Friday, February 13, 2015

French Fridays with Dorie - Chicken Couscous


Today´s recipe for the French Fridays with Dorie group is Chicken Couscous. Couscous is the name of both the small semolina pasta as well the spiced North African stew that is served with it. As a versatile alternative to rice, couscous is quick and easy to cook and is quite delicious when served with Dorie´s colorful chicken and vegetable stew.




Couscous is traditionally prepared (in a couscoussière) in the steam that rises from the stew simmering underneath. It is a long but enjoyable ritual that gives an exceptionally light and fluffy result. But most of the couscous we buy in Middle Eastern grocery stores (and well-stocked supermarkets) around here, is ready-cooked and dried and needs only a brief soaking in water or stock. It is ready in about five minutes. What Dorie´s recipe lacks in the ritual and lightness of the traditional steamers, it makes up for in speed and ease for a family-friendly, enjoyable Friday evening supper.




For Dorie´s recipe you start by browning the chicken pieces in a large Dutch oven. Then you add the spice mix consisting of freshly grated ginger, ground tumeric, and cumin, cinnamon and saffron threads, as well as freshly ground black pepper, sea salt and some garlic. At this point your are looking to just get the raw taste off the spices. The spice mix will give the chicken not only a wonderful color but will also impart the pieces with delicious flavors.




Then add some homemade chicken stock to the pot, add leeks, onions, celery, carrots and turnips and cook for about fifiteen minutes. Take some of the broth to cook the couscous (I added shredded carrots to the couscous for even more taste and color) and finish the stew with zucchini and chickpeas – which will take about another five minutes to cook.

You should serve this Chicken Couscous while good and hot – I placed a large platter in the middle of the table and served the remainder of the couscous, chicken stew and broth in separate bowls.




Apart from the fact that we enjoyed the flavors of the Chicken Couscous, what I also appreciated about this recipe is that you can cook and season the couscous separately to serve with the chicken. Then the juices from the chicken pieces will flavor the couscous underneath. Thus letting you prepare the stew as well as the couscous at different times. And this recipe also doubles up very easily for larger numbers.




To see whether the other members of the French Fridays with Dorie group enjoyed this week´s recipe, please go here.

For copyright reasons, we do not publish the recipes from the book. But you can find the recipe for “Chicken Couscous “ on pages 214-16 in Dorie Greenspan´s cookbook "Around my French Table".


38 comments:

  1. This was such a wonderful recipe, and your photos are absolutely wonderful. I will be making this again, it was so easy.

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    1. Dear Rosemary, thank you very much - this recipe seems to have been one of those recipes that we could all agree upon - healthy, colorful, and delicious - glad to read that you are planning on making this again - same here.

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  2. Andrea - you always have the best props. Those mini tagines are just too precious.
    We really enjoyed this recipe and I can see versions of it being made in the future in our house

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    1. Cher, one very fun and enjoyable recipe for the family, wasn´t it?! I did end up adding more of the spices as was called for in the recipe and served the harissa "on the side" for those few "spice-heads" in our family - Chicken Couscous love at first sight.
      Thank you for your kind words,
      Andrea

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  3. wow! do you do all your entertaining outside?? I have such a lovely idea and picture of your home in my head and its all just gardens and lush green lawns set with tables full of yummy food! :)

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    1. Arisuchan, lokks like it, doesn´t it?! Actually, this was the winter sun and I believe it would have been a tad too cold to eat outside in February but whenver the weather allows, we do eat outside, that´s true. I ended up re-heating the Chicken Couscous after these pictures were taken all the while my darling taste testers were rolling their eyes...
      Thank you so much for your kind comment,
      Andrea

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  4. Andrea you get the prize for most beautiful couscous and photos this week. I adore the platter and your spice holders..little tagines amazing. Outstanding.

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    1. Diane, well, thank you very much - makes me really, really happy and a bit proud when readers let me know that they enjoy the pictures on my blog and, of course, the props as well!
      Andrea

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  5. Yes! Andrea, you do always have the best photos and gorgeous props. The mini tagines are kawaii!

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    1. Emily, and to think I was planning on giving these mini tangines away - love these little props, always have, always will and I am having a hard time parting with them! Thank you for your kind words,
      Andrea

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  6. So so pretty! Love your mini tagine spice dishes!

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  7. Your dish looks wonderful. And it looks like you were enjoying a little sun when you took the pictures. It's climbed up to 10 degrees here in Frankfurt today and everyone is out walking on the river. It's amazing how warm 10 degrees can feel in the middle on winter:-) Hope that you are enjoying your weekend.

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    1. Rose, we were indeed enjoying a bit of sun for this picture - forever chasing the sunlight it seems...we are enjoying the long Carnival weekend and trying to squeeze in as many activities as possible.
      Liebe Grüsse nach Frankfurt,
      Andrea

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  8. Lush, gorgeous, delectable photos.
    May I have some of this, please? xx

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    1. Kim, oh, how I would have loved to share some of our Chicken Couscous - I went a little overboard with this recipe and this time we had a few left-overs.
      Andrea

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  9. This was so perfect for a cold winter's day with all the root vegetables and warm spices. Yours looks lovely, especially with those cute mini tagine dishes on the side. Happy Valentine's Day, Andrea!

