoussière. I was introduced to couscous when I was 18 years old as a student at The Culinary Institute of America.
www.buyapersonalchef.com/Glossary.htm - a spicy dish that originated in northern Africa; consists of pasta steamed with a meat and vegetable stew
- a pasta made in northern Africa of crushed and steamed semolina
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn - Couscous (from Maghreb Arabic kuskusu, which is from Tamazight seksu) is a food which consists of grains made from semolina which are about 1mm or 1/16th inch in diameter (after cooking). In the United States couscous is known as a pasta, however in most other countries it is treated more like a grain in its own right.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Couscous