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    1. Teresa, hope you and Kevin had a wonderful Valentine´s Day - you are absolutely right about this recipe, just perfect for a winter´s day!
      Thank you for the nice comment,
      Andrea

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  10. This looks like such a wonderful and flavorful dish. Plus, I love your cute little spice containers! They are great!

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    1. Amy, thank you very much - lots of flavors here, that´s true and had lots of fun with the props too (as usual)!
      Thank you for dropping by,
      Andrea

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  11. Andrea, your couscous looks perfect! I love how the juices from the tagine soak through the couscous. It's one of my favourite dishes. Here in Colorado, we have quite a big North African community, Moroccans and Algrians, one of my very good friend is from Algeria, and she makes the best couscous. I am fortunate enough to get to eat a lot of really good couscous here.
    Love your little tagines for the spices!
    I hope you are well, my dear Andrea. Xx

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    1. Nazneen, couscous is not a natural dish for me and I have only recently begun making dishes with it. I have convinced the skeptics (including myself) with this dish it seems, so, every once in a while they will have to indulge me when I cook with Middle Eastern flavors rather than Mediterranean ones.
      Hope all of you are doing well and are happy and healthy,
      Andrea

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  12. Andrea- your photos are absolutely amazing !!!! They are always lovely and this week did not disappoint. So much so that even though I was not necessarily delighted with my recipe results, I would gladly pick up a fork and dive into your platter :) Lovely.

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    1. Tricia, it took a while for me to get used to the taste of the spice mix here but I have grown to like it - usually I cook with very different spices and tons of herbs but I like a change of flavors every once in a while. Just not every day.
      Thank you for all your wonderful comments, I truly appreciate them,
      Andrea

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  13. Your couscous looks so beautiful, and that is especially impressive as often couscous is hard to photograph. I love both couscous and a good tagine. The flavors are exceptional! Hope you have had a good weekend! David

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    1. David, you are so right about this dish being a tad unphotogenic - at first, I did not want to take pictures of this dish at all and then I did not wnat to post them but all is well that ends well, the sun was shining and I changed my mind.
      Thank you for the kind words,
      Andrea

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  14. I think your sentence, "What Dorie´s recipe lacks in the ritual and lightness of the traditional steamers, it makes up for in speed and ease for a family-friendly, enjoyable Friday evening supper." is the key ingredient in this recipe. It packs a wallop of flavor in a very short time and creates a filling, one dish meal. Especially for a family, this would be a winner on so many levels. You chicken skin looks browned enough that I think you must have brrowned it beyond the "raw texture" state. I cooked my chicken beyond the raw texture stage but didn't get the skin as brown as yours. Your mini-tagines holding the rice were cute.

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    1. Mary, oh, I really tried to be smart there..I guess I was just trying to say that the reason why I used to shy away from couscous in the past was the face that everyone was telling about the lengthy procedure of cooking couscous and all. But now I know better and I have Dorie to thank. And, yes, I did brown the chicken skin more than the recipe called for - you know what they say "You eat with your eyes first!" - and then I was looking for more flavor and wanted my chicken pieces to be a bit more photogenic...I think I worked.
      Hope you are having a wonderful Dorista weekend,
      Andrea

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  15. Beautiful couscous…the best presentation I’ve seen! And as always your photos are just lovely!! This one didn’t go over well with my hubby…he’s not fond of chickpeas or couscous! Oh well, theres always next week!

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    1. Kathy, it did take a while to get my family "over to the couscous side of life" but I think, I got their attention with this dish - they loved it, couscous, chickpeas and all. And I was grateful for an easy (and delicious) Friday night supper.
      Thank you for the kind comment,
      Andrea

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  16. This was easy and delicious, wasn't it. Yours looks wonderful in the sunlight Andrea.

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    1. Gaye, very kind of you, my dear, thank you - nothing like a little winter sunshine to brighten everyone´s day.

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  17. Beautiful presentation! I love those spice containers. I'm hoping to get around to making this stew next Friday. You've certainly made it sound delicious!

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    1. Jora, and I am sure that Charlotte will enjoy it (if you go easy on the spices) - I served some of the couscous and chicken separately, so the picky ones would eat as well - overall we enjoyed this week´s recipe and I loved the ease of preparation.

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  18. Gorgeous, Andrea! I love those little tagines, especially. This is a perfect family meal (or party meal).

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    1. Teresa, absolutely, a family-style meal with lots of flavor and little work involved.
      Glad that you enjoyed this recipe as well,
      Andrea

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  19. Your couscous dish looks so inviting. Maybe if I had eaten it at your house I would have liked it better. This dish was just ok for us but there is always next week.

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    1. Dear Diane, I will just have to invite you over next time I make this - thank you so much for the kind words!
      Andrea

